England qualifies for the 2026 World Cup, Ronaldo sets record as Portugal held

FIFA World Cup 2026 – (Special Correspondent / Desk) – Harry Kane scored twice as England hammered Latvia 5-0 on Tuesday, securing qualifying for the 2026 World Cup, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal had to wait until the finals after being held 2-2 by Hungary.

Meanwhile, pro-Palestinian demonstrations preceded Italy’s crucial victory over Israel, and Spain took another stride toward qualification with a massive win over Bulgaria.

Thomas Tuchel’s England defeated Latvia in Riga to make it six victories from six in Group K and secure first position before their last two games next month; they have 18 points and an unassailable seven-point advantage over second-placed Albania.

Anthony Gordon opened the scoring before Kane produced a lethal finish, and then netted a penalty to make it 3-0 at half-time – the Bayern Munich striker has 21 goals in 13 games this season for club and country.

Maksims Tonisevs scored an own-goal and Eberechi Eze added the fifth, with England now able to look forward to December’s draw for next year’s finals.

“It comes rarely that you qualify for a World Cup, so the mood is very, very good,” said Tuchel.

Portugal held by Hungary despite Ronaldo scoring record

All 12 group winners in Europe qualify directly for the World Cup, with the runners-up going on to the playoffs.

Serbia are a point behind Albania after fighting back to win 3-1 in Andorra.

Guillaume Lopez gave Andorra the lead with a fantastic strike from inside the center circle that went over Serbia goalkeeper Djordje Petrovic.

Serbia leveled through Christian Garcia’s own goal before Dusan Vlahovic headed them ahead and Aleksandar Mitrovic converted a penalty.

Portugal was on the verge of punching their ticket as they led Hungary 2-1 in stoppage time in Lisbon, knowing that a win would secure first place in Group F.

Hungary went ahead thanks to Attila Szalai’s header, but Ronaldo equalized midway through the first half by turning in Nelson Semedo’s drove cross.

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Ronaldo then converted a Nuno Mendes cross to give Portugal the lead in first-half stoppage time, taking the 40-year-old Al Nassr superstar to an all-time international record of 143 goals in 225 appearances for his country.

He now holds the record for the most goals in World Cup qualifying, with 41, two more than retired Guatemala international Carlos Ruiz, on 39.

However, Hungary snatched a draw when Liverpool’s Dominik Szoboszlai finished from close range in injury time.

That means Hungary remain five points behind Portugal, with two games left, and so, could still top Group F. Ireland, theoretically, could, too, after Evan Ferguson’s header secured a 1-0 victory against Armenia, who had Tigran Barseghyan sent off.

Protests in Italy as Israel knocked out of qualifiers

Italy’s meeting with Israel in Udine was preceded by skirmishes between some pro-Palestinian activists and police, while thousands more calmly marched through the northern Italian city in protest of the hosting of a match they believed should not have taken place.

There have been proposals for FIFA to exclude Israel from international games in response to the country’s harsh two-year offensive in the Gaza Strip, which followed Hamas’ cross-border attack on October 7, 2023.

There was a huge security presence around the Bluenergy Stadium hosting the Group I fixture, won 3-0 by Italy. Israel’s defeat ends their bid for 2026 World Cup qualification.

The Azzurri are desperate to qualify for the World Cup, having failed to make it to the last two editions.

Mateo Retegui converted a penalty in first-half stoppage time and scored again with a stunning hit on 74 minutes.

Gianluca Mancini headed in a late third to ensure that Italy will finish at least second in the group, and are now just three points behind the leaders, Norway, with two games left.

The teams meet next month, but Norway’s superior goal difference keeps them on track to finish first.  Estonia and Moldova tied 1-1 in the same group on Tuesday.

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Spain, the European champions, have four wins from four in Group E after defeating Bulgaria 4-0 in Valladolid.

Mikel Merino scored two headers and now has six goals in four games in qualifying. Atanas Chernev scored an own-goal before Mikel Oyarzabal converted a late penalty.

“We don’t have much further to go to get to the World Cup, but it’s not done yet… I hope we keep winning,” Merino told Spanish television.

Spain are three points clear of Turkiye, who beat Georgia 4-1 at home, with Merih Demiral bagging a brace. Kenan Yildiz and Yunus Akgun also scored for them.