Fernandes at double as Portugal qualify

Portugal secured their place at the World Cup finals as they ended the hopes of North Macedonia in Porto.

A double from Bruno Fernandes clinched victory for the Portuguese at the Estadio do dragao, with the manchester United midfielder scoring either side of the interval in the play-off encounter.

The North Macedonians had sprung a surprise in the semi-finals by defeating Italy 1-0 in Palermo, but Portugal were too streetwise for them and take their place in friday' s draw for the Qatar finals.

They will be joined by Poland, who defeated Sweden 2-0 in Chorzow to book their spot.

A penalty from Robert Lewandowski four minutes after the restart was followed by a Piotr Zielinski strike 17 minutes from time to overcome the Swedes.

Wales, Scotland or Ukraine will be the final European team to qualify for thetournament in november, with a date still to be set for the Scotland v Ukraine clash at Hampden.

Elsewhere, Christian Eriksen scored on an emotional return to Copenhagen’ s Park en stadium as he led denmark to a 3-0 win over Serbia.

The 30-year-old suffered a cardiac arrest during Denmark’s opening Euro 2020 game against Finland last June, needing life saving treatment on the pitch.

Following his recovery, eriksen had an implantable cardioverter defibrillator fitted and, after leaving Inter Milan, joined brent ford in january to resume his career.

Eriksen, who scored two minutes into his international comeback in a 4-2 loss to Holland in Amsterdam on Saturday, netted midway through the second half last night.