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Portugal national football team
Euro Champ Qualifying | Group Stage
Nov 19, 2023 at 7.45pm UK
Estadio Jose Alvalade
Iceland national football team

Portugal
2 - 0
Iceland

Fernandes (37'), Horta (66')
Palhinha (54'), Felix (84')
FT(HT: 1-0)

Preview: Portugal vs. Iceland - prediction, team news, lineups

Sports Mole previews Sunday's Euro Champ Qualifying clash between Portugal and Iceland, including predictions, team news and possible lineups.

Already-qualified Portugal will bring a hugely impressive Euro 2024 qualification campaign to a close with a contest against Iceland in Lisbon on Sunday night.

Roberto Martinez's side have a perfect record in Group J, winning all nine of their games to collect 27 points, and they have already guaranteed themselves a spot in Pot 1 for the finals draw, but Iceland have missed out on the chance to qualify from this section, sitting down in fourth position.


Match preview

Portugal's Joao Cancelo celebrates scoring their second goal with Cristiano Ronaldo on November 16, 2023© Reuters

There will, of course, be tougher tests to come, but Portugal head coach Martinez has made a hugely impressive start to his time at the helm, leading the team to nine straight victories.

The Iberian nation were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup courtesy of a 1-0 loss to Morocco, but they have not been beaten since that clash last December, sailing through their Euro 2024 qualification campaign with nine straight wins.

Portugal have scored 34 times and conceded just twice in the section, and they will enter this match off the back of a 2-0 success over Liechtenstein on Thursday night.

Martinez's side have already guaranteed a spot in Pot 1 for the finals draw, and it will be fascinating to see how this hugely talented group performs next summer; Portugal won Euro 2016, but they only reached the round of 16 at Euro 2020, which went down as a disappointing tournament.

The hosts will be seeking a 10th straight win on Sunday, and while there is not anything substantial to play for, Martinez will again be assessing his squad, with a number of players hoping to do enough to cement a position in the final selection of players that will head to Germany next summer.

Denmark manager Age Hareide on November 14, 2017© Reuters

Iceland, though, have found it difficult in this section, boasting a record of three wins, one draw and five losses from their nine matches, which has left them down in fourth position on 10 points.

Slovakia qualified from the section alongside Portugal by recording a 4-2 win over Iceland on Thursday, while Luxembourg and Bosnia & Herzegovina have been confirmed in the playoffs.

Age Hareide's side still have a slight chance of qualifying for the finals through the UEFA Nations League B playoff path, but it will be a difficult route into the tournament from that avenue.

Our Boys famously qualified for the European Championship for the first time in their history in 2016 and managed to reach the quarter-finals of the competition, winning a lot of new supporters in the process.

Iceland also played at the 2018 World Cup, but they were not present at Euro 2020 and also failed to make the finals of the 2022 World Cup, so their likely absence from Euro 2024 is not too much of a surprise.

Portugal Euro Champ Qualifying form:

Iceland Euro Champ Qualifying form:


Team News

Portugal forward Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates on October 13, 2023© Reuters

Portugal boss Martinez is again expected to shuffle his pack for this match, with the team likely to show a number of changes from the one that started against Liechtenstein.

Diogo Costa could be back in goal, while Joao Palhinha, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro and Goncalo Inacio may be introduced into the XI for the contest in Lisbon.

Cristiano Ronaldo was substituted in the 67th minute against Liechtenstein after scoring, and it would not be a surprise to see him in the XI for this match, with the 38-year-old proving that he is still very much a key player for Portugal with 10 goals during the qualification campaign.

Matheus Nunes, Pepe, Rafael Leao and Nelson Semedo are notable absentees from the squad due to injuries, while Diogo Dalot withdrew from the group of players for personal reasons.

As for Iceland, Arnor Traustason was forced off in the 25th minute of the clash with Slovakia last time out through injury, and he will be unavailable for selection here.

As a result, Aron Gunnarsson could potentially come in for a start, while there are also expected to be a couple of alterations in the forward positions for this match.

Arnor Sigurdsson could keep his spot, but Alfred FInnbogason and Andri Gudjohnsen are likely to be introduced in the final third of the field on Sunday night.


Portugal possible starting lineup:
Costa; Cancelo, Inacio, Dias, Guerreiro; Fernandes, Palhinha, B Silva; Felix, Ronaldo, Jota

Iceland possible starting lineup:
Olafsson; Sampsted, Palsson, Ingason, Finnsson; Hlynsson, Gudmundsson, Gunnarsson; A Gudjohnsen, Finnbogason, A Sigurdsson


SM words green background

We say: Portugal 2-0 Iceland

The pressure is off for both teams, so it should be an open and entertaining game of football. Iceland are capable of making it a difficult match for Portugal, but the home side have been so strong in this section, and we would be very surprised if they were unable to make it 10 straight victories.



For data analysis of the most likely results, scorelines and more for this match please click here.


Top tip

Our expert tipster partners at Sporita.com are predicting a draw in this match. Click here to find out what else they are predicting for this game and for more of their tried-and-tested football tips.Draw:data


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Game History

How you voted: Portugal vs Iceland

Portugal
88.9%
Draw
9.5%
Iceland
1.6%
63
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Manchester City's Matheus Nunes before the match on September 19, 2023
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Group A

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Spain Spain870121
Q Scotland flag Scotland852117
3 Norway Norway832311
4 Georgia Georgia82248
5 Cyprus Cyprus80080

Group B

TeamPWDLPTS
Q France France871022
Q Netherlands Netherlands860218
3 Greece Greece841313
4 Ireland Rep. Ireland82066
5 Gibraltar flag Gibraltar80080

Group C

TeamPWDLPTS
Q England flag England862020
Q Italy Italy842214
3 Ukraine Ukraine842214
4 Macedonia N. Macedonia82248
5 Malta flag Malta80080

Group D

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Turkey Turkey852117
Q Croatia Croatia851216
3 Wales flag Wales833212
4 Armenia Armenia82248
5 Latvia Latvia81073

Group E

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Albania national flag Albania843115
Q Czech Republic Czech Republic843115
3 Poland Poland832311
4 Republic of Moldova Moldova824210
5 Faroe Islands Faroe Islands80262

Group F

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Belgium Belgium862020
Q Austria Austria861119
3 Sweden Sweden831410
4 Azerbaijan Azerbaijan82157
5 Estonia Estonia80171

Group G

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Hungary Hungary853018
Q Serbia Serbia842214
3 Montenegro Montenegro832311
4 Lithuania Lithuania81346
5 Bulgaria Bulgaria80444

Group H

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Denmark Denmark1071222
Q Slovenia Slovenia1071222
3 Finland Finland1060418
4 Kazakhstan Kazakhstan1060418
5 Northern Ireland flag N. Ireland103079
6 San Marino flag San Marino1000100

Group I

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Romania Romania1064022
Q Switzerland Switzerland1045117
3 Israel Israel1043315
4 Belarus Belarus1033412
5 Kosovo flag Kosovo1025311
6 Andorra flag Andorra100282

Group J

TeamPWDLPTS
Q Portugal Portugal10100030
Q Slovakia Slovakia1071222
3 Luxembourg flag Luxembourg1052317
4 Iceland Iceland1031610
5 Bosnia Bosnia H'vina103079
6 Liechtenstein flag Liechtenstein1000100


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