Cristiano Ronaldo Set For Fifth FIFA World Cup As Portugal Beat North Macedonia To Qualify

Cristiano Ronaldo is set to compete at his fifth FIFA World Cup this year after helping Portugal beat North Macedonia in a qualifying playoff.

Ronaldo assisted Bruno Fernandes for the opener in Porto, before his Manchester United teammate scored again to wrap up a 2-0 win.

Portugal went into the game as big favorites but will have been wary of North Macedonia's ability to cause a shock after they beat Italy 1-0 in last week's semi-final.

But nothing other than a Portugal win looked remotely likely after Fernandes opened the scoring on 32 minutes.

Fernandes intercepted a wayward square pass and played a one-two with Ronaldo before slotting a low shot past keeper Stole Dimitrievski.

Dimitrievski was beaten again 20 minutes into the second half when Fernandes finished off a fine counter-attack with a sweet volley.

North Macedonia were unable to register a single shot on target as Portugal looked good value for their victory.

Ronaldo and Co can now look ahead to the World Cup draw on April 1.

Qatar 2022 will be Ronaldo's fifth appearance at a FIFA World Cup.

Ronaldo has scored at each of the last four World Cups, but Portugal have not reached the quarter-finals since his first in 2006.