Holiday Ayo - Cristiano Ronaldo's wish that the 2026 World Cup would be his final international tournament came true.

Without Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal secured a spot in the 2026 World Cup after thrashing Armenia 9-1 in their final UEFA Group F qualifying match.

Bruno Fernandes and Joao Neves were the stars of the victory, each scoring a hat trick.

Playing at the Estadio Do Dragao on Sunday (November 16th), Portugal led 5-1 at halftime. Renato Veiga opened the scoring in the 7th minute after heading in a loose ball in front of the Armenian goal from Fernandes' free kick, which was saved by goalkeeper Henry Avagyan.

The visitors then equalized in the 18th minute. Eduard Spertsyan finished off Grant-Leon Ranos' cross with a close-range shot past Diogo Costa.

However, the draw lasted only 10 minutes as Portugal regained the lead.

Goncalo Ramos intercepted a backpass to gain possession in the penalty area, then beat Avagyan to slot the ball into an empty net.

Less than two minutes later, Portugal scored their third goal through Neves' long-range shot.

Neves scored his second in the match in the 41st minute with a free kick that found the top right corner of the Armenian goal.

Fernandes closed the first half with a 5-1 penalty in injury time after Karen Muradnyan fouled Ruben Dias in the box.

After halftime, Portugal scored their sixth goal in the 51st minute. A one-two between Fernandes and Ramos finished off the former with a low shot into the right corner of the net that Avagyan couldn't stop.

Fernandes scored again from the penalty spot in the 72nd minute after Carlos Forbs was fouled by Sergey Muradnyan in the penalty area.

The Manchester United midfielder's shot into the top corner proved unstoppable for Avagyan.

Neves followed in Fernandes' footsteps by scoring a hat-trick in the 81st minute.

He finished off Nelson Semedo's pass with a close-range shot. Francisco Conceicao's injury-time goal sealed the 9-1 victory.

With this result, Portugal finished first in Group F with 13 points and secured a place in the 2026 World Cup.

The Republic of Ireland finished second with 10 points and secured a playoff spot after a dramatic 3-2 win over Hungary.

Lineups

Portugal: Diogo Costa; Joao Cancelo (Matheus Nunes 73'), Ruben Dias (Ruben Neves 73'), Renato Veiga, Nelson Semedo; Vitinha (Joao Felix 67'), Bernardo Silva (Carlos Forbs 56'), Joao Neves; Rafael Leao (Francisco Conceicao 56'), Goncalo Ramos, Bruno Fernandes.

Armenia: Henry Avagyan; Nair Tiknizyan, Styopa Mkrtchyan, Sergey Muradyan, Erik Piloyan (Georgi Harutyunyan 55'); Eduard Sperstian, Karen Muradyan (Artem Bandikyan 82'), Narek Aghasaryan (Edgar Sevikyan 46'); Artur Serobyan (Zhirayr Shaghoyan 46'), Grant-Leon Ranos (Arayik Eloyan 65'), Kamo Hovhannisyan.