Cristiano Ronaldo trains with Portugal for crunch World Cup qualifier - in pictures

Cristiano Ronaldo and his Portugal teammates trained in Porto on Monday ahead of their key World Cup qualifier final against North Macedonia.

The Macedonians pulled off one of the great World Cup qualification upsets by knocking out European champions Italy 1-0 in the play-off semi-final on Thursday.

An injury time strike by Aleksandar Trajkovski was enough to send Roberto Mancini's Azzuri, who had 32 attempts at goal, packing in Palermo. It meant that the Italians have failed to qualify for the past two World Cups.

Now Ronaldo and Co, who survived a scare to beat Turkey 3-1 in the other playoff semi-final, must take on the Balkan nation in the final at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto.

2016 European champions Portugal are ranked eighth in the world, with the Macedonians a lowly 67th, but veteran Portuguese midfielder Joao Moutinho warned his teammates against complacency.

"At the moment football is different. Anybody can beat anybody. Names, numbers and statistics don't matter," said Moutinho.

"We have to show on the pitch that we have more quality and impose our own game."

Speaking on Monday of North Macedonia's shock win, Ronaldo said: "We were surprised. North Macedonia has surprised in many matches. But I don’t think they will surprise us tomorrow. Portugal will play better and we will make it to the World Cup.

“We know that if we win we will go to the World Cup and if we lose we are out. We have the responsibility to be positive and win the match. I see everyone well prepared and wanting to be at their best tomorrow. There is no World Cup without Portugal.” Ronaldo said.

Otavio celebrates with Cristiano Ronaldo after scoring Portugal's opening goal in their 3-1 World Cup play-off against Turkey in Porto on March 24,