Portugal Beat Armenia 9 – 1 ! Fernandes & Neves Hat-Tricks
Image : Special. Photo : LUSA
SAPNews, Porto: Portugal qualified for the 2026 World Cup on Sunday, after beating Armenia 9-1, Bruno Fernandes and Joรฃo Neves scored hat-tricks.
Player Joรฃo Neves feels proud of this result because he managed to score three goals and qualify Portugal for the 2026 World Cup.
“The most important thing is qualifying for the World Cup. For me, as I always say, the team always comes before the individual.”
“I’m very happy to have scored my first goal for the national team, and my second and third goals as well. I’m happy to be able to share the pitch with great players and a great team.” Joรฃo Neves told RTP in Portugal, 16/11/2025. Quoted Reuters
Portugal equalized when defender Renato Veiga scored with a header in the seventh minute but they were surprised when Eduard Spetsyan converted Grant-Leon Ranos’ cross in the 11th minute.
It was Armenia’s third goal in the qualifying group having failed to score in the previous three games.
However, the hopes of victory were quickly dashed as Ramos restored it with a goal, while Neves added two before half-time.
Later, Bruno Fernandes converted a penalty in added time in the first half to make it 5-1, before the break.
The second half continued with the same pattern, although there were many substitutions but the pressure of Portugal never stopped and they got another penalty, so Bruno Fernandes completed with a hat-trick. Later, Joรฃo Neves added his third goal in the second half, and Francisco Conceiรงรฃo also scored a goal for Armenia.
Armenia coach Yegishe Melikyan acknowledged the weaknesses of the team and optimistic that through this game the team can be stronger in the future.
“We have a young team and we are not ready to play against strong teams like Portugal. After such games, we will be stronger in the future,” said Armenia coach Yegishe Melikyan.
“We made mistakes that hurt our team and we didn’t expect the mistakes that happened for Portugal’s second and third goals. We’re not mentally prepared for these kinds of games.”
Ireland finished second in the group with 10 points to earn a playoff spot after they beat Hungary 3-2 with a last-gasp goal in the sixth minute of extra time.