World qualifying night: Cristiano Ronaldo s elbow stains Portugal 0-2, England 2-0 for 10th consecutive victory, Italy 2-0

In the early morning of November 14th, the European zone competition of the US-Canada-Mexico World Cup qualifiers continued. Three of the top ten teams in the world, France, Italy, and England, made their debut.

Moldova 0-2 Italy

Losing to Norway in the first round of the World Cup preliminaries made Italy's path to direct advancement very difficult. Although they won all the next five rounds, Norway's performance was so good that they could take three points in every round.

Therefore, before this game, Italy was already 6 points behind Norway, which had played one more game. Even if Italy wins this round and is 3 points behind Norway, considering the huge gap between the two teams' goal difference, even if Italy wins Norway in the last round, it will be difficult to advance directly.

In the entire first half, Italy completed 13 shots and Moldova only had 2. However, except for Cambiaso's comparable shot, Italy did not have many scoring opportunities.

The deadlock was not broken until the 88th minute. Dimarco provided an assist and Mancini dived over the top to help Italy take the lead.

In the 92nd minute, after receiving a pass from Politano, Esposito jumped high and headed the ball to seal the victory.

In the end, Italy defeated Moldova, ranked 156th in the world, 2-0 and ushered in 6 consecutive victories in the world preliminaries. However, Norway won all 7 games. Italy needs to beat Norway by 18 goals in the final round to advance to the top spot, otherwise it will have to participate in the play-offs.

England 2-0 Serbia

England, ranked fourth in the world, has always performed very steadily in the World Cup qualifying stage. After a 5-0 away victory over Latvia, England won all 6 games in the group stage and advanced two rounds in advance.

It is worth noting that, including the 3-game winning streak in the UEFA Nations League, England has maintained a complete victory in the last 9 official games and has conceded 0 goals in the last 8 games.

England's opponent in this round, Serbia, is currently only ranked third in the group, 1 point behind Albania.

In the 25th minute, England got a free kick in the frontcourt. Rajkovic punched out with both fists, but the ball was not hit far. O'Reilly's shot was blocked. Saka shot directly without stopping the ball, and the ball went into the net.

In the 90th minute, England launched a quick counterattack, and Eze scored a perfect world wave to seal the victory.

In the end, England defeated Serbia 2-0 without any blood, ushering in 7 consecutive victories in the World Cup preliminaries, 10 consecutive victories in all competitions, and all the opponents in the past 9 games. Serbia missed the World Cup one round early.

Ireland 2-0 Portugal

It was not until Ireland defeated Armenia 1-0 at home in the last round of qualifiers that they struggled to win their first victory in the group. However, Ireland ranks third with 4 points from 4 rounds, only 1 point behind Hungary.

Portugal, ranked fifth in the world, suffered a big upset in the last round. It drew 2-2 at home with Hungary when a win would qualify them two rounds ahead of schedule.

Of course, with a 5-point lead over the second place in the group and a home game against Armenia in the final round, it is basically only a matter of time before Portugal advances to the top spot.

In the 18th minute, Ireland got a free kick. Skiles headed the ball over, and Patero scored an unmarked header from close range, giving Ireland the lead.

At the end of the first half, Ireland launched a simple and effective quick counterattack. Patero succeeded in hitting the near corner after continuous horizontal dribbling. After halftime, Portugal was already 0-2 behind.

In the second half of the game, neither team scored a goal. In the 63rd minute, Ronaldo elbowed his opponent in the penalty area and was sent off with a red card.

In the end, Portugal suffered an upset in the away game, losing 0-2 to Ireland. They were winless in two rounds of the World Cup preliminaries and continued to rank first in the group. In the final round, Portugal faced Armenia at home. Cristiano Ronaldo was red-faced because of elbowing his opponent and missed the stage.