Kylian Mbappe of France (Photo: Franco Arland/Getty Images) France have secured their place at the 2026 World Cup, led by Kylian Mbappé. Meanwhile, Cristiano Ronaldo faces a potential ban from Portugal’s opening game if his side manage to win their European qualifying group.France qualified with a convincing 4-0 home win against Ukraine, highlighted by a brace from Mbappé. Portugal’s journey hit a snag after a surprise 2-0 defeat to Ireland in Dublin, where Ronaldo received his first ever international red card.
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The French dominance continued in the second half as Michael Olise and substitute Hugo Ekitiké added to the score.In Paris’ Parc des Princes, Mbappé opened the scoring from a penalty in the 55th minute. Olise increased the lead with a curling effort in the 76th minute, followed closely by Mbappé in the 83rd. This brought Mbappé’s international goal tally to 55, just two behind Olivier Giroud’s national record.“The French national team will always be better with him in it. He makes it easier for us. Tonight he played his role perfectly, as a player and captain of the national team,” coach Didier Deschamps said of Mbappé.Mbappé almost completed his hat-trick but missed a clear opportunity shortly after his second goal.France lead Group D with 13 points, while Ukraine and Iceland are separated by seven points each, making for a decisive second-place match on Sunday.Portugal’s situation was complicated when Ronaldo was red-carded for elbowing Ireland’s Dara O’Shea after an hour of play. The initial yellow card was changed to red after video review.“I thought it was a bit harsh. He’s never been sent off in 226 games,” Portugal coach Roberto Martinez commented on the incident.Ronaldo will miss Portugal’s game against Armenia due to a mandatory one-match ban. FIFA rules may extend this extension to at least two matches for foul play.Ireland’s win came thanks to two goals from Troy Parrott. He first scored with a header in the 17th minute and just before half-time he doubled the lead with a ground shot.Norway’s World Cup prospects brightened when Erling Haaland scored twice in a 4-1 win over Estonia to move them closer to their first World Cup appearance since 1998.Italy secured a 2-0 victory against Moldova with late goals from Gianluca Mancini and Francesco Pio Esposito. They are three points behind Norway in Group I.Italy face Norway in their final game and need an unlikely nine-goal win to qualify directly due to Norway’s high goal difference.Haaland contributed 14 goals to Norway’s impressive tally of 33 in seven group games, the most in European qualification.England maintained their perfect record in Group K with a 2-0 win over Serbia at Wembley Stadium to continue their run without conceding a goal.First for England, Bukayo Saka scored with a left-footed volley in the 28th minute. Eberechi Eze, assisted by Phil Foden, sealed the win in the 90th minute.In the same group, Albania secured second place by defeating Andorra 1-0.Portugal currently leads Group F with 10 points, followed by Hungary with eight and Ireland with seven. In the final qualifiers, Portugal will host Armenia and Hungary will face Ireland.
