Portugal’s chances at the World Cup 2018
Portugal head to the World Cup 2018 as reigning European champions. That’s a great label for them to be carrying and just eight years ago Spain went to the World Cup as the then-reigning European champions and lifted the trophy. It is going to be a much tougher challenge for Portugal to follow suit though but they have pretty good resilience and they are able to rely heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo.
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Portugal are a big outside chance in World Cup 2018 betting with bet365 at 25/1 odds* (betting odds taken on May 18th, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.) which is a big price. Even though they are the kings of Europe at the moment it is a reasonable and fair price because their chances of landing the title in Russia don’t appear to be very high.
Visit Bet365Portugal World Cup 2018 Fixtures – Group Stage
The group stage challenge ahead for Portugal at the World Cup 2018 isn’t too difficult. That is once they get past the opening game which is against their Iberian neighbours Spain. Portugal go into that game as underdogs against the Spaniards but even if they were to suffer defeat then it’s not too likely that it would upset their qualification hopes. That is because the rest of the quality isn’t too challenging that Portugal couldn’t get themselves back into the picture. Portugal open Group B with the big game against Spain on Friday, June 15.
Following that they will have the chance to pick up points against Morocco on Wednesday, June 20 before closing out the group stage campaign with a game against Iran on Monday, June 25. So there is a decent chance of progression through and it would not be a great disaster if they lost against Spain. But picking up a point against them would just leave them more than comfortable because the other two aren’t likely to do that. Portugal are odds-on favourites to beat both Morocco and Iran in Group B action at Russia 2018.
Spain knocked Portugal out of Euro 2012 which was the most recent meeting. The game was at 0-0 after extra time and Spain won the subsequent penalty shootout. From the last five meetings both competitive and friendly, things are even between Spain and Portugal with two wins each and one drawn fixture. The last time they were together in the World Cup was at South Africa 2010 with Spain collecting a 1-0 victory. In the overall head-to-head between Portugal and Spain, Portugal trail 6-16 with the 13 drawn fixtures between them.
Portugal faced Morocco at the 1986 World Cup and the Europeans suffered a 3-1 loss on that occasion in what is the only prior meeting between the two nations. Portugal have also faced Iran before at the World Cup and that was a 2006 meeting which Portugal won 2-0. Portugal are 11/5 odds at bet365* (betting odds taken on May 18th, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.) behind Spain to win the World Cup 2018 while they are an odds-on price of 3/10 to qualify* (betting odds taken on May 18th, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.).
Portugal Stage of Elimination
Even though Portugal have to go up against Spain in the group stage they should find a comfortable passage through to the knockout stages of the competition. In the second round, they will be playing a side from Group A which contains Russia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Uruguay. The most difficult draw that they can get out of that would be South American side Uruguay, which would probably end up being a really tight scrap between them. But it’s not the worst draw in the world for the reigning European champions. If they were to get through to the quarter-finals the most likely opponent there would be France and then potentially Brazil waiting in the semi finals.
Portugal are at 13/8 odds to go home* (betting odds taken on May 18th, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.) at the round of 16 while they are at 11/4 odds* (betting odds taken on May 18th, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.) to be eliminated in the quarter-final stages.
Portugal Top Goalscorer
Cristiano Ronaldo is the clear favourite to lead the way in scoring for Portugal at the World Cup 2018. His strike record for Portugal is phenomenal and basically they don’t really have any backup beyond him. He is vitally important to their chances of progression through the tournament. Because of all his set pieces that he will take, he is the obvious choice for being Portugal’s most productive player in front of goal. Other options that Portugal have are Andre Silva, Nelson Oliveira and Eder.
Outright Odds* for the World Cup 2018
Brazil 4/1, Germany 9/2, Spain 6/1, France 13/2, Argentina 9/1, Belgium 11/1, England 18/1, Portugal 25/1, Uruguay 33/1, Croatia 33/1, bar 40/1* (Betting Odds taken at 5:27 p.m. on May 16th, 2018)
Predictions
One thing the Portuguse know-how to do is to grind things out and we saw that at Euro 2016 when they drew most of their games on their way to lifting the title. They do rely heavily on Cristiano Ronaldo so he is going to need to bring is very best for Portugal to be able to get anywhere. While they should get out of the group stage comfortably enough the real challenge will start in the knockout stages.
If you project them to finish second in their group behind Spain than that would potentially be a game against Uruguay in the first knockout stage for them. Even that right now may be too stiff challenge for the Portuguese and the 13/8 odds on Portugal leaving the competition* (betting odds taken on May 18th, 2018 at 10:00 p.m.) in the round of sixteen looks a good option.
