Portugal kept their hopes of qualifying for the World Cup by beating Turkey on Thursday night, as goals from the first half of Otavio and Diogo Jota sent them on their way to a 3-1 victory at the Estadio do Dragao. Burak Yilmaz returned to Turkey with one goal in the second half but missed a late penalty kick before Matthew Nunes finished the game.
The game started with Portugal in full control. They created the first few chances, with Cristiano Ronaldo very much caught, and led well in the 16th minute when Bernardo Silva hit the post and home side Otavio turned it back.
After opposing a short-lived Turkish war, Portugal struck a second just before the break as Otavio was the supplier at the time, placing Jota’s head on a beautiful cross.
Both teams had a chance to start the second half, but it was Turkey who netted the first goal in the second half with Burak Yilmaz scoring in the 65th minute.
Enes Unal was brought in as Turkey really wanted and the Getafe striker won a penalty in the final 10 minutes, awarded after the VAR test. However, Yilmaz was unable to take advantage of the opportunity and went from being a hero to a villain by blasting through a crossbar.
Portugal saw the playoff final in their own eyes at the time and instead of Matthew Nunes was able to add another goal at the break to send the crowd to wild Porto with joy. What makes them most excited is to avoid European champions Italy, as North Macedonia defeats the Azzurri to start the Portuguese match next Tuesday. There, the desired location for the 2022 World Cup will be taken.
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