Portugal lost 2-1 to Serbia in Group A of the UEFA Qatar 2022 qualifiers and will have to play the playoffs to access the next World Cup. This will be the second time the Portuguese national team faces this stage with Cristiano Ronaldo.
The first time the Portuguese played a playoff led by 'Bicho' was in the qualifiers for Brazil 2014. On that occasion, they faced the Swedish national team led by Zlatan Ibrahimović. The key figure of the tie was 'CR7', who scored four goals to secure the qualification for his country.
The first leg ended 1-0 in favor of Portugal with a goal from Cristiano. The second leg was much more complicated, as they defeated the Swedes 3-2 with a hat-trick from the Manchester United footballer.
It is worth noting that for the qualifiers for South Africa 2010, the Portuguese national team played the playoff against Bosnia and Herzegovina, which they won with an aggregate score of 2-0. However, the 'Comandante' did not play any of these matches due to an ankle injury.
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How is the European playoffs for Qatar 2022 defined?
The 10 teams that finish in second place in their group and two of the countries that won their respective groups in the Nations League will access the European playoffs. Of these 12 teams, only three will qualify for the Qatar 2022 World Cup.
First, six ties will be formed that will be played in a single match. The winners of these series will play another playoff to define the last three spots that the UEFA awards for the World Cup.