Portugal – Spain

In the main clash of the second stage of the playoffs, the Portuguese will not perform worse.

The most anticipated Round of 16 match at the World Cup will take place in the early slot on Monday in Arlington. Although daytime heat is expected in the United States at that time, the 95,000-seat arena is equipped with a retractable roof. Therefore one can be confident that the air temperature inside the stadium will be optimal for the two fast and technically skilled teams to show all the best they have. Portugal and Spain are among Europe's top national teams. It is not surprising that the last official meeting between the two sides took place in the UEFA Nations League final, which was played a year ago in Germany. Then, twice during the match, the Spaniards went ahead, but the Portuguese equalized the score thanks to Mendes and Ronaldo and brought the match to a draw at the end of regulation time and after extra time. In the penalty shootout the "European Brazilians" were flawless, while for the European champions Álvaro Morata made a mistake. Bookmakers set the nominal guests as favorites for the upcoming match, offering odds of 2.00 on their victory. The opponents, like twins, went through the first two rounds of the group stage. Portugal began the World Cup with a draw against DR Congo. Under criticism, Roberto Martínez breathed a sigh of relief after his charges delivered a 5-0 thrashing of Uzbekistan. Spain endured their opening stumble in a match against another outstanding African side — Cape Verde. Spain delivered their "relief rout" in the match against Saudi Arabia — 4:0. As for the third rounds, the "Red Fury" were more successful, beating Uruguay 1:0. Portugal drew 0-0 with Colombia. In the knockout rounds the Iberian teams faced Europeans, but while the Portuguese endured a tough match against Croatia, beating them 2:1, the Spaniards dealt with Austria without notable difficulty — 3:0. Both teams, after four matches of the tournament, showed different problems, but before the opening whistle they have roughly equal chances of advancing. Despite bookmakers' tilt toward the Spaniards, there is no doubt about either the character or the abilities of their opponents.