Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal will kick off their 2022 World Cup campaign against a young and exciting Ghana side.
Most of the talk surrounding Portugal ahead of the tournament has been about Cristiano Ronaldo’s explosive interview and whether, with two other Manchester United players in the squad, it would create a divide in the camp.
They’ll be keen to prove that hasn’t been the case by getting off to a winning start against Ghana, but having just beaten Switzerland 2-0, the Black Stars will fancy their chances of getting something from the game.
Here’s everything you need to know ahead of the match.
Portugal vs Ghana H2H Results (All Time)
Current Form (Last Five Games)
Portugal team news
Of the 26 players in the Portugal squad, all of them are fully fit and available for their opening World Cup match.
Ronaldo didn’t play in the warm-up match against Nigeria and Joao Felix impressed in his place, but the United man is more than likely to return against Ghana.
Portugal Starting 11 (4-3-3): Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Pepe, Mendes; Neves, Carvalho, Fernandes; Silva, Ronaldo, Leao.
Bench: Rui Patricio, Sa, Silva, Guerreiro, Dalot, Danilo, Palhinha, Otavio, Vitinha, Joao Mario, Nunes, Horta, Ramos, Silva, Felix.
Ghana team news
Ghana also have a fully fit group of players, with 17 of them getting some minutes in the 2-0 win over Switzerland on Thursday.
Ghana Starting 11 (4-2-3-1): Ati-Zigi; Lamptey, Amartey, Salisu, Mensah; Partey, Samed; Sulemana Kudus, J. Ayew; A. Ayew.
Bench: Danlad, Nurudeen, Odoi, Rahman, Aidoo, Djiku, Seidu, Owusu, Fatawu Issahaku, Kyereh, Bukari, Afriyie, Williams, Sowah, Semenyo
Portugal’s squad is undoubtedly one of extremely high quality, but their performances haven’t been great of late, while the noise surrounding Ronaldo also doesn’t help.
Ghana, on the flipside, have looked impressive in their most recent matches and have a talented group of players, especially further forward, that can’t be underestimated.
It could well be a tighter game than many are expecting, and don’t be surprised if Ghana don’t come out of it empty-handed.
Prediction: Portugal 1-1 Ghana
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