Portugal edging closer to the World Cup with a comfortable 3-1 victory over Turkey, whose striker Burak Yilmaz missed a penalty five minutes from time that would have tied the teams in their playoff semi-final on Thursday.
Portugal dominated the game from the start, going 2-0 up in the first half after Otavio scored one goal and created another for Diogo Jota in front of a sold-out Dragao Stadium in Porto.
However, Fernando Santos’ team was pegged back by a Yilmaz goal in the 65th minute, which had Portuguese fans on the edge of their seats as Turkey began to threaten.
In the 85th minute, defender Jose Fonte fouled Enes Unal inside the box, resulting in a penalty that Yilmaz fired high over the bar.
Portugal substitute Matheus Nunes relieved the pressure on the hosts with a counter-attack goal in added time.
After missing out on automatic qualification in November, they will now play North Macedonia on Tuesday, with the winner qualifying for the World Cup in Qatar in 2022.
