The joys and sorrows of the World Cup preliminaries: Cristiano Ronaldo sets a record! Haaland’s dream comes true! Italy sighs

In the 6th round of Group F of the European Group Stage, Portugal faced Armenia, which was at the bottom of the group. Although Cristiano Ronaldo was suspended due to an elbow hit in the previous game, Portugal still won 9-1 and secured the top spot in the group with 4 wins, 1 draw and 1 loss, qualifying for the seventh consecutive World Cup. This will also be Ronaldo's 6th World Cup trip. In the previous 5 World Cups, he played a total of 22 times and scored 8 goals.

In the 6th round of Group I of the European Group Stage, Haaland scored 2 goals in 2 minutes to help Norway beat Italy 4-1 in an away game. He scored 37 goals in 8 games and sent his opponents to participate in the play-offs for three consecutive times. At the same time, the team returned to the World Cup finals after 27 years! This will be Haaland's first World Cup appearance. The last time Norway participated in the World Cup was in 1998, and Haaland wasn't even born yet.

England also won the group stage. Facing Albania, Harry Kane scored twice. In the end, England defeated Albania 2-0. Throughout the group stage, England scored 22 goals and conceded 0 goals, ranking first in Group K and advancing to the World Cup finals.

In the African play-off final, Nigeria lost 1-1 (3-4 on penalties) to the Democratic Republic of the Congo after a penalty shootout. It missed the World Cup for two consecutive years. The Democratic Republic of the Congo will participate in the intercontinental play-offs.