2026 FIFA WCQ: Ronaldo red carded for violent elbow as Ireland stun Portugal

Football superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off for a violent elbow as Ireland recorded a famous win over Portugal that keeps alive their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup.

Portugal were already 2-0 down when Ronaldo, 40, swung an elbow in Dara O’Shea’s back off the ball. He was initially shown a yellow card, but that was upgraded to a red after a VAR review.

Ronaldo responded to O’Shea by crying and left the field at the Aviva Stadium after an exchange with Ireland’s Icelandic manager, Heimir Hallgrimsson.

Ireland fans ridiculed him as he disappeared down the tunnel. It was his first red card in 226 games for his country, although he has been sent off 12 times in club football since first joining Manchester United in 2003.

Portugal dominated possession throughout the game — even after Ronaldo’s 61st-minute ejection — but Ireland produced one of their best performances of recent times to hold off Roberto Martínez’s side. The win means Ireland will finish second in their group — and enter the play-offs for World Cup spots — if they can beat Hungary in Budapest on Sunday. Despite the loss in Dublin, Portugal will win the group and qualify automatically if they beat Armenia on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Erling Haaland scored twice for Norway in a 4-1 win over Estonia to put them on the brink of qualifying for their first World Cup finals since 1998.

Haaland took his qualifying goal tally to 14 and was handed a bag of burgers by a supporter after the match

The Manchester City striker headed home in the 52nd minute before a volley ten minutes later took his goalscoring run to 30 goals in 19 appearances for club and country this season. He added to two strikes from Alexander Sorloth, the former Crystal Palace forward who plays for Atletico Madrid.

Norway have all but qualified for the tournament in the United States, Canada and Mexico, as they have a vastly superior goal difference to Italy, who they play in Milan in group I on Sunday. The Norway and Arsenal captain, Martin Odegaard, who is recovering from a knee injury, travelled with his wife, Helene, and dog to watch the game from the stands in Oslo.

Haaland has scored 14 goals in the qualifying campaign, including five goals in an 11-1 win over Moldova and a hat-trick in a 5-0 victory over Israel. He needs two more to level with Robert Lewandowski’s 16 goals for Poland in Euro 2016 qualifiers, which is the best record in a qualifying campaign since the turn of the century.