PORTUGAL VS SWITZERLAND
Cristiano Ronaldo's Portugal will face Switzerland today in the final pre-quarter clash of the Qatar World Cup.
The match will be played at Lucille Stadium at 12.30 midnight IST. As it is Cristiano Ronaldo's last World Cup, Portugal is ready to sacrifice everything for victory. Parangipada entered the pre-quarters as first place in Group H. However, they lost to a relatively weak South Korea in the last match. If they show their fatigue in today's match, it could be a big challenge. Because opponents are not that stupid.
Switzerland qualified for the pre-quarters after finishing second in Group G behind Brazil. They managed to win their remaining 2 matches apart from a one-sided defeat against giants Brazil. There are a handful of great players like Shaqiri, Xhaka, Mbolo, Froller, Akanji, Sommer, Rodriguez and others in the Swiss line-up. Therefore, there is no doubt that they can pose a big challenge to Portugal.
On the other hand, if Portugal comes with a big squad like Ronaldo, Bruno, Bernardo Silva, Felix, Cancelo, Ruben Diaz, Pepe, Danilo Pereira, Liao, Dalot and Vitinja, they can conquer Switzerland. The best of them. The winners of today's match will face the winners of the Morocco-Spain match in the quarter-finals. Anyway, let's wait and see.
WIN PROBABILITY
Portugal :- 52%
Switzerland :- 21%
Draw :- 27%
MATCH SCHEDULE
Date:- 1/12/2022
Time:- 12.30 AM (IST)
Venue:- Lusail Stadium
INSIGHTS
1) This will be the third meeting in 2022 between Portugal and Switzerland, who met twice in the UEFA Nations League in June. Portugal won the match 4-0 in Lisbon and a week later Switzerland won 1-0 in Geneva.
2) Portugal and Switzerland have met in the competition six times in the 21st century, and both teams have won three games each. Their only previous meeting at a major tournament (World Cups and Euros) was between these meetings, with Switzerland winning 2–0 at Euro 2008.
3) In 1966 and 2006, Portugal is trying to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the third time. However, they have failed to win a single one of their last five knockout matches in the tournament, losing each one. Including defeats at this stage in 2010 (0-1 vs Spain) and in their last four in 2018 (1-2 vs Uruguay).
4) Switzerland won their two matches in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup (L1 v Brazil) and is looking to win three games in a World Cup tournament for the first time in their history.
5) Portugal has opened the scoring in eight of their last nine World Cup matches. However, last time out against the Korean Republic, they failed to score first in the World Cup (P19 W15 D3 L1).
