Portugal stunned: World Cup aspirations take major hit after Serbia score last-minute goal to send Portugal to the play-offs

Portuguese football fans have been left shellshocked after Serbia scored a last-gasp winner to leapfrog Portugal in their World Cup qualifying group and send Fernando Santos’ side to the dreaded play-offs.

Optimism was high heading into the game, supporters safe in the knowledge that simply a draw would be sufficient to send Portugal to the 2022 World Cup finals in Qatar as group winners.

The tension was eased even further very early on as Portugal made a blistering start, Bernardo Silva dispossessing Serbia on the edge of their box and releasing the ball to Renato Sanches, who thundered home with confidence in the opening 5 minutes to give his side the lead.

However, rather than building on the advantage which they managed to obtain, Portugal instead retreated and looked to defend their slender lead, allowing Serbia to put on all the pressure and build momentum, with the game very quickly slipping out of Portugal’s control.

Struggling to get out of their own half and beat the relentless press of Serbia, it wasn’t long before they were the only side looking dangerous, and having gained the ascendancy, they soon made their pressure count, Tadic’s effort from the edge of the box being spilled over the line by Rui Patricio - who before the game received an award for having reached 100 senior caps for the national team.

From that point there was a minor reaction from Portugal, who started to put a little more pressure on Serbia until the break, though still momentum was with the visitors, and a tense and challenging second half awaited.

Despite Portugal’s struggles, it was Serbia who made the only change at half time, bringing on their star target man Aleksandar Mitrovic to add even more fire-power to their ranks, and more reason for concern for a shaky Portugal backline that was sorely missing the presence of Pepe.

And though Portugal managed to just about keep their opponents at arms length throughout the second half, restricting their opponents mainly to half chances, they gradually became more and more cautious, finishing the match with Danilo Pereira, Joao Palhinha and Ruben Neves all on the field to try and see out the result.

But Portugal were to suffer late, late heartbreak, Dusan Tadic whipping in a breautiful cross to the far post, where substitute Mitrovic was able to head home unmarked, sending the away side into wild celebrations, reminiscent of Portugal’s outpouring of jubilation following Eder’s rifled goal against France in Paris in the Euro 2016 final. This time, however, it was Portugal suffering the anguish of watching their opponents celebrate on their own turf, and they now have the difficult task of picking themselves up and making amends in four months’ time.

One of the worst international breaks in Portugal’s recent history

It is difficult to remember Portugal putting on two such lacklustre and costly performances back to back in a single international break, first just about securing a 0-0 draw against a Republic of Ireland side, who were the better team on the night, that are lacking any serious world-class quality, before then suffering this truly disastrous 1-2 defeat to Serbia, who dominated the match from the 2nd minute to the end. A one-off bad performance is excusable, but this isn’t the first time Portugal have looked so uninspiring and flat, and Fernando Santos has some difficult questions to answer if he is to turn things around and keep hold of his job, which is under more scrutiny than ever following this debacle.

Portugal were second best throughout the clash with Serbia, leaving many supporters scratching their heads as their star-studded squad, containing the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Renato Sanches, Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, failed to show any signs of cohesion and identity as they stumbled into a defeat that looked increasingly likely as the night progressed.

It is not unusual for Portugal to have to do things the hard way, of course. In qualifying for Euro 2012, for example, Portugal knew that a draw against Denmark would see them qualify for the competition proper, but they ended up losing 2-1 and thus having to take part in the play-offs to progress to the tournament finals. After drawing 0-0 away to Bosnia and Herzegovina, they secured an emphatic 6-2 win at home in the reverse fixture to eventually claim their place at Euro 2012 - where they reached the semi-finals.

It was a similar story in qualifying for the 2010 World Cup two years earlier, again finishing behind Denmark in an enthralling qualifying campaign that saw them only just finish above a very decent Sweden side too. Portugal faced Bosnia and Herzegovina in the play-offs on that occasion too, winning both home and away by one-goal-to-nil to advance to the finals before being knocked out in the round of 16.

Qualifying for the 2014 World Cup was also done the hard way, Portugal finishing below Russia in their group, having to play against Sweden over two legs to make it to the World Cup group stage. It served up one of the most entertaining matches in Portuguese football history, with Paulo Bento’s side just about managing to get the job done thanks to a brilliant Cristiano Ronaldo hattrick.

On this occasion, though, things are going to be even more challenging for Portugal, having to beat not just one, but two teams to qualify for the 2022 World Cup - with both rounds of the play-offs set to be one-legged affairs. Portugal know they will be hosts in the first round, but, should they win that one, they could then be drawn as the away side in the final fixture.

The draw for the play-offs will take place on the 26th November at 17:00 Central European Time.