Comments and predictions for Armenia vs Portugal: Ronaldo's cannon opens fire fiercely
The match between Armenia vs Portugal in the World Cup qualifiers takes place at 11:00 p.m. on September 6. Nghe An Newspaper analyzes performance, makes football comments and predicts the score.
Latest information on Armenia vs Portugal forces
Uncapped midfielder Narek Grigoryan is absent from Armenia's 25-man squad due to injury, while Norberto Briasco withdrew for family reasons. However, Lucas Zelarayan and Grant-Leon Ranos (Borussia Monchengladbach) are back in the squad.
Coach Melikyan will likely put his faith in Vahan Bichakhchyan (Legia Warsaw) in midfield to create, while veteran striker Tigran Barseghyan (Slovan Bratislava, 60 caps) hopes to score his 10th goal for the team.
On the Portuguese side, Rafael Leao (AC Milan) is absent due to a calf injury. Defender Diogo Dalot (Manchester United) also withdrew due to a muscle injury.
Joao Cancelo and Joao Neves will therefore compete for the right-back spot. Up front, Francisco Conceicao and Pedro Neto can support Cristiano Ronaldo – 40, who has scored five goals in just four games against Armenia, including a hat-trick in a 3-2 win in 2015.
Ruben Neves and Vitinha compete for the deep-lying midfield role. Notably, Neves will wear the number 21 shirt to honor his close friend Diogo Jota – according to the wishes of Jota's family and approved by coach Martinez.
Latest expected lineup 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 commentary on Armenia vs Portugal
Portugal are preparing for their first international match since winning the UEFA Nations League for the second time 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 after 120 minutes.
“Selecao das Quinas” won their third major title in nine years and the first under coach Roberto Martinez, who has achieved an impressive 70% win rate in 30 games (21 wins, 5 draws, 4 losses) since taking office in January 2023.
Ranked 6th in the world in the FIFA rankings, Portugal have lost just one of their last 10 matches since losing to France on penalties in the Euro 2024 quarter-finals. Their attack has also improved significantly, scoring two or more goals in seven matches during this period.
They are considered the top candidate to continue from Group F of the World Cup qualifiers. Portugal are already guaranteed a play-off spot thanks to their performance in the Nations League, but topping the group would give them a direct ticket to the 2026 World Cup in Canada, Mexico and the United States.
Martinez will be hoping his players start strongly, especially as Portugal have had to play in play-offs to qualify for three of the last four World Cups. However, they have won all 10 Euro 2024 qualifiers and have never lost to Armenia (W4 D2) – a positive sign ahead of the opening game.
Armenia started the year with Dutch coach John van 't Schip, but after four games without a win (D1, L3), he was sacked in August after less than six months in charge.
Yegishe Melikyan – who played 29 times for Armenia between 2002 and 2007 – left Pyunik after four years to take over the national team. His task is to revive a team that has fallen to 105th place in the FIFA world rankings.
Armenia have won just two of their last 10 games in all competitions (D2 L6). They started 2025 in disappointment, losing 9-1 on aggregate to Georgia in the Nations League play-offs, including a 6-1 away defeat in March.
In the June friendly series, Armenia lost 2-5 to Kosovo and then drew 2-2 with Montenegro. However, scoring five goals in the last three matches also gives Melikyan some hope to get the team back on track.
Armenia have not played in a major tournament since independence and will go into their clash with Portugal as heavy underdogs. However, the last time they met, they gave their opponents a tough time, losing 3-2 at home in Euro 2016 qualifying.
Latest score prediction for Armenia vs Portugal
Based on the above football comments, we and the world's leading football sites have given the results of 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 to watch Armenia vs Portugal live?
To watch the live match Armenia vs Portugal in the World Cup qualifiers taking place at 23:00 on September 6, viewers can watch on online sports channels. Wish viewers have fun watching football.