Manchester United pair reach World Cup as Anthony Elanga makes Sweden bow

It proved to be a successful evening for Manchester United's international stars on Thursday evening as the line-up for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar took a step closer towards being finalised.

The European nations who had failed to qualify for the tournament via their respective qualifying groups participated in the European play-off semi-finals, whilst the latest batch of South American Football Confederation (CONMEBOL) fixtures took place. There was success across the board for United's players involved, ranging from international debuts to securing a place in Qatar.

Starting with Portugal, they secured their place in a play-off final with a hard-fought 3-1 win over Turkey, meaning Cristiano Ronaldo' s dream of lifting the World Cup is still alive. Goals from Otavio, Diogo Jota and Matheus Nunes sealed the 2016 European Championship winners' spot in the Path C final.

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Despite not getting themselves on the scoresheet, United trio Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo all started. Dalot and Ronaldo completed the full 90 minutes but Fernandes was withdrawn and replaced by William Carvalho with ten minutes remaining, just five minutes before Turkey striker Burak Yilmaz missed a penalty to make it 2-2 and claim his second goal of the night.

Portugal will now face North Macedonia in a straight shoot-out on Tuesday evening to reach the World Cup. They stunned Italy with a last-gasp 1-0 win in Palermo, meaning Roberto Mancini's side have failed to qualify for a second successive World Cup.

Elsewhere in the European play-offs, Wales moved to within one game of their first appearance at the World Cup finals since 1958 with a 2-1 win over Austria in