Portugal vs Hungary form
A few days ago, veteran midfielder Ruben Neves' late goal helped Portugal narrowly beat the Republic of Ireland 1-0.
Besides the emotional celebration in memory of his ill-fated close friend Diogo Jota, Neves' shining moment in the 90+1 minute also brought Seleccao closer to a ticket to the 2026 World Cup.
After the first leg, Portugal is firmly in the lead with 9 absolute points, 5 points ahead of the second-placed opponent Hungary.
If they win the decisive match at Jose Alvalade, coach Roberto Martinez and his team will officially join the train to North America next summer.
Because then, the gap between Portugal and Hungary will be up to 8 points, while there are only 2 more matches ahead.
Of course, even if they cannot win all 3 points in Lisbon, the ticket to the biggest football festival on the planet still promises to be in the pocket of Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates.
Hungary is considered Portugal's toughest opponent in the group stage. However, the current strength does not allow the representative from the Central European region to compete on equal terms with the team ranked 5th on the FIFA rankings.
In the first leg in Budapest, Hungary had caused certain difficulties for Portugal. But then the bravery and class of the top stars on the opposite side of the field still made the team under coach Marco Rossi surrender.
Looking at the reality, Hungary also understands that the chance to usurp Portugal's throne is almost impossible. The more practical goal that Dominik Szoboszlai and his teammates are aiming for is probably just to maintain the 2nd position, thereby finding a ticket to the World Cup through the play-off.
The visitors will still try to pick up points on their visit to the Iberian peninsula but if they fail to do so, it won't be too big of a problem.
Coach Rossi and his team will focus on two crucial matches with Armenia (away) and the final match against the Republic of Ireland.
In the last 7 encounters between the two sides, Portugal has won 6 and drawn only 1. Notably, both times hosting Hungary recently, the home team left the field with a 3-0 victory. Will history repeat itself?
Portugal vs Hungary squad information
Portugal: No notable absentees.
Hungary: Welcome back the duo Roland Sallai and Barnabas Varga. Coach Marco Rossi has all the most satisfactory names at his disposal.
Expected lineup Portugal vs Hungary
Portugal: Costa; Dalot, Dias, Veiga, Mendes; Neves, Vitinha; Trincao, Fernandes, Leao; Ronaldo
Hungary: B. Toth; Nego, Orban, Szalai, Kerkez; Bolla, Styles, Schafer, Szoboszlai; Sallai, Varga
Prediction: 2-0
Source: https://baovanhoa.vn/the-thao/nhan-dinh-tran-dau-bo-dao-nha-vs-hungary-1h45-ngay-1510-khi-ronaldo-dan-doan-quan-toi-dich-174509.html
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