Commentary on Republic of Ireland vs Portugal, 02:45 November 14: Get a ticket to the World Cup

TPO - Football commentary Republic of Ireland vs Portugal, round 5 of Group F, 2026 World Cup qualifiers, at 02:45 on November 14 - Information on forces, expected lineup, form, and history of confrontations. Portugal will officially win a ticket to the 2026 World Cup if they defeat the Republic of Ireland in the penultimate match of Group F tomorrow morning.

Pre-match comments

After winning the UEFA Nations League for the second time in June, Portugal continued to show stable performance in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. After 4 matches, coach Roberto Martinez and his team won 10 points, leading Group K and creating a 5-point gap compared to the second-placed team Hungary.

The “European Selecao” started perfectly with 3 wins, 9 goals and a clean sheet, before being held to a 2-2 draw at home by Hungary last month, a match that Dominik Szoboszlai equalized in the 91st minute. Cristiano Ronaldo scored twice in that match, thereby becoming the greatest scorer in the history of World Cup qualifying with 41 goals, and at the same time bringing the total for the team to 143 goals in 235 matches. At the age of 40, the superstar wearing the Al-Nassr shirt is still burning for the final World Cup dream of his career.

Portugal have never won the World Cup, but they are aiming for their 7th consecutive appearance in the finals. If they beat Ireland, they will officially qualify for the USA - Mexico - Canada next summer. Even if they draw or lose, Ronaldo and his teammates can still go through if Hungary do not beat Armenia.

The team ranked 5th in the world currently has a 7-match unbeaten streak (5 wins, 2 draws) and won 4/5 of the most recent times against Ireland, numbers that give the red team confidence before the trip to Dublin.

On the other hand, the Republic of Ireland is hoping to return to the World Cup after nearly 20 years of absence. The 1-0 victory over Armenia in the previous match thanks to a goal from young talent Evan Ferguson, thereby helping them gain 4 points, just 1 point behind Hungary and rekindling the chance to compete.

Ranked 62nd in the FIFA rankings, Ireland know they must get a good result against Portugal if they are to maintain their hopes ahead of the final match. Under coach Heimir Hallgrimsson, the Blues have won just 5 of their 14 matches, but are unbeaten in their last 5 home games at the Aviva Stadium (W3 D2), where they held Portugal to a 0-0 draw in November 2021.

Force information

Young striker Evan Ferguson, who scored three of Ireland's four goals in World Cup qualifying, will miss the game against Portugal with an ankle injury. The hosts' squad is further hampered by the fact that Sammie Szmodics, Mark Sykes and Callum O'Dowda are also out injured, while Ryan Manning and Jayson Molumby are suspended.

On the other side, the Portuguese team also suffered losses when Pedro Neto (Chelsea) and Pedro Gonçalves (Sporting Lisbon) were forced to withdraw from the squad due to injury.

Expected lineup

Republic of Ireland: Kelleher; O'Brien, Collins, O'Shea; Coleman, Cullen, Taylor, Johnston; Ebosele, Azaz; Parrott.

Portugal: Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Inacio, Mendes; Fernandes, Neves, Vitinha, Bernardo, Ronaldo, Leao.

Score prediction: Republic of Ireland 0- 2 Portugal

Source: https://tienphong.vn/nhan-dinh-ch-ireland-vs-bo-dao-nha-02h45-ngay-1411-lay-ve-du-world-cup-post1795888.tpo