GROUP A

Portugal was in a strong position when Renato Sanches scored the opening goal after just two minutes against Serbia, but Dusan Tadic kept Serbia in the game with an equalizer in the 33rd. Mitrovic’s late header silenced the crowd and shocked Portugal’s players, including Ronaldo, who sat on the field at the final whistle.

“It was an amazing game, fully deserved,” Mitrovic said. “I think we deserved to win the game and to be in Qatar.”

Beating Portugal for the first time marks a turnaround after Serbia failed to qualify for the European Championship.

There’s one positive for Portugal. Its comparatively strong record in the group means it will be one of the seeded teams for the playoffs in March and will get a home draw for the single-leg bracket semifinal game. Portugal last missed a World Cup in 1998.

Ireland won 3-0 at Luxembourg in the other Group A game.