Cristiano Ronaldo Odds-On For One Last World Cup After Portugal Survive Turkey Scare

Obituaries for Cristiano Ronaldo's glittering international career were being drafted earlier this week.

The thought was that if Portugal failed to qualify for this year's World Cup then soccer's all-time leading scorer might just call it a day.

And the chances of Portugal not qualifying for Qatar 2022 looked considerable as they prepared for a knockout semi-final against a dangerous Turkey side, with the winner then likely to face European champions Italy in a playoff final.

But a lot can change in 90 minutes. And it did.

Portugal did their bit, beating Turkey 3-1 in Porto.

Meanwhile, a massive shock played out 1,200 miles away in Palermo where Italy were beaten 1-0 by North Macedonia courtesy of a 92nd-minute suckerpunch.

All of a sudden, Portugal were clear odds-on favorites to qualify for the World Cup draw on April 1 and the Ronaldo tributes were shelved for now.

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates with Joao Felix and Bernardo Silva after Portugal beat Turkey 3-1 in a World Cup qualifying play-off semi-final

IMAGO/NurPhoto/Pedro Fiuza

Of course, Portugal are not there yet. North Macedonia's win in Italy proves that odds should be taken with a pinch of salt ahead of Tuesday's decider.

Ronaldo and Co could still fall at the final hurdle if they show complacency.

Indeed, they received a scare during their victory over Turkey.

Portugal were 2-0 up at half-time thanks to goals from Otavio and Diogo Jota. But Turkey got back into the game via a Burak Yilmaz strike on 65 minutes.

Then five minutes from the end, Turkey won a penalty and up stepped Yilmaz with the chance to tie the game at 2-2.

Had he scored, momentum would have been with Turkey and the atmosphere inside the Estadio do Dragao could have become uncomfortable for the home team.

But Yilmaz missed the target, Portugal breathed a huge sigh of relief and then went on to score a third goal in added time through Matheus Luiz.

The score of 3-1 arguably flattered Portugal slightly, but they almost made it 4-1 deep into added time when Ronaldo hit the crossbar.

He will be disappointed not to have scored his 116th Portugal goal but he will get another chance on Tuesday.

If Portugal beat North Macedonia, Ronaldo will be all set for his fifth World Cup.

He has scored one goal at each of the last four tournaments, netting against Iran in 2006, North Korea in 2010, Ghana in 2014 and Morocco in 2018.