Around the same time last year, the qualifying rounds for the 2022 FIFA World Cup were in full swing across the globe, with all the big guns dreaming of squeezing into the quadrennial soccer feast; and at the end of March, the qualifying rounds for the European zone were also ablaze.
The European qualifying tournament is divided into ten groups of five national teams, each team needs to play eight matches (two against each opponent in the same group), and the winners of the ten groups will advance directly to the World Cup. The winners of the ten groups will advance directly to the World Cup. The runners-up in the ten groups will compete with the two teams from the UEFA Nations League for the remaining three World Cup spots. The play-offs are divided into three groups of four teams each, with a single-elimination system, and the first three teams qualify for the World Cup, which is known as the "12 teams for 3 seats".
Group Stage A features Azerbaijan, Ireland, Luxembourg, Serbia and Cairo-led Portugal.
The controversial incident took place on March 28, 2021, matchday 10, when Serbia and Portugal, two of the top teams in Group A, met for the first time at the Red Star Stadium. Portugal took the lead thanks to Diogo Jota's goals in the 11th and 36th minutes of the half, but Serbia fought back tenaciously in the second half, with Aleksandar Mitrovic and Filip Kostic scoring twice for Serbia in the 46th and 60th minutes, respectively, to level the score at 2-2.
In injury time, Portugal attempted to get a final scoring chance before the end of the game when Crowe shot with his right foot as the ball fell to the ground and keeper Mako Dmitrovic was unable to save the shot, which went into the net and only after the ball had fully crossed the goal line was it kicked out of the goal by Stefan Mitrovic. However, as VAR replay or goal line technology was not used in the European qualifying rounds, the decision on whether the goal was validly scored had to rely on the referee's decision, who ruled that the ball had not entered the goal as a whole and therefore the goal was invalid, and even showed a yellow card to Crowe, who had gone up to protest, and the match ended in a draw and in controversy.
The match had a major impact on the fortunes of Serbia and Portugal. After Group Stage was all over, Serbia had won the group with 6 wins and 2 draws (18 goals scored and 8 conceded), while Portugal was in second place with 5 wins, 2 draws and 1 loss (17 goals scored and 6 conceded); however, if Crowe's killer goal had not been canceled out by the referee's miscue, the records of both Serbia and Portugal would have become 6 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, and Portugal would have topped the group after comparing the goal differentials The goal difference will be the same as the goal difference of the two teams.
A wrong decision that affected the entire Group Stage landscape, so to speak, and forced Portugal to face the rigors of the single-elimination knockout system in the play-offs. Considering that Cairo will be over thirty-seven years old by the time the 2022 World Cup is held, this will most likely be his last chance to play in the World Cup, which is especially precious for the soccer legend. However, participation in the play-offs is a foregone conclusion, and Portugal will have to force themselves to fight on.
Jump forward to March 25 this year and Portugal are one step away from a World Cup ticket with a 3-1 win over Turkey at home in Estudio do Dragoão against the winner of the match between Macedonia, ranked 67th in the FIFA World Rankings, and Italy, ranked 6th in the FIFA World Rankings and winners of the UEFA Euro 2020 Nations Cup.
Surprisingly, Macedonia kept its chances of qualifying for the World Cup alive with a 1-0 blowout win over Italy, who were playing at home in Stelio Reinzo Barbera, thanks to Aleksandar Trajkovski's 90th+2nd minute of injury time.
