Portugal – Scotland

The favourite will win a confident victory at home

Every new continental or world tournament involving Portugal starts with this team among the favourites. Another thing is that Ronaldo and company in the recent draws of big competitions demonstrate a level of play that is far from championship level. Unfortunately, this is often blamed on Krish himself, who sometimes seems not as useful as he used to be. Scotland came into the last continental championship in convincing style, shining with a completely different level of football than in the qualifications for previous major tournaments. The increased class of the British team did not lead to success directly at the EURO, but the team started the new Nations League campaign in League A as an opponent that should be treated with respect. Bookmakers have identified the hosts as clear favourites for the upcoming game, offering odds of 1.21 on their victory. After the unexpected departure from Morocco in the quarter-finals of the World Cup, fans of the Portuguese national team pinned high hopes on the upcoming European championship. The success of the "European Brazilians" in EURO qualification, during which they won all ten matches, fuelled expectations of triumph. Another thing is that the tournament in Germany for the Portuguese turned out badly. Failures began with the last round of the group stage when Portugal lost to modest Georgia by football standards. This was followed by a penalty shootout victory over far from formidable Slovenia and a logical elimination in the quarter-finals by France. Portugal started the new Nations League with a 2-1 home win over Croatia. Last summer's EURO, the Scots left the group round. In three matches, the British team managed to pick up only one point, which was obtained in a meeting with Switzerland. In the Nations League, Scotland started at home against Poland. Clarke's team is considered to be "home", so they were considered favourites for the meeting with the Poles. However, the Scots lost the first half with the score 0:2, struggled to get back in the second half, and then conceded on 90+7 minutes. Scotland will play in Lisbon in an upset, and the quality of the opponent's play will be well above the Polish level. Portugal are likely to win with a convincing scoreline.