Portugal had a two-goal lead in Belgrade, leading 2-0 at half-time thanks to goals from Diogo Jota, but Serbia found a way to avoid defeat.
The new formation in the continuation gave a result to Dragan Stojković Pixi, the rhythm changed when Nemanja Radonjić entered, so the "eagles" drew a point - it was 2:2, with goals from Aleksandar Mitrović and Filip Kostić.
And if they had VAR technology in the qualifiers, or even "goal-line" technology, Portugal would have won all three points tonight at the "Rajko Mitić" stadium, because in the last seconds of the match, Cristiano Ronaldo was not awarded a clear goal.
In the 93rd minute, Stefan Mitrović hit the ball only after it crossed the goal line after a shot by the Portuguese ace.
Ronaldo received a yellow card for his fierce objection, and later threw the captain's armband on the grass of the "Rajko Mitic" stadium.
Mitrović scored for the 39th time in the national team and is the best scorer in Serbia's history... Until tonight, he was tied with Stjepan Bobek.
In the same group, Luxembourg won Dublin - it was better than the Republic of Ireland 1:0, the only goal was scored by Jerson Rodriguez in the 85th minute.
The Czech Republic and Belgium shared the points in Prague - 1:1.
Lukaš Provod gave the home team the advantage, and Romelu Lukaku saved the Red Devils from defeat.
Malta had a two-goal advantage when visiting Slovakia, but David Strelec and Milan Škrinjar scored for a draw - 2:2.
Results
Group A
Serbia - Portugal 2:2
Republic of Ireland - Luxembourg 0:1
Azerbaijan is free.
Group E
Czech Republic - Belgium 1:1
Belarus - Estonia 4:2
Wales is free.
Group H
Slovakia - Malta 2:2
Croatia - Cyprus 1:0
Russia - Slovenia 2:1.
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