Information and tip for Portugal vs Nigeria
This Thursday, November 17, Portugal’s selection will bid farewell to its fans before departing to compete in the World Cup in Qatar. The farewell will be given with the friendly against the Nigerian team. It will be his last test before his Worlds debut. The match will start at 3:45 pm at the José Alvalade stadium, in Lisbon.
Portugal’s recent performance
The classification of the Lusitanian team for the World Cup in Qatar had dramatic moments and was full of criticism from fans and analysts. Most of them turned to coach Fernando Santos. Champion with Portugal in Euro 2016, the coach is considered anachronistic and had his exchange requested at various times. However, the top hats chose to keep him in charge. The team was unable to gain a direct spot through the European Qualifiers. With 17 points (five wins, two draws and one defeat), he was in second place in group A, which had Serbia, opponent of the Brazilian team in the World Cup, in first place with 20.
In the last round, Portugal, which needed only a draw to stay in first place, lost, at home, by 2-1, to the Serbs. This meant that they needed to compete in the repechage. They overcame, by 3 to 0, Turkey, and, by 2 to 0, North Macedonia, stamping the passport to Qatar. They failed, however, in the first test after the qualifiers. In League A, the elite division of the League of European Nations, they finished, with ten points (three wins, one draw and two defeats), in second place in group 2. One point below Spain, which managed to qualify for the finals of the competition. Again the definition happened in the final game. At home, Portugal were beaten 1-0 by the Spaniards.
The Portuguese were inserted in group H of the World Cup in Qatar. They will make their debut on November 24 against the Ghana national team. They will then have teams from Uruguay (November 28) and South Korea (December 2) on their way. Those called up by Fernando Santos for the World Cup were:
Goalkeeper: Diogo Costa (Porto), José Sá (Wolverhampton) and Rui Patrício (Roma);
Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), João Cancelo (Manchester City), António Silva (Benfica), Danilo Pereira (Paris Saint-Germain), Pepe (Porto), Rúben Dias (Manchester City), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain ) and Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund);
Midfielders: João Palhinha (Fulham), Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), João Mário (Benfica), Matheus Nunes (Wolverhampton), Otávio (Porto), Vitinha (Paris Saint- Germain) and William Carvalho (Betis);
Forwards: André Silva (RB Leipzig), Cristiano Ronaldo (Manchester United), Gonçalo Ramos (Benfica), João Félix (Atlético de Madrid), Rafael Leão (Milan) and Ricardo Horta (Braga).
Nigeria’s current form
Although it ranks thirty-second in the Fifa (International Football Federation) ranking and the World Cup in Qatar has 32 teams, the Nigerian team is not among them. It failed in the last and decisive stage of the African Qualifiers for the World Cup in the confrontation precisely against Ghana, which will be Portugal’s debut rival in the competition. Hence the fact that it was chosen as the last test of the Lusitanians. The difference was minimal. Against the Ghanaians, the Nigerians were in a goalless draw on opposing soil. At home, it was tied 1-1.
They ended up eliminated due to the criterion of the qualified goal. In the previous stage, Nigeria, with 13 points (four wins, one draw and one defeat), was at the top of the group C ranking table. Two points above Cape Verde in second place. The team’s priority mission is to prepare for the final matches of the African Cup of Nations qualifiers. The qualifiers have already had two rounds and will have two more rounds in March, the first date that FIFA has set aside for meetings involving teams after the World Cup in Qatar.
In group A, Nigeria started well. They overcame, at home, Sierra Leone by 2 to 1. Then, as a visitor, they applied a 10 to defeat in São Tomé and Príncipe. He thus assumed the isolated leadership of the key. Two points above Guinea-Bissau, exactly who they will face twice in March with the possibility of reaching the advance classification for the next stage of the tournament. In November, the Nigerian team played two friendlies against Algeria and Costa Rica. Lost both. 2-1 and 2-0 respectively.
Prediction and final tip for Portugal vs Nigeria:
Playing at home and certainly wanting to create an atmosphere of optimism in front of their fans, Portugal has the prediction of a victory against Nigeria as the tip for this Thursday’s confrontation in its preparation for the World Cup in Qatar.
