On Saturday, November 14, France travel to Lisbon to take on Portugal for their UEFA Nations League top-of-the-group clash, battling it out for qualification for the knockout stages.
The two sides are currently joint top with 10 points, from a possible 12 – although Portugal have a better goal difference.
In the other group games, both France and Portugal breezed past Sweden and Croatia – yet when they met last month, both settled for a goalless stalemate at the Stade de France.
But in the run-up to this game, France and Portugal had mixed fortunes. Last Wednesday, November 11, France suffered a surprise defeat to Finland in a friendly in Paris.
Portugal, on the other hand, warmed up well for this game – beating Andorra seven-nil in a friendly, with debut goals by Paulinho and Pedro Neto. The star of the Portuguese team – Cristiano Ronaldo – also scored, his 102nd for Portugal. It was another confirmation how their attacking power is formidable while their defence is hard to beat – in fact, in this competition, they scored nine times and suffered just one goal.
France don’t have a good record in the Nations League – while Portugal lifted the cup of the first edition to become the first-ever champions of this competition, Les Bleus didn’t qualify for the knockout stages, having been beaten by the Netherlands. They are obviously still in with a chance of making it through group stages – but not if they deliver the same performance they did against Finland, which ended a 12-game unbeaten run.
History favours Les Bleus. France and Portugal have played 26 times, with the French winning 18 of those games, and Portugal six.
Expect plenty of talent on show at Benfica’s Estadio da Luz. After all, the clash is between the European champions and the world champions. Both coaches play a similar style – as Fernando Santos and Didier Deschamps are cautious in their approach, so expect a tight game. That means that injuries and suspensions will play an important role. Portugal have a clear infirmary and no suspensions, while France are still doubtful about the match fitness of Kylian Mbappe and Benjamin Pavard.
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