Cristiano Ronaldo scored the winner, the last time these two sides met in the World Cup, in 2014. Will Ronaldo get to prove his critics wrong?
The last time Portugal and Ghana met at the World Cup was in 2014, in the group stages. On that day, Portugal won 2-1, and Cristiano Ronaldo, at his peak, scored the winner. Portugal face Ghana on Thursday, at the innovative stadium 974.
Portugal have a really poor record in their World Cup opening fixtures (D2, L1). In fact, overall, Portugal have won just three of their last 14 World Cup matches.
To rub more salt in Portugal’s wounds, talisman striker Cristiano Ronaldo is fresh from the mutual termination of his contract with Manchester United. Portugal also lost Liverpool striker Diogo Jota to injury, but Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, and João Cancelo are set to start.
Ghana, dubbed the Black Stars, will begin their 2022 Qatar World Cup quest with tough and highly-skilled opponents in Portugal. However, the African team could pull yet another shocker at this World Cup. Inaki Williams switched allegiance to Ghana, from Spain earlier this year and coach Otto Addo has also included right-back Tariq Lamptey in the squad.
The Ayew brothers (Jordan and Andre), Arsenal’s Thomas Partey, and Mohammed Kudus could all be game-changers.
According to SportingNews, Ghana is the lowest-ranked team at the 2022 Qatar World Cup, at 61. Despite this, they eliminated Nigeria through the away goals rule, a surprising result, especially after a disappointing Africa Cup of Nations campaign, where they failed to make it out of the group stages.
Fun Fact
Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo is one of only four players to score in four World Cup editions alongside Pelé, Uwe Seeler, and Miroslav Klose. No player has scored in five. 😉
Predicted Lineups
Portugal: Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Guerreiro; Neves, Carvalho, Fernandes; B. Silva, Ronaldo, Leao
Ghana: Ati-Zigi; Lamptey, Amartey, Djiku, Baba; Partey, Abdul Samed; Sulemana, Kudus, J. Ayew; Williams
Score Prediction
Portugal (3)-(1) Ghana
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