Follow Portugal Investment Immigration and Life in Portugal: In the early hours of November 20, Beijing time, all matches of the UEFA World Cup qualifying playoffs concluded, finalizing the remaining four spots for the World Cup finals from Europe. In two key matches, the Portugal team defeated Sweden twice to qualify, while France staged a remarkable comeback with three goals.
In a highly anticipated playoff, the second leg between Portugal and Sweden took place in Sweden. In the first leg, Portugal won 1-0 thanks to a last-minute goal from Cristiano Ronaldo. In the second leg, playing away, Portugal again triumphed over Sweden 3-2, with Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick, securing their advancement. After this match, Ronaldo set a new personal record for goals in a calendar year, totaling 66 goals in 2013. Sweden's star player Zlatan Ibrahimović scored twice in the second leg, briefly leveling the aggregate score, but Ronaldo's subsequent two goals shattered Sweden's World Cup dreams.
Compared to Sweden, France faced a more precarious situation, having lost the first leg 0-2 to Ukraine. However, in the second leg at home, France transformed dramatically, winning 3-0 against Ukraine, overturning the aggregate score to 3-2. French defender Sakho opened the scoring, and Benzema initially had a goal disallowed, but later scored a valid goal from an offside position. Ukrainian defender Khacheridi received two yellow cards and was sent off. Subsequently, Sakho forced an own goal from the opponent.
In the other two playoff matches, Greece drew 1-1 away against Romania, advancing with an aggregate score of 4-2; Croatia defeated Iceland 2-0 at home, advancing with an aggregate score of 2-0.