The final last-16 tie of the 2022 World Cup will see Portugal and Switzerland battle it out for a place in the quarter-finals at Lusail Stadium on Tuesday night.
The Portuguese finished at the top of Group H, while the Swiss finished as runners-up in Group G. However, both sides collected six points during the group stage.
Can Cristiano Ronaldo and co. live up to expectations? Or will Murat Yakin’s men overcome their European counterparts? It’s time to assess both sides.
Let’s start by looking at Portugal, who won Group H after finishing two points ahead of South Korea and Uruguay.
The Euro 2016 champions kicked off their campaign with back-to-back wins over Ghana (3-2) and Uruguay (2-0) before losing to South Korea (1-2).
It is worth noting that Portugal have not drawn any of their last nine games in all competitions, recording six wins and three draws since June.
Meanwhile, Fernando Santos’ side have kept six clean sheets in their previous seven victories – underlining their defensive strength.
As for Switzerland, they started with a 1-0 victory over Cameroon before suffering a 1-0 defeat to Brazil in their second game.
However, they bounced back last time out – coming from behind to secure a 3-2 win against Serbia. As a result, they finished level with first-place Brazil on six points in Group G.
The Swiss have now won five of their past seven games in all competitions. Funnily enough, that run started with a 1-0 victory over Portugal in the Nations League.
Having kept just two clean sheets across 12 games in 2022, Switzerland could struggle to contain Portugal’s dangerous attack.
Head-to-head: Switzerland may have beaten Portugal 1-0 back in June, but the Portuguese claimed a 4-0 victory in the reverse fixture a week before.
Portugal and Switzerland have met five times since 2016, with Portugal winning three times and Switzerland winning twice.
Team news: Portugal will be without the injured trio of Nuno Mendes, Otavio and Danilo Pereira on Tuesday.
Switzerland could be without goalkeeper Yann Sommer due to illness, meaning Borussia Dortmund’s Gregor Kobel could step in as his replacement.
The Swiss have done well to reach the knockout phase, but there is no denying that Portugal are stronger in every department.
With that in mind, Forebet predicts that Portugal will ease into the quarter-finals – scoring over 2.5 goals on their way to eliminating Switzerland.
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