“I had told [the group] that we were going to Qatar. Not the last time [in the victory over Turkey], but the penultimate time [after the defeat against Serbia], when the atmosphere was not very good. The Portuguese are like that: in decisive moments, they are equal to the circumstances. That's what happened tonight. Exceptional. We had to win, but we won very well”, said Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa.

Five days after having eliminated Turkey (3-1), in the semi-finals of path C of the European play-offs, Portugal triumphed again at Estádio do Dragão, in Porto, with two goals from Bruno Fernandes, at 32 and 65 minutes, guaranteeing their place in the next World Cup.

“It is [an example for the country]. Often, we leave it to the last minute, but today it wasn't like that. We weren't scared, we didn't have to suffer or wait. We got off to a good start, we scored the first goal, then the second and we always dominated. We played very well. It was a great game and night”, added the President of the Republic, who watched the match at FC Porto's grounds.