Norway – Portugal

The Norwegian team won't be able to beat star opponents.

Norway's national team, at this current historic juncture, is experiencing one of the most remarkable periods since the birth of football in this country. Not only does Ståle Solbakken's side have a natural-born goalscorer who ranks among the top three in the world, but other players have also turned out to be quite decent. The current peak of Norway's national team's rise is its performance at the last World Cup. Norway played there boldly and confidently, managing to win four of six matches. Among the teams defeated by the Norwegians in the Round of 16 was Brazil, led by Carlo Ancelotti. The other thing is that in almost all the matches Norway relied on attacking play, conceding in each of them from one to four goals. It is not surprising that Solbakken's team's tournament run was halted in the quarterfinals by the pragmatic England. Essentially, the question of containing Norway's power boils down to containing Erling Haaland, who on average scores more than one goal per game for the national team. But not every side can manage to do that. England managed to do it in the aforementioned match. Portugal's team is well capable of it as well. They had a mediocre showing at the summer World Cup in North America. Under the leadership of Roberto Martínez, the team reached the Round of 16. It may seem that exiting at the hands of the future World Cup winner is not a disgraceful outcome. However, that would seem so if you do not take into account the Portuguese lineup; only the midfield consisting of Vitinha, Neves, Neto, Fernandes, João Félix is intimidating. Of course, such a side should contend for the very highest positions in world football. The Portuguese opened their Nations League campaign on their home soil against Wales. Playing as outright favorites, Portugal operated defensively, creating chances but were satisfied with only one goal. The main thing that happened in that match was not Portugal's victory, but the fact that Jorge Jesus was allowed to substitute Cristiano Ronaldo at least in the middle of the second half. The visitors are significantly more versatile and classy than the Norwegians.