Preview: Portugal look to right group stage wrongs against Croatia | OneFootball

Highly rated heading into this tournament thanks to arguably the best midfield trio in the tournament, Portugal will need to recover their form after a poor showing in the group stage to make a good show of themselves in the knockout round.

Their tournament started poorly with the Selecao Das Quinas surrendering a lead to DR Congo and failing to break them down for the entire of a second half, meaning they drew 1-1. They then comfortably beat Uzbekistan with the legendary Cristiano Ronaldo getting his World Cup up and running with two smart finishes, proving why Martinez consistently sticks with the 41-year old. However, they slumped again in their final group stage game and were very lucky to come away with a point against a brilliant Colombian side, with only a few inches of Davidson Sanchez’s boot saving them from potentially a third-place finish.

Now they face another difficult game in Croatia, with the winner facing one of Spain or Austria in the round of 16 tie, with neither outcome an easy one for these two storied sides. Portugal have relentlessly underachieved on the world stage since they finished third in 1966 with legends such as Eusébio leading the line. They have since only managed to make it past the quarter-finals once, where they finished fourth in Germany 2006. A quarter-final exit to Morocco last time out will have to be equalled at least for this tournament not to be considered a failure.

Meanwhile, falling to a 4-2 defeat against England in their opener, Croatia then achieved narrow victories against Panama and Ghana to finish one point behind the three lions in Group L. They currently find themselves in a transitional period. The old heroes are still here in captain Luka Modric, winger Ivan Perisic, and midfielders Ivan Rakitic and Mateo Kovacic, who have featured in all of Croatia’s matches so far at this tournament. They may have an average age of 36.5, but still possess the quality to make an important difference in any game.

It’s been a golden few years at the World Cup for Croatia, runners-up in Russia 2018. Croatia almost matched their fantastic performance by finishing third in Qatar 2022, a run that included beating Brazil on penalties. Having only been instated into FIFA in 1992, Croatia have reached the semi-finals three times, but outside of those three performances, they haven’t managed to get past the group stage, perhaps a good omen for them now they’ve managed the latter.

Roberto Martinez could move João Neves back into the middle after the PSG man was replaced in the game against Colombia; his partnership with Vitinha at club and international level should help with solidity in the Portugal side.

There has obviously been so much conversation surrounding Ronaldo, the 41-year-old was hounded after his performance against DR Congo, where he played the full 90 and offered very little, given he is one of the few players in the Portugal side to have played every minute of Portugal’s group stage. He will likely retain his place, having recently overtaken the legendary Eusebio as the most goals scored by a Portuguese player at the World Cup.

For Croatia, Zlatko Dalic will be tempted to bring back Manchester City full-back Josko Gvardiol after he was replaced by Ivan Perisic. Bringing Gvardiol back could allow the veteran to move further up the pitch. Mateo Kovacic didn’t start Croatia’s first game against England, but the Man City man has been heavily involved ever since.

Winger Petar Sucic scored against Ghana in Croatia’s last match and has more than staked his claim to be involved for the team from now on.

Portugal vs Croatia kicks off at Midnight BST, and will be broadcast live on BBC One.