Cristiano Ronaldo furious as Portugal denied last-minute winner against Serbia

Serbia 2-2 Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo furious as Portugal denied last-minute winner against Serbia (Video & Pictures)

Cristiano Ronaldo stormed off the pitch at full time when he was denied a stoppage-time winner in Portugal's 2-2 draw in Serbia.

Liverpool forward Diogo Jota scored twice with his head for the visitors before Serbia battle back to earn a draw in their World Cup qualifying match.

Aleksandar Mitrovic reduced the deficit before Filip Kostic completed the comeback.

But the current European champions were angry when the referee concluded that Cristiano Ronaldo's last-gasp effort had not crossed the line.

Portugal's all-time leading scorer thought he had scored the winner and was enraged when he realised that the officials had ruled otherwise.

Goalline technology was unavailable for the match.

At the final whistle, Portugal's all-time highest goal scorer threw his captain's armband to the turf and charged down the tunnel after he was booked for protesting the disallowed goal at the Rajko Mitic Stadium in Belgrade.

Cristiano Ronaldo walked off the pitch before the final whistle at the end of the Serbia-Portugal game, and threw his captain's armband in frustration. pic.twitter.com/I2i9uwkPhM

— ESPN FC (@ESPNFC) March 27, 2021

Ronaldo posted this on Instagram after the match: "There are moments which are tough to digest especially when we feel the entire nation is being punished. We will keep our heads up and move on to the next challenge."

Portugal coach Fernando Santos said the referee apologised after the match.

He said: "The referee apologised to me straight after the game and we now have to move on.

"It was a clear goal but there is nothing we can do now. We controlled the first half but lost our focus in the second and failed to contain Serbia as they surged forward."

Cristiano Ronaldo is the second player with the most goals in international football with 102 goals for Portugal, just 7 goals behind Iranian legend Ali Daei who has 109 goals to his name.

This disallowed goal could have taken Cristiano Ronaldo one goal closer to breaking the record for most goals in international football and also given Portugal a crucial away win in Group A of the World cup qualifying match.