Mitrovic late winner sends Serbia to World Cup and Ronaldo’s Portugal into play-offs

Fulham striker Aleksandar Mitrovic scored a dramatic late winner as Serbia booked their place at next year’s World Cup and condemned Portugal to the play-offs.

Hosts Portugal only needed a draw to qualify and looked to have done enough, with Renato Sanches’ opener cancelled out by Dusan Tadic’s equaliser.

Mitrovic, who started the game on the bench, was sent on at half-time, but it wasn’t until the final seconds that the Fulham man sensationally headed in the winner, prompting wild celebrations.

Serbia finish top of Group A with 20 points, three more than Portugal, whose hopes of playing in Qatar next year rest on two rounds of play-offs in March.

The defeat also ended Portugal’s unbroken winning run in home World Cup qualifiers which had stretched back to October 2013.