Republic of Ireland's already remote chances of earning a place in the Euro 2024 qualifying play-offs came to an emphatic end as Slovakia booked their spot in next year's finals with a 4-2 victory over Iceland in Bratislava.
The Boys in Green needed a series of results to go their way in two of the qualification groups to stand any chance of getting into the play-offs.
One of those scenarios included needing Iceland to qualify automatically from Group J.
But in order for that to occur, the Icelandic team would have needed to beat both Slovakia and Portugal during this November window, while hoping that the Slovakians also failed to pick up another point in their final group encounter against Bosnia on Sunday, along with Luxembourg not accumulating more than four points this month.
But as it happened, Slovakia came from a goal down to see off Iceland and seal second spot in the group.
Despite an early scare when Iceland's Orri Oskarsson headed in the opening goal in the 17th minute, the hosts dominated the remainder of the match as they went on to qualify for a third successive Euros.
Juraj Kucka equalised at the half-hour mark before Ondrej Duda completed the turnaround six minutes later, slotting home a penalty after Kristian Hlynsson fouled him.
After the break, Slovakia dominated, with Lukas Haraslin scoring two minutes into the second half and completing his brace eight minutes later with a curled shot from the edge of the box.
Iceland's Andri Gudjohnsen breathed life into the match in the 74th minute, using his thigh to bounce the ball in from a corner, only a minute after coming on.
The victory ensures a top-two finish for Slovakia in Group J along with already-qualified Portugal.
Luxembourg thumped Bosnia 4-1 but fell short of that top-two finish, leaving both teams in the hunt for a place for Euro 2024 in the play-offs.
The home side took the lead after six minutes when Mathias Olesen's header flew into the top right-hand corner of Nikola Vasilj's goal.
Luxembourg extended the lead 20 minutes later after a penalty taken by Gerson Rodrigues following a foul by Amir Hadziahmetovic on Leandro Barreiro, after a VAR review, that caused the away crowd to throw flares onto the pitch. The hosts' third came 10 minutes after the break, following an own goal from defender Nihad Mujakic from Dirk Carlson's rebounded cross.
A late Renato Gojkovic goal gave the Bosnians some breathing space in added time before Rodrigues scored his second goal two minutes later.
Cristiano Ronaldo found the back of the net to help Portugal beat Liechtenstein 2-0 as the 38-year-old tied Belgium's Romelu Lukaku as the Euro 2024 qualifying campaign's top scorer.
Portugal manager Roberto Martinez decided not to rest any of his usual starters but his side struggled against their lowly rivals and were unable to break the deadlock in the first half.
But in the first minute of the second half, Diogo Jota's through ball found Ronaldo, who cut inside between two defenders and unleashed an unstoppable left-footed shot that skimmed the crossbar before going in.
Ronaldo extended his lead as the all-time top scorer in international soccer by moving up to 128 goals in 204 matches.
Joao Cancelo extended their lead in the 56th minute, taking advantage of a blunder by goalkeeper Benjamin Buechel, who was out of position, to striked into the empty net.
Elsewhere, Spain closed in on clinching top spot in Group A when they strolled to a 3-1 away win against Cyprus.
The result put them on 18 points with one game left, two ahead of second-placed Scotland, who had also already qualified and were held to a 2-2 draw in Georgia.
Spain manager Luis de la Fuente rested several regular starters at lowly Cyprus and his second-string team were rarely bothered by the locals, with 16-year-old Lamine Yamal opening the scoring from close range after dribbling past a defender and the keeper in a fine effort in the fifth minute.
It was Yamal's second goal with Spain, after the Barcelona wonderkid became the country's youngest international and goals corer aged 16 years and 57 days as he made his debut away to Georgia in their Euro 2024 qualifier last September.
Real Sociedad captain Mikel Oyarzabal struck with a tidy finish under the goalkeeper's legs in the 22nd minute to double the advantage, but had to wait for the confirmation from the VAR as his effort was first ruled out for a suspected offside.
Real Madrid forward Joselu scored the third six minutes later with a first-touch finish from a corner as Spain were cruising against fragile opponents, who are bottom with no points in eight games.
As the visitors took their foot off the gas pedal after the break, Kostas Pileas netted the consolation goal in a counter attack late in the second half.
Hungary qualified for the Euro 2024 finals with a game to spare after a last-gasp own goal from Alex Petkov earned them a 2-2 away draw against Bulgaria in Group G.
The result put them on top of the group with 15 points from seven games, with an unassailable four-point lead over third-placed Montenegro, who beat Lithuania 2-0 to move within two points of second-placed Serbia ahead of Sunday's final group fixtures.
Serbia will host Bulgaria while Montenegro must beat Hungary to have any chance of taking second place.
In Group F, already-qualified Austria went top of the standings above Belgium following a 2-0 away win over Estonia, while Sweden slumped to a 3-0 loss to Azerbaijan.
Additional reporting: Reuters
Watch Norway Under-21 vs Republic of Ireland Under-21 in Euro 2025 qualifying on Friday from 4.30pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player and follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app
Watch the Netherlands v Republic of Ireland on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player this Saturday from 7pm, follow a live blog on www.rte.ie/sport and the RTÉ News app or listen to commentary on RTÉ 2fm.
Watch the Women's FAI Cup final, Athlone Town v Shelbourne, on Sunday from 2.15pm on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player. Follow a live blog on RTÉ.ie/Sport and the RTÉ News app and listen to live radio commentary on Sunday Sport on RTÉ Radio 1.
