World Cup 2026: Portugal v Uzbekistan preview | OneFootball

Portugal continue to prepare for the Uzbekistan clash at their Miami base (Photo: FPF)

It’s only Portugal’s second game of the World Cup but it has already become a crunch match. The Seleção disappointed in a 1-1 draw against Democratic Republic of Congo in the opener, which opened the floodgates to a torrent of criticism from the Portuguese press and fans.

Throw in the near hysteria on social media, most of it centred around captain Cristiano Ronaldo, and the ugly spectre of the disastrous campaigns of World Cup 2002 and World Cup 2014 inevitably come to mind.

During a significant proportion of the daily press conferences, Portugal’s players have had to respond to uncomfortable questions, ranging from spending too much time on the beach to a supposed rift between certain squad members, with their respective partners and/or family members embroiled in the confusion too. The squad has been advised by the FPF to stay off social media.

To cut a long story short, it’s all a bit of a mess.

The solution? A convincing win against Uzbekistan and the mood will immediately change.

Predicted Portugal starting XI versus Uzbekistan:

Diogo Costa; João Cancelo, Rúben Dias, Renato Veiga, Nuno Mendes; João Neves, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes; Pedro Neto, Francisco Conceição, Cristiano Ronaldo

Rúben Dias missed the Congo match through injury but has been back training with the squad in recent days and should take his place in the starting XI. The Manchester City man will likely come in for Tomás Araújo.

One of the few positives for Portugal in their opening match was the impact made by substitute Francisco Conceição as a second-half substitute and the Juventus winger should have earned a starting spot, ahead of Bernardo Silva.

Debutants on the world stage

Uzbekistan are the first central Asian country to play in a World Cup. They acquitted themselves well in their first game against Colombia. After falling behind in the first half, Abbosbek Fayzullaev equalised on the hour mark. Luis Díaz restored Colombia’s advantage, and another stoppage time goal gave the South Americans a 3-1 win. Uzbekistan lined up with a three-man defence, just like Congo did against Portugal.

Fabio Cannavaro is the head coach, who captained Italy to victory 2006 World Cup. Uzbekistan’s most high-profile player is defender Abdukodir Khusanov, who is a club teammate of Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva and Matheus Nunes at Manchester City.

The national teams of Portugal and Uzbekistan have never played each other before.

The game kicks off at midday local time in Houston, Texas, USA, on 23 June.