Overview
Since winning the UEFA Nations League for the second time in history in June, Portugal has continued to maintain impressive form. They have earned 10 points after 4 qualifying matches for the 2026 World Cup, thereby leading Group K with a gap of 5 points compared to the second-placed team Hungary.
After a run of three consecutive wins and nine goals, the "European Selecao's" winning streak was stopped last month when they were held to a 2-2 draw by Hungary at home. Dominik Szoboszlai scored the equalizer in the 91st minute to keep a point for the visitors.
However, Cristiano Ronaldo still left a strong impression with a double goal, thereby becoming the player with the most goals in the history of the World Cup qualifiers (41 goals) and raising his total international goals to 143 after 235 appearances. At the age of 40, the Al-Nassr striker is still fighting hard, with the goal of reaching the World Cup for the last time in his career.
Roberto Martinez's side are looking ahead to their seventh consecutive World Cup. A win over Ireland would see them officially qualify for North America, but even if they draw or lose, Portugal could still qualify if Hungary did not beat Armenia.
According to the FIFA rankings, Portugal is currently ranked 5th in the world and is unbeaten in the last 7 international matches (5 wins, 2 draws). In addition, they have also won 4/5 recent confrontations with Ireland (drawing 1).
Since 2006, the Republic of Ireland has not participated in the World Cup. However, their hopes of qualifying for the 2026 tournament were lit up after a 1-0 victory over Ukraine in the fourth round of Group F last month.
Evan Ferguson became the hero when he scored the only goal in the second half, helping the "Boys in Green" win the first qualifying round, thereby rising to third place with 4 points, only 1 point behind the second-placed team Hungary. This is the opponent they will face in the final match of the qualifying round.
Currently 62nd in the FIFA rankings, Ireland understands that they need to have a result similar to or better than Hungary in the match against Portugal if they want to keep the opportunity to compete for a place to continue.
Under coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, Ireland have only won 5/14 international matches in his 16 months in charge, but can still be somewhat confident with an unbeaten record of 5 consecutive matches at aviva (won 3, drew 2).
Notably, they also held Portugal to a 0-0 draw at home in November 2021, proving that the blue team can completely cause difficulties for any big opponent.
Personnel situation
Evan Ferguson has scored 3 of the 4 goals of the Republic of Ireland in the World Cup qualifiers. However, this striker will be absent in the next match due to an ankle injury and is also unlikely to feature against Hungary.
Sammie Szmodics, Mark Sykes and Callum O'Dowda are also out due to injury, while Ryan Manning and Jayson Molumby were suspended in the last match but will return to the squad when Ireland face Hungary.
On the Portuguese side, Pedro Neto (Ch Chelsea) and Pedro Goncalves (Sporting Lisbon) are both withdrawn from the squad due to groin and muscle injuries.
In that context, Bernardo Silva is likely to take over on the right wing, while on the left, names like Rafael Leao, Francisco Conceicao, Francisco Trincao and Carlos Forbs can all compete for a starting position.
Cristiano Ronaldo, who is in impressive form with 9 goals in 8 matches for Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League, is expected to lead the attack.
Expected lineup:
Ireland: Kelleher, O'Brien, Collins, O'Shea, Coleman, Cullen, Taylor, Johnston, Ebosele, Azaz, Parrott.
Portugal: Costa, Cancelo, Dias, Inacio, Mendes, Fernandes, Neves, Vitinha, Bernardo, Ronaldo, Leao.
The match between Ireland and Portugal takes place at 2:45 am on November 14 (Vietnam time).
