Portugal on Tuesday night to face off Switzerland in the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup. The match will take place at the Lusail Iconic Stadium, in Lusail, Qatar.
The Portugal team did what they had to do, and qualified for the round of 16 in the second round. They lived up to expectations and finished in 1st place while they entered as favourites in Group H.
However, Fernando Santos’ side have defeated in the last round by South Korea. First of all, they beat Uruguay 2-0, after starting with a narrow 3-2 win over Ghana.
Portugal will need a good match from their main players to win the duel against the Swiss defense and win this game that is worth a place in the quarterfinals.
Portugal head coach Fernando Santos looks set to reinstate his first-choice players such as Bruno Fernandes and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Switzerland, meanwhile, fought until the end for the second place in Group G. They beat Serbia 3-2 in a very disputed game, securing 2nd place. Finally, they lost to Brazil by 1-0 in the 2nd round and debuted by beating Cameroon by 1-0.
Switzerland will be hoping first-choice goalkeeper Yann Sommer and centre-back Nico Elvedi can return to bolster their back line at Lusail Stadium, after missing their final Group G match due to illness.
Head-to-head
While they have already faced each other 25 times, Switzerland has the most wins, with 11 against Portugal’s nine.
Prediction: Portugal comes so strong due to the squad it has and for being considered one of the favorites. Thus, the Portuguese take favouritism to win the match.
Portugal Line-up: D.Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Pepe, Guerreiro; Neves, Carvalho, B. Silva, Fernandes; Felix, Ronaldo.
Switzerland Line-up: Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Elvedi, Rodriguez; Xhaka, Freuler; Shaqiri, Sow, Vargas; Embolo.
