Armenia vs Portugal Prediction and Analysis: Ronaldo's Cannon Fires Fiercely
The World Cup qualifying match between Armenia and Portugal will take place at 11:00 PM on September 6th. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes the teams' form, provides football commentary, and predicts the score.
Latest information on the Armenia vs Portugal match lineups.
Midfielder Narek Grigoryan, who has never played for the national team, is absent from the 25-man Armenian squad due to injury, while Norberto Briasco withdrew for family reasons. However, Lucas Zelarayan and Grant-Leon Ranos (Borussia Monchengladbach) have returned to the squad.
Coach Melikyan will most likely place his trust in Vahan Bichakhchyan (Legia Warsaw) in midfield to provide creativity, while veteran striker Tigran Barseghyan (Slovan Bratislava, 60 caps) hopes to score his 10th goal for the national team.
On the Portuguese side, Rafael Leao (AC Milan) is absent due to a calf injury. Defender Diogo Dalot (Manchester United) has also withdrawn due to a muscle injury.
Therefore, Joao Cancelo and Joao Neves will compete for the right-back position. Up front, Francisco Conceicao and Pedro Neto could support Cristiano Ronaldo – 40 years old, who has scored 5 goals in just 4 matches against Armenia, including a hat-trick in the 3-2 victory in 2015.
Ruben Neves and Vitinha are competing for the deep-lying midfield role. Notably, Neves will wear the number 21 shirt to honor his close friend Diogo Jota – at the request of Jota's family and with the approval of coach Martinez.
Latest predicted lineups for Armenia vs Portugal
Armenia:
Cancarevic; Hovhannisyan, Mkrtchyan, Arutyunyan, Muradyan, Tiknizyan; Iwu, Dashyan; Bichakhchyan, Zelarayan; Barseghyan
Portugal:
Costa; Cancelo, Dias, A. Silva, Mendes; Fernandes, R. Neves, Bernardo; Conceicao, Ronaldo, Neto
Latest football match prediction: Armenia vs Portugal
Portugal are preparing for their first international match since winning their second UEFA Nations League title in June. In the semi-finals, they beat hosts Germany 2-1 before overcoming Euro 2024 champions Spain 5-3 on penalties, after a dramatic 2-2 draw in 120 minutes.
"Selecao das Quinas" have won their third major title in nine years and their first under coach Roberto Martinez, who has achieved an impressive 70% win rate in 30 matches (21 wins, 5 draws, 4 losses) since taking office in January 2023.
Ranked 6th in the world on the FIFA rankings, Portugal have lost only one of their last 10 matches since their defeat to France on penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. Their attack has also shown significant improvement, scoring two or more goals in seven matches during this period.
They are considered the top contenders to advance from Group F in the World Cup qualifiers. Portugal has already secured a play-off spot thanks to their performance in the Nations League, but finishing top of the group would guarantee them direct qualification to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico, and the United States.
Martinez wants his players to get off to a strong start, especially considering Portugal have had to go through play-offs to qualify for three of the last four World Cups. However, they have won all 10 of their Euro 2024 qualifying matches and have never lost to Armenia (4 wins, 2 draws) – a positive sign ahead of their opening game.
Armenia started the year with Dutch coach John van 't Schip, but after four winless matches (1 draw, 3 losses), he was sacked in August after less than six months in charge.
Yegishe Melikyan – who earned 29 caps for the Armenian national team between 2002 and 2007 – left his club Pyunik after four years to take over the national team. His task is to revive a team that has fallen to 105th in the FIFA world rankings.
Armenia have won only 2 of their last 10 matches in all competitions (2 draws, 6 losses). They started 2025 in disappointment, losing to Georgia 1-9 on aggregate in the Nations League promotion/relegation play-offs, including a 1-6 defeat away from home in March.
In the June friendly matches, Armenia lost to Kosovo 2-5 and then drew 2-2 with Montenegro. However, scoring five goals in the last three matches has given Melikyan some hope of getting the team back on track.
Armenia has not participated in a major tournament since gaining independence, and they will enter the match against Portugal as the clear underdogs. However, in their last encounter, they gave their opponents a tough time, only losing 2-3 at home in the Euro 2016 qualifiers.
Latest Armenia vs Portugal score prediction
Based on the above football analysis, we and leading football websites worldwide have provided our predictions for the match.Armenia vs Portugalas follows:
- Sportsmole:Armenia 0-3 Portugal
- WhoScore:Armenia 1-4 Portugal
- Our newspaper predicts:Armenia 0-3 Portugal
When and where can I watch Armenia vs Portugal live?
To watch the Armenia vs Portugal match live in the World Cup qualifiers at 11:00 PM on September 6th, viewers can tune in to various online sports channels. We wish you enjoyable football viewing moments.
