The eighth and final clash in the FIFA World Cup Round of 16 pits Portugal against Switzerland at Lusail Stadium.
With six of the quarter-finalists already confirmed ahead of Tuesday’s two matches, the winner of this tie will come up against Morocco or Spain in the last-eight.
The teams have a total 25 meetings behind them but have never met at the World Cup finals. Portugal have lost to the Swiss more times than they’ve beaten them (W9 D5 L11), though their past six clashes were very evenly-split with three wins apiece.
The last time the nations met at a major tournament was during the Euro 2008 group stage, as Switzerland ran out 2-0 winners. Their most recent clashes came in June this year with back-to-back UEFA Nations League group games.
Portugal have not reached the quarter-finals since 2006 and they exited two of the last three tournaments at the last-16. Switzerland, meanwhile, have faltered at the Round of 16 in three of the last four World Cups and the Rossocrociati have not reached the quarter-finals since 1954.
The Portuguese sealed qualification for the last-16 after winning their opening two games in Group H and ended as group winners despite a 2-1 defeat to South Korea. Switzerland came runners-up in Group G after claiming a 3-2 victory over Serbia in the final batch of group fixtures.
(Photo: AFP via Getty Images)
Question marks continue to be raised over the efficacy of Cristiano Ronaldo, with the Portugal skipper turning 38 in two months’ time.
Ronaldo is the greatest goalscorer in the history of international football, with 118 goals for Portugal, though he has scored just once at Qatar 2022 – from the penalty spot against Ghana. The five-time Ballon d’Or winner was also noticeably unhappy when he was substituted after 65 minutes versus South Korea.
With progression already sealed, head coach Fernando Santos named a rotated side for their third and final group outing with the Tigers of Asia, and some reports have suggested Ronaldo could be left out of the XI named by Santos for this all-important encounter with the Swiss.
Fernando Santos was said to be ‘deeply unimpressed’ with Cristiano Ronaldo’s reaction to being substituted for #POR against #KOR.
— GiveMeSport (@GiveMeSport) December 6, 2022
He refused to confirm if his captain would start against #SUI 😳#Qatar2022 | #FIFAWorldCup pic.twitter.com/vLEZuhYnKz
Bruno Fernandes has scored two goals and provided two assists, and only Kylian Mbappé has been directly involved in more goals at the tournament (7).
Portugal are 1.85 favourites to book their place in the quarter-finals at Qatar 2022. Switzerland are priced at a reasonable 4.50 to spring a surprise within 90 minutes at Lusail Stadium; 3.50 for the game to end in a draw and be decided beyond regulation time. (Bet365)
