Having etched his name into Republic of Ireland folklore, Troy Parrott let the tears flow.

At the end of a whirlwind 72 hours, the striker's raw emotion was understandable. On Thursday, Parrott upstaged Cristiano Ronaldo with two goals to sink Portugal and take the Republic of Ireland's play-off push into the final game.

Carrying a nation's hopes on his back in Budapest, the 23-year-old Dubliner rose to the occasion in spectacular fashion.

Against Hungary, his penalty brought the Irish level after they fell behind to an early Daniel Lukacs header. Then, after Barnabas Varga's stunning strike, he equalised again with a deft finish 10 minutes from time.

The Republic of Ireland needed a win to make the play-offs, and after substitute Johnny Kenny was denied, Parrott seized the match-winning moment when he latched on to Liam Scales' header, poked the ball into the Hungary net and wheeled away in ecstasy in a heart-stopping finale at Puskas Arena.

"I'm really, really emotional. They're tears of joy. Ah, what a night, what a night," the AZ Alkmaar striker, who led the line in Evan Ferguson's absence, told RTE.

"This is why we love football, because things like this can happen. Look, I love where I'm from, so this means the world to me. My family is here.

"It's the first time I've cried in years as well, I really, really can't believe it. Everyone is crying.

"I said against Portugal that this is what dreams are made of, but this tonight, I don't think I'll ever have a better night in my whole life.

"That is really a fairy tale. You can't even dream about something like that. Honestly, I have no words to describe my emotions right now."

Parrott's heroics - becoming the first Republic of Ireland player to score a hat-trick away from home in a competitive game - capped a campaign of two halves.

After drawing their opening qualifier with Hungary in Dublin, the Irish fell to a dismal defeat by Armenia in Yerevan.

And when Ruben Neves' late header shattered them in Lisbon, their race looked run at the halfway point.

But after exacting revenge on Armenia, Parrott inspired them to famous wins over Portugal and Hungary to keep alive their dream of ending a 24-year wait for World Cup football.

It is a remarkable turnaround for head coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, who faced probing questions about his future during the early part of the campaign.

The Icelander was a surprise choice to replace Stephen Kenny last year, but having navigated a turbulent first year at the helm, he has the chance to emulate Jack Charlton and Mick McCarthy by leading the Republic of Ireland on to football's grandest stage.

His side will be required to win two play-off games for that to happen, but they will approach those make-or-break matches in March with renewed optimism after a rollercoaster qualifying campaign.

"This moment shouldn't be about finding heroes; it should be this team, the spirit, this unity and hard work the guys showed," said Hallgrimsson.

"I talked about the spiral this team are in. Now the next game will be bigger than this one. Portugal was big, this was bigger and the next one will be even bigger and if we win it the next one will be even bigger."

Hallgrimsson, who led Iceland to their first World Cup appearance in 2018, added: "It is a moment when we should think about where we are, it is a possibility to grow and from this we can help this team, Irish football, the federation and, if we qualify for the World Cup, things might change big time.

He added: "I hope in 10 years, people will look back and say, 'these guys started this, that's the team that started this journey'.

"Success is not now, success is not that we won this game here, success is always a constant journey to the right direction, that is success.

"It's not a place and a moment and we should just think about this. Let's enjoy this moment, but don't forget where we are and where we're going."

The Republic of Ireland were last involved in a World Cup play-off in November 2017.

On that occasion, they fell to a 5-1 aggregate defeat by Denmark. The play-offs work differently now, of course, and to reach next summer's finals in North America they will need to win two single-leg games in March.

The Republic of Ireland will discover their play-off path on Thursday. That is all to come, though. For now, Parrott and co will gladly soak up the acclaim after rescuing their dream in such dramatic fashion.