Ronaldo Exits Portugal, Defeats to Ireland...North Korea and the U.S. failed to make it to the World Cup finals

Nov 14, 2025

Ronaldo Exits Portugal, Defeats to Ireland...North Korea and the U.S. failed to make it to the World Cup finals
APYonhap News



Ronaldo Exits Portugal, Defeats to Ireland...North Korea and the U.S. failed to make it to the World Cup finals
APYonhap News
Portugal was completely defeated by Ireland, delaying its decision to advance to the 2026 North-China World Cup finals.

Portugal lost 0-2 in the fifth Group F match of the North Korea-China World Cup European qualifying round against Ireland in Dublin, Ireland on the 14th (Korea time). He failed to make up for it after losing points to Troy Parrott in the 17th and 45th minutes of the first half.

Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nasr) became the main culprit behind Portugal's chances to chase. In the 15th minute of the second half, he was warned for knocking over his opponent during the ball competition, but was immediately sent off after VAR checks revealed elbow-pumping behavior. Ronaldo left the stadium with an expression of discontent, such as incomprehension, and Portugal, which was underdog in numbers, was forced to end the game with a two-goal defeat.




Ronaldo Exits Portugal, Defeats to Ireland...North Korea and the U.S. failed to make it to the World Cup finals
AFP Yonhap News
With the defeat, Portugal maintained its lead in Group F with three wins, one draw and one loss and 10 points. However, as the gap with second-place Hungary (8 points), which beat Armenia 1-0 narrows, the ticket to the North-China World Cup finals, which will be given to the first place in the group, will be decided in the final Group F match on the 17th. Portugal will face Armenia and Hungary will face Ireland.

Portugal has played in nine World Cups. His best record was third place at the 1966 England Championships. At that time, he was dragged 0-3 by North Korea in the quarterfinals with Euzebiu and reached the semifinals with a 5-3 come-from-behind victory, but failed to go to the finals and shed tears.

It is also a team that remains a good memory for Korean soccer. Park Ji-sung's final shot at the 2002 Korea-Japan World Cup set the stage for the round of 16 by winning 1-0. At the 2022 Qatar Games, he also dramatically reached the round of 16 with a 2-1 come-from-behind victory over Portugal.








This article was translated by Naver AI translator.