The FIFA World Cup 2018 in Russia casts its shadow ahead. These days, the World Cup participants are entering the hot phase of preparation for the tournament. It’s not even three weeks before the first tournament games begin. We take a look at the duel between the two teams from Belgium and Portugal. Whether all the stars will be on board and whether the coaches are still experimenting, remains to be seen. But it will definitely be an interesting game, because every player wants to recommend himself for the World Cup opening game of his team and will certainly give full throttle. The game will take place at King Baudouin Stadium in Brussels. The kick-off is at 19:45.
Belgium:
The Belgians meet at the World Cup on the teams of Panama, Tunisia and England. In addition to the English, they are certainly the favorites for the group win in Group G. The red devils have developed in recent years outstanding and are now one of the top teams from the European continent. At the European Championship two years ago, they were a bit disappointing in the quarter-finals, losing 3-1 to Wales, which meant the end of former coach Marc Wilmots. In addition to Portugal, the team of coach Roberto Martinez meets in the preparation even on Egypt and Costa Rica, before then on 18.6. for them the World Cup begins with the game against Panama.
The qualifying group H won the Belgians sovereign. With nine wins and a draw, they were clearly in front of the Greeks and qualified for the final tournament. The team is peppered with high-class footballers. Players such as Lukaku, Mertens, De Bruyne, Witsel and Mignolet all play at top international clubs. If they get their performance, a first-class placement is certainly possible. The last defeat for the Belgians dates back to 2016, when they lost 2-0 to the Spaniards in a friendly. This year they only completed a game that was won 4-0 against Saudi Arabia. The top scorer in qualifying was Romelu Lukaku with eleven goals.
Portugal:
The reigning European champion from 2016 comes from Portugal. In the final, they were able to beat the hosts France a bit surprisingly 1-0. In the upcoming World Cup, the Portuguese are in the circle of secret favorites. The team around superstar Cristiano Ronaldo is certainly always good for a surprise. In addition to the game in Belgium, they also meet Algeria in preparation, before it gets serious. In Group B of the World Cup, they play with Morocco, Iran and the Spaniards. If everything goes well, the group win between Spain and Portugal should be made clear. The two teams meet directly in the first group match. In qualifying, the team of coach Fernando Santos delivered a head to head race with the Swiss. Only on the last match day they could make clear by a 2-0 victory against the direct opponents of the group victory due to the better goal difference.
The World Cup year started a bit tough for the Portuguese. After a 2-1 victory over Egypt, there was a bitter 0-3 defeat against the Dutch and a 2-2 against the World Cup participants Tunisia. Against Tunisia, a 2-0 lead was lost without CR7. Of course, the whole game revolves around CR7. He is the big star of the team and is the focus. With Raphael Guerreiro is also a German legionnaire in the squad. Otherwise, Coach Santos has some young players in his squad. Only in the central defensive to veteran Pepe put them with Jose Fonte and Bruno Alves on experience. The best scorer in qualifying was of course Cristiano Ronaldo with 15 goals. Only Robert Lewandowski could net even more often.
PREDICTION: Under 2.5 goals @ 1.67
