Europe World Cup Qualifications, Europe finals, 29.03.

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Portugal vs North Macedonia Preview:

Possible starting lineups:

Portugal:
Costa; Cancelo, Pereira, Fonte, Guerreiro; Silva, Moutinho, Fernandes; Otavio, Ronaldo, Jota

N.Macedonia:
Dimitrievski; S. Ristovski, Velkovski, Musliu, Alioski; Elmas, Kostadinov, Bardhi; Churlinov, M. Ristovski, Trajkovski

Portugal welcome North Macedonia at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto in the World Cup 2022 play-off final. Fernando Santos side beat Turkey 3:1 in their semi-final encounter, while the visitors shocked the reigning European champions Italy. Portugal are absolute favorites in this match, but they have to avoid repeating Italy mistakes. First of all, they shouldn't underestimate the opponents. And second and more important, they have to score. Indeed, Portugal scored three goals against Turkey and repeating such efficiency should be enough against the Macedonian national team. Otavio, Diogo Jota and Matheus Nunes were the scorers in the semi-final and their confidence is high. Just to mention, Otavio also registered an assist against Turkey and should join Premier League stars Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo in the attack. That means Joao Felix from Atletico Madrid should start at the bench. Santos has some goo news ahead of this match as Cancelo is back from a suspension. Most probably he will replace Diogo Dalot at right-back, with Santos not picking up any fresh injury concerns in the semi-final.

Macedonia shocked Italy in their play-off semi-final in Palermo. As expected, Roberto Mancini's players dominated possession and had 32 shots, but failed to penetrate the resolute defense. At the end, Aleksandar Trajkovski was the hero. He picked up the loose ball in the 92nd minute, drove forward and fired a sensational winner from outside the area. The Macedonians had just 34% possession and just four shots over 90 minutes, but they took their opportunity against the run of play clinically. Gianluigi Donnarumma had virtually nothing to do until the stoppage time, but he was too slow to react to Trajkovski's long-ranged shot. The goal sparked wild celebrations on the Macedonian bench, while Italy's players and coaching staff were disappointed and frustrated. The Macedonians, ranked 67th at FIFA list, have never reached a World Cup so far. Prime-minister Dimitar Kovachevski offered 500.000 Eur prize if the players secured ticket for Qatar. Coach Blagoja Milevski has two injury worries as midfielders Boban Nikolov and Arijan Ademi are rated as doubtful after both left the field on Thursday. On the positive note, Eljif Elmas and Tihomir Kostadinov are available after served suspension.

Portugal vs North Macedonia Prediction:

Macedonia visited Portugal in a friendly match in 2012 and managed to hold the hosts to a memorable 0:0 draw. Cristiano Ronaldo surely forget the meeting in which he played poor. It was a surprise, though the match result wasn't important at all. But now it is quite opposite, the result is extremely important. Portugal will take the match very seriously, no doubt about that. The Macedonian tactic is very predictable, to "park a bus" in front of the goal. I am sure they will not give up easily, however, this could be the end of their story. I think Portugal will win in handicap. They have players able to make the difference, like Cristiano Ronaldo. But not only CR7, there are superstars like Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Otavio, Diogo Jota. It is impossible to expect all of them to lack a moment of inspiration.

Portugal vs North Macedonia Pick: Portugal -1.5 AH @ 1.63 with Bet365

 

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1-0 after the first half thanks to Bruno Fernandes

 

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2-0 after 65 minutes, the match look decided.

 

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Portugal vs North Macedonia Pick: Portugal -1.5 AH @ 1.63 with Bet365

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