Portugal vs Switzerland
World Cup 2022 Round of 16
Date: Tuesday, 6 December 2022
Kick-off at 20:00 UK/ 21:00 CET
Venue: Lusail Iconic Stadium (Lusail).
Tuesday night’s round of sixteen match between Portugal and Switzerland has the potential to determine who advances to the quarterfinals.
The team of Fernando Santos will be seeking to make a big comeback in their following match after suffering a tight loss to Korea Republic in their last group match.
Though Cristiano Ronaldo and company will enter this game as the favorites, they cannot afford to underrate a confident Switzerland team.
The Swiss, meanwhile, have only lost once in the group stages—to Brazil—and have defeated teams like Cameroon and Serbia.
Switzerland will try to compete with Portugal after putting on a strong performance against Brazil.
Portugal has not played well in the tournament despite winning their first two games, and they will need to pick themselves up if they want to advance to the next round.
Portugal vs Switzerland Head to head :
- There is nothing to choose between the teams as Switzerland and Portugal share 3 wins each from their last six h2h meetings.
- The most recent of this came in June 2022 UEFA Nations League where the Nati won 1-0 in front of their own fans.
- The teams are meeting at the World Cup for the first time, but they had met once during the group stage of Euros. Switzerland again the surprise winner by a 2-1 margin.
Portugal vs Switzerland Prediction :
Portugal is the superior team in this match, so they should be able to prevail.
The Portuguese team will have to put in a lot of effort to achieve success because Switzerland has demonstrated that they are no pushovers.
A tight matchup is anticipated, but a Portuguese victory ought to be feasible.
The dilta projects that Portugal will triumph 2-1.
Portugal vs Switzerland Team News :
The previous time Portugal played, Fernando Santos took advantage of the opportunity to make six changes to his starting lineup, but the renownedly conservative coach is expected to stick to his guns on Tuesday night.
Cristiano Ronaldo, the Selecao’s all-time leading scorer, starts up front once more despite being one of three players replaced after 65 minutes on Friday.
Andre Silva and another Benfica prospect, Goncalo Ramos, are relegated to the bench.
Due to an injury, Nuno Mendes was forced to withdraw from the rest of the competition last week.
Danilo is still out with rib fractures, while Otavio is still questionable.
After missing their last Group G match due to sickness, Switzerland will be hopeful sturdy goalkeeper Yann Sommer can return to strengthen their back line at Lusail Stadium.
If Sommer were still available, he would replace Gregor Kobel of Borussia Dortmund because of his 76 caps for the Nati, which included 30 clean sheets and countless clutch saves.
Murat Yakin’s team has a good chance of remaining largely unchanged because Granit Xhaka, Remo Freuler, a disciplined defense, Breel Embolo, and the midfield screen they give.
Christian Fassnacht and Renato Steffen are both alternatives on either wing, but Ruben Vargas and Xherdan Shaqiri offer backup from wide.
Portugal possible starting lineup:
Costa; Dalot, Pepe, Dias, Cancelo; B. Silva, Neves, Carvalho; Fernandes; Felix, Ronaldo
Switzerland possible starting lineup:
Sommer; Widmer, Akanji, Schar, Rodriguez; Freuler, Xhaka; Shaqiri, Sow, Vargas; Embolo
