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Portugal will take on Uruguay in their next FIFA World Cup 2022 group game, and this one promises to be a thriller.

Fernando Santos’s men secured a 3-2 win over Ghana in their opening group game, and they were fortunate to escape with all three points thanks to a number of controversial decisions from the referee. Portugal will have to improve immensely if they want a similar result against Uruguay here.

Uruguay were held to a 0-0 draw by South Korea, and they will be under pressure to pick up a win here. La Celeste had a few chances to win the game against the Asian outfit. But the likes of Darwin Nunez and Federico Valverde failed to find the back of the net.

Both teams will know that a defeat here could complicate matters for them, and they will be determined to pick up all three points. They are the two best teams in the group, and this should be a close contest. The Hard Tackle takes a closer look at the encounter ahead of the latest meeting between the two sides.

Team News and Tactics

Portugal

Fernando Santos is unlikely to make too many changes to the side that edged past Ghana in the last match. But the Portugal head coach will have to make one forced change, with Danilo Pereira breaking his ribs in training. The 31-year-old is reportedly out of the group stage with his injury.

Diogo Costa is likely to start in goal despite his late blunder (which did not prove costly) against Ghana. Joao Cancelo and Raphael Guerreiro will likely start as the full-backs, and Ruben Dias should partner Pepe at the heart of the defence. The 39-year-old will replace the injured Danilo.

Ruben Neves and Bernardo Silva will retain their places in the midfield three. And Bruno Fernandes should drop into a slightly deeper role alongside Silva. Portugal will need his creative quality and ability to carve out the openings against Uruguay’s resolute defence.

The front three will comprise of Cristiano Ronaldo in the central role. He is likely to be flanked by the two goalscorers from the last game – Joao Felix and Rafael Leao. So Otavio will drop to the bench, with the player also struggling with a knock.

Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Pereira, Guerreiro; Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Neves; Felix, Ronaldo, Leao

Uruguay

Diego Alonso is likely to retain the side that drew against South Korea. Sergio Rochet will start in the Uruguay goal behind a back four of Martin Caceres, Diego Godin, Jose Maria Gimenez and Mathias Olivera.

Rodrigo Bentancur will continue as the controller in the midfield, with Matias Vecino as the defensive midfielder. Meanwhile, Federico Valverde will be the box-to-box midfielder and provide a goal threat from the middle of the park.

Youngster Facundo Pellistri will start on the right flank, and Darwin Nunez is likely to retain his place on the left wing despite missing a number of chances against South Korea. Finally, Luis Suarez will lead the line for Uruguay against Portugal.

Probable Lineup (4-3-3): Rochet; Caceres, Godin, Gimenez, Olivera; Valverde, Vecino, Bentancur; Pellistri, Suarez, Nunez

Key Stats

This is the second FIFA World Cup meeting between Portugal and Uruguay, with La Celeste eliminating the Seleccao in the Round of 16 of the 2018 edition in Russia.

Uruguay have won four of their last five FIFA World Cup matches against European nations (including a 2-1 victory over Portugal), though did lose to France in their last such match. The Sky Blue had won just two of their previous 25 such matches before this run (D8 L15).

Portugal have won just one of their last nine meetings with South American nations in all competitions (D3 L5), beating Argentina 1-0 in a friendly in November 2014.

Following their 3-2 win against Ghana, Portugal are looking to win their opening two group games for the third time at the World Cup. They previously did so in 1966 and 2006, eventually reaching the semi-finals in both of those editions.

Uruguay have failed to score in their last two World Cup games. Only once have they done so in three consecutive games at the tournament (between 1986 and 1990). However, the South American nation have won their second group game in each of the last three editions of the World Cup.

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Kickoff iis 13:00 GMT [1pm]

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Kickoff is 10:00 GMT

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Germany gave themselves hope of avoiding another embarrassing early World Cup exit when they snatched a 1-1 draw with Spain on Sunday with Niclas Fuellkrug firing home an 83rd minute equaliser on only his third appearance for his country.

The result leaves the four-time world champions facing a must-win match against Costa Rica on Thursday, and also means Spain have yet to book their passage out of Group E. Japan and Costa Rica could yet qualify too.

Germany looked to be in severe danger of repeating their group stage failure of 2018 in Russia when Alvato Morata, eight minutes after coming on from the bench, handed Spain the lead by neatly flicking in a cross from Jordi Alba in the 62nd minute.

A defeat against Spain after Germany’s shock 2-1 opening loss to Japan would have left Hansi Flick’s men facing a huge challenge to get into the knockout phase.

But in the 83rd minute they battled back into contention as Leroy Sane took advantage of a poor defensive clearance to feed Jamal Musiala who turned between two Spain defenders, with the ball falling to Fuellkrug who fired high into the net.

The Werder Bremen forward, who won his first cap earlier this month after a string of goals in the Bundesliga, had replaced Thomas Mueller 13 minutes earlier as Germany desperately sought an equaliser.

“We knew what the situation was, what was at stake,” Flick told reporters, and he said Fuellkrug’s equaliser might prove to be a turning point for Germany in Qatar.

[1/5] Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 – Group E – Spain v Germany – Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Qatar – November 27, 2022 Spain’s Rodri in action with Germany’s Leon Goretzka REUTERS/Fabrizio Bensch

“Things start to happen when you start to win, so maybe this will give us a boost and give us the self confidence to get goals,” he said.

Spain coach Luis Enrique said he was left ruing his side’s failure to hold on to their lead. “But after two matches we are in the top of the classification of the death group and I think that we have to be positive,” he said.

The Spaniards had looked more relaxed from the start, cutting through Germany with their angled passing in the Al Bayt Stadium, about 50km (30 miles) north of Doha. Dani Olmo almost created an early breakthrough in the seventh minute but his shot was palmed onto the bar by Manuel Neuer.

Germany thought they had taken an unlikely lead in the 39th minute when defender Antonio Rudiger powered in a header from a Joshua Kimmich free kick, but the German celebrations were cut short as VAR quickly ruled that he was offside.

Spain goalkeeper Unai Simon was forced into his first save in the 56th minute when the 2010 champions got into trouble trying to play out of defence, allowing Kimmich to shoot from just inside the penalty area but Simon saved impressively.

Spain top the standings with four points and now need only a draw in their final Group E game against Japan to progress. A win would send them through to the knockout round in first place.

Germany, are bottom of the table on one point. They need to win against Costa Rica on Thursday and their hopes then depend on Japan losing. If Japan draw it would come down to goal difference or goals scored by Germany and Japan.

©Reuters

Croatia absorbed an early blow before revving into gear at the World Cup with two goals from Andrej Kramaric securing a 4-1 victory over Canada on Sunday that moved them a point away from the last 16 and dashed their opponents’ knockout-stage hopes.

The 2018 runners-up had fallen behind after 68 seconds at the Khalifa International Stadium when Alphonso Davies thumped a header into the net, but a potentially grim evening turned in their favour with two goals late in the first half.

After their dour opening draw with Morocco had instigated a post-mortem into whether this Croatia side lacked a killer instinct, Kramaric and Marko Livaja found the net before the break to take the wind out of Canada’s sails.

Kramaric doubled his tally after the break and Lovro Majer netted in stoppage time to wrap up a victory that moved Croatia to the top of Group F on four points. They now need only a draw in their final game against third-placed Belgium, who are a point behind, to guarantee a knockout spot.

After two defeats, Canada’s exit at the group stage was confirmed, leaving them to face Morocco, also on four points, in their final game.

Croatia’s hackles were up going into the match after Canada coach John Herdman had said his side were going to “eff” them, a pithy comment that undoubtedly supplied the script for his counterpart Zlatko Dalic’s team talk.

Yet the early stages of the contest suggested Canada were the ones who had been given the pre-match rocket.

They flew out of the blocks with the fastest goal of the tournament so far and their first in the World Cup, after drawing a blank in their only previous appearance in 1986.

A long clearance from the keeper eventually found its way to Tajon Buchanan, who shaped a superb cross from the right into the box where Davies was arriving like an express train to rise high above his marker and head powerfully down into the net.

The Canadians clearly had the bit between their teeth and they were carving through the Croatia midfield with Davies’s pace and trickery causing nightmares for the Croatians.

Yet it was a half of two halves, as Croatia — thoroughly outplayed in the early stages — eventually shifted into gear.

They had the ball in the net after 26 minutes through Kramaric only for the linesman’s flag to cut short their celebrations, but that was a temporary reprieve for Canada.

Croatia drew level in the 36th minute when Ivan Perisic, a growing influence on the left, slid the ball through to Kramaric who shot first time into the far corner.

They took the lead eight minutes later when a lovely build-up from the back ended with Livaja firing right-footed low into the net from the edge of the area after being fed by Mateo Kovacic.

Herdman rang the changes at halftime in an effort to claw back the initiative and substitute Jonathan Osorio curled an effort just wide shortly after the restart.

Kramaric had an effort well saved by the keeper, while Canada went close again when Jonathan David’s shot was superbly tipped over by Dominik Livakovic.

Yet their hopes of getting back into the contest were dashed when a curling cross from Perisic on the left was controlled by Kramaric, who shifted the ball on to his left foot and dispatched it low into the bottom corner in the 70th minute.

Deep into stoppage time, Croatia added a final blow when Mislav Orsic broke clear and unselfishly squared for Livaja to tap home.

©Reuters

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Kickoff is at 19:00 GMT [7PM]

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LINEUPS:

??Spain XI: Unai Simón; Carvajal, Rodri, Laporte, Jordi Alba; Pedri, Busquets, Gavi; Ferrán Torres, Asensio, Dani Olmo

??Germany XI: Neuer; Kehrer, Süle, Rüdiger, Raum: Kimmich, Goretzka; Gündogan, Musiala, Gnabry; Müller