Comments and predictions for Portugal vs Croatia: Ronaldo crushes the visitors
The match between Portugal vs Croatia in the Nations League takes place at 1:45 a.m. on September 6. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes performance, makes football comments and predicts the score.
Latest Portugal vs Croatia squad information
Roberto Martinez has refreshed his Portugal squad with first call-ups of youngsters Geovany Quenda, Renato Veiga and Tiago Santos, while leaving out Joao Cancelo, Danilo Pereira and Francisco Conceicao.
Quenda, 17, has made just four appearances for the club, while Chelsea newcomer Veiga and Lille full-back Santos are also included. Pedro Goncalves, Francisco Trincao and goalkeeper Rui Silva are all recalled. Cristiano Ronaldo will continue to start.
Croatia, meanwhile, are without Pepe and key players such as Domagoj Vida and Marcelo Brozovic, who retired from the national team after 99 caps. Ivan Perisic is still called up despite being clubless after leaving Hajduk Split. Lovro Majer, Josip Stanisic and Martin Erlic are all ruled out through injury, and Duje Caleta-Car is also a doubt. Zlatko Dalic could adapt his defence with Marin Pongracic, Kristijan Jakic or Marko Pjaca at right-back.
Latest expected lineup for Portugal vs Croatia
Portugal:
Costa; Dalot, Dias, A. Silva, Mendes; Palhinha, Vitinha; B. Silva, Fernandes, Leao; Ronaldo
Croatia:
Livakovic; Pongracic, Sutalo, Gvardiol, Sosa; Modric, L. Sucic, Kovacic; Pasalic, Kramaric, Ivanusec
Latest football commentary Portugal vs Croatia
After failing to qualify for Euro 2024 and being eliminated in the quarter-finals, Portugal continued to face disappointment after also stopping in the round of eight at Qatar 2022. This summer's defeat to France in a penalty shootout ended the Selecao's journey, a summer also associated with Pepe's departure and Cristiano Ronaldo's tears.
Pepe has decided to retire, while Ronaldo remains keen to continue playing for his country and has been called up by coach Roberto Martinez for this month's Nations League games. Portugal are aiming to win the tournament they won in 2019, having missed out on reaching the final last year.
Martinez faces huge pressure to compete for the title with his talented squad, and needs to maximise points from two home games, starting with Scotland on Sunday. While finishing second in Group 1 would be enough to qualify for the quarter-finals, Croatia could progress further if they finish in the top two.
Croatia, after recent Euro and World Cup failures, continue to fight for qualification to the 2026 World Cup and a Nations League title. With their squad marred by departures and injuries, Croatia could struggle at the Estadio da Luz. Portugal have home advantage and will need to make the most of their attacking options to overcome the challenge.
Portugal vs Croatia score prediction
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of the match.Portugal vs Croatiaas follows:
- Sportsmole:Portugal 2-1 Croatia
- WhoScore:Portugal 1-0 Croatia
- Our newspaper predicts:Portugal 2-1 Croatia
When and where to watch Portugal vs Croatia live?
To watch live the Portugal vs Croatia match in the Nations League taking place at 1:45 a.m. on September 6, viewers can watch on TV360here, Mytv systemhereor on online sports channels. Wish you have fun watching football.