The Portuguese National Team will begin their road to one more FIFA World Cup, perhaps the last one with Cristiano Ronaldo in their roster, and they will do so on Wednesday evening against Azerbaijan, a team that has never been able to beat A Selecao.
Fernando Santos' men have to be considered favorites to win Group A of the UEFA World Cup Qualifiers, a group they share with Azerbaijan, Ireland, Luxembourg, and Serbia. The Portuguese side will be looking to play in a sixth FIFA World Cup in a row, where their main goal will be to improve their recent performances, which were only good enough to reach the Round of 16 twice since 2010.
As for Azerbaijan, the team coached by Gianni de Biasi will try for starters to improve their record from the past qualifiers, where they were only capable of winning three games. In order to do that, the Milli will need Ramil Sheydayev, the striker with the best international record in their call up, to step up during the game and wreak havoc among the Portuguese defense.
The game, which was scheduled to be played at Jose Alvalade Stadium in Portugal, will end up being played at Juventus Stadium in Italy. The reason for this move came after the travel restrictions established by European countries to make a trip to Portugal. With the game being played in Italy, Portugal was able to call up players currently performing in leagues such as the Premier League.
Portugal vs Azerbaijan - Who's in and who's out?
Portugal - Injured: Pepe, Rui Patricio
Azerbaijan - No missing players.
Portugal vs Azerbaijan - Head-to-head record
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Portugal have won five of their six games against Azerbaijan (all comps).
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This will be the first competitive game between Portugal and Azerbaijan since the 2014 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers. That last game ended in a 2-0 win for A Selecao away from home.
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Portugal have scored 13 goals against Azerbaijan in their three previous home games. That run includes a 7-0 win for A Selecao in 1999.
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Cristiano Ronaldo has scored two goals against Azerbaijan.
Broadcast info - Portugal vs Azerbaijan
In Portugal: RTP 1, Sport TV1, RTP Play, Sport TV LIVE.
In Azerbaijan: CBC Sport Azerbaijan.
In the U.K.: SKY GO Extra, Sky Sports Red Button.
In France: Molotov, Free, L'Equipe Web, L'Equipe.
In Germany: DAZN.
In the U.S.: ESPN+, TUDN USA, Univision NOW, UniMás, TUDN.com, TUDN App.
In Canada: TLN.
Match details, result and original broadcast info
This match has ended. Below are the original Live broadcast details for this match.
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
Live TV coverage and streaming in United States
