A spot at the 2022 World Cup will be at stake when Portugal and North Macedonia face each other at Estadio do Dragao on Tuesday. The hosts beat Turkey 3-1 in the semifinals while North Macedonia pulled off one of the biggest upsets in the World Cup qualifiers knocking out Euro 2020 winners Italy. If you’re looking for the best lines and betting markets for this clash, our sportsbook has you covered.
Let’s check the latest news, stats, injury reports, and Soccer Odds for Portugal vs North Macedonia. We have plenty of predictions for you to consider.
Portugal: On Fire
Portugal was solid against Turkey but it’s important to note that Burak Yilmaz missed a penalty to tie the game creating huge problems for the Portuguese team. Fernando Santos’ side is extremely tough to beat at home and they have the weapons to go all the way to and win the World Cup trophy. The 2016 European champions finished second in their qualifying group behind Serbia,
Portugal’s home record in competitive fixtures remains extremely impressive despite their disappointing qualifying campaign and they will be confident of claiming the win. However, Portugal did concede in both games they played against Serbia, the side that finished above them in Group A and, in their last nine competitive matches, Portugal has kept four clean sheets.
Those clean sheets came against the Republic of Ireland, Azerbaijan, and Luxembourg, three of the easiest teams on the continent. In the past seven games at home soil, Portugal won six and lost the one against Serbia, but that specific defeat put them in the playoffs instead of directly in Qatar. In all but one victory, Ronaldo and the boys netted at least twice. Against Turkey, they were against Renato Sanches, Joao Cancelo, and Pepe. All three should be back in the starting lineup and ease Santos’ defensive concerns.
Portugal knows how to dominate games and their world-class players should have enough to destroy North Macedonia on Tuesday. They will definitely respect them as they did with Turkey on Thursday but we expect them to cover the spread so we will include them in our soccer picks and parlays.
North Macedonia: Revelation
North Macedonia produced one of the greatest upsets in world of soccer, scoring in injury time against Italy to earn their spot in the playoffs final. Al-Fayha’s attacking midfielder Aleksandar Trajkovski scored in the second minute of stoppage time to shock the European champions. As soon as the goal went in, North Macedonian players and support staff broke into wild celebrations.
It was the second successive time that Italy has failed to qualify for the World Cup finals.
North Macedonia has done well under the leadership of Blagoja Milevski. It isn’t too hard to predict Macedonia’s starting 11 either, given their defensive approach. There is no looking past Stole Dimitrievski in goal, while their most reliable set of fullbacks Stefan Ristovski and former Leeds United star Ezgjan Alioski should lead the defensive line.
Milan Ristovski is not a world-class striker, but he will be tasked with the responsibility of leading the line, with the help of Aleksandar Trajkovski. Their most important player, Napoli’s Elif Elmas will be back from suspension and will represent the biggest threat for Portugal. As neutral fans, we always love the underdogs but if you’re betting online, we don’t recommend you back the visitors because their sensational campaign will surely end here.
Portugal vs North Macedonia Head-to-Head
The sides have met twice in their entire history, with both fixtures being international friendlies. In 2003, Portugal won 2-1 while the second match ended in a goalless draw. Portugal covered the spread in three of their last five home fixtures scoring at least two goals on four occasions. The visitors pulled off some great upsets on the road during their group stage campaign keeping three clean sheets in their last five away games.
Portugal vs North Macedonia Game Information
- Game: Portugal (5-2-1) vs. North Macedonia (5-3-2)
- Location: Estadio do Dragao (Porto)
- Day/Time: Tuesday, 3:45 p.m. ET
- Live Stream: ESPN
Portugal vs North Macedonia Betting Lines
Portugal -2 Ev || -525 || 3 +110o
North Macedonia +2 -130 || +1400 || 3 -140u
Draw +600
Portugal vs North Macedonia Predictions
Portugal enters this match as heavy favorites being priced at -500 on the three-way moneyline according to the latest soccer odds while the goal-line is set at 2½. Portugal’s seven from the last eight fixtures across all competitions produced at least three goals so we will go with the over once again given their amazing attacking firepower.
Portugal great Cristiano Ronaldo is only the second men’s player to pass 100 international goals. He holds the goal record with 115 strikes in 185 national-team games. He is a huge favorite to add to his tally but let’s not forget that Portugal is one of the best teams in the world and is fully packed with high-class players.
