Updated: 29 March 2022
FIFA World Cup 2022 Play-offs Final: Portugal vs North Macedonia – Squad, Predicted Lineups, Live Stream & Winning prediction. In the most shocking turn of events, North Macedonia have knocked Italy out of the first round of European qualifiers Playoffs of the 2022 FIFA World Cup and now they will face Portugal in the second round. This match is a do-or-die for both teams as the winner of this match qualifies directly to the 2022 Qatar FIFA World Cup. The match will be played at Portugal’s home stadium, Estadio do Dragao and they are undoubtedly the favourites to win the match and qualify for the World Cup. However, North Macedonia will definitely not let them win easily and they will put up a great fight.
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In this article, we shall be presenting to you a Preview of the upcoming match between Portugal and North Macedonia and it will include the Full Squad, Predicted Playing XI of both teams and also the Winning prediction.
Portugal
Cristiano Ronaldo’s Portugal registered a comfortable victory against Turkey in the first round of the Qualifiers as they scored 2 early goals. Although the Turkish captain Burak Yilmaz cut down the lead by half in the second half by a stunning goal, Portugal was clearly the better side of the two and they dominated possession and the game. They won the match 3-1.
As it now stands, Portugal will be facing a much easier opposition in the second round of the Playoffs. North Macedonia might be the underdogs but they are nothing compared to Portugal and they should win the match comfortably.
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Portugal’s Man City defender Ruben Dias is ruled out of the match owing to an injury and Joao Cancelo makes his return from suspension.
Portugal Full Squad:
Anthony Lopes, Diogo Costa, Rui Patrício, Cédric Soares, João Cancelo, Diogo Dalot, Gonçalo Inácio, José Fonte, Pepe, Nuno Mendes, Raphael Guerreiro, Danilo Pereira, Matheus Nunes, William Carvalho, Rúben Neves, Bruno Fernandes, João Moutinho, Otávio Monteiro, Bernardo Silva, João Félix, André Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota, Gonçalo Guedes, Rafael Leão.
Portugal Starting XI: Rui Patricio; Otavio, Jose Fonte, Joao Cancelo, Raphael Guerreiro; Joao Moutinho, Danilo Pereira, Bruno Fernandes; Bernado Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Diogo Jota.
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North Macedonia
North Macedonia are undoubtedly the dark horse of the World Cup 2022 Qualifiers. They parked the bus against Italy in the first match of the playoffs and won the match owing to Aleksandar Trajkovski’s 90+2’ goal, shocking every soul in the footballing world. It was not particularly a deserved win but we’ve got to say that Macedonia held on to their nerves till the very end was the smarter of the two teams.
North Macedonia are currently 67th on FIFA’s rankings. Compared to Turkey whose rank is 39th, they are much poorer which means that they are a much easier opponent on paper for Portugal. However, football does not work that way and Turkey will be looking to shock the world once again by Eliminating Portugal from the World Cup.
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North Macedonia Full Squad:
Kristijan Naumovski, Stole Dimitrievski, Damjan Siskovski, Stefan Ristovski, Darko Velkoski, Kire Ristevski, Stefan Askovski, Ezgjan Alioski, Visar Musliu, Todor Todoroski, Nikola Serafimov, Arijan Ademi, Stefan Spirovski, Erdal Rakip, David Babunski, Enis Bardhi, Boban Nikolov, Eljif Elmas, Tihomir Kostadinov, Jani Atanasov, Valon Ethemi, Darko Churlinov, Aleksandar Trajkovski, Milan Ristovski, Dorian Babunski, Erdon Daci, Bojan Miovski.
North Macedonia Starting XI: Stole Dimitrievski; Stefan Ristovski, Darko Velkovski, Visar Musliu, Ezgjan Alioski; Boban Nikolov, Arijan Ademi, Enis Bardhi; Darko Churlinov, Milan Ristovski, AleksandarTrajkovski.
FIFA World Cup 2022 Playoffs: Portugal vs North Macedonia, Timing and Venue
The match between Portugal and North Macedonia will be played on Wednesday 30th March at 12:15 PM IST (7:45 PM CET) at the Estádio do Dragão stadium.
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Portugal vs North Macedonia Winning Prediction
There is no doubt in the fact that Portugal is the clear favourites to win the match against North Macedonia and qualify for World Cup 2022. North Macedonia might have defeated Italy in Playoffs 1 but it does not mean that they will repeat the same against Portugal. Instead, Portugal will now be ready for them having prepared fully and they will have the upper hand in Playoffs 2.
Moreover, from what we saw in the match against Turkey, Portugal are in very good form and especially some of their players like Diogo Jota are in red hot form and they are expected to easily defeat North Macedonia. We predict a 2-0 win in favour of Portugal.
