As they begin their World Cup 2022 campaign against Ghana on November 24, 2022, Ronaldo-led Portugal must be aiming to capture their third trophy in the previous six years. The match between these two will take place at stadium 974 in Doha.
Third place at the 1966 World Cup was Portugal’s greatest result. They’ve qualified for the last five competitions in a row, making it to the knockout stages three times (2006, 2010 & 2018).
The Black Stars, as Ghana is called, have a history for pulling off shocks and consistently putting up strong performances at FIFA age-grade competitions despite being ranked 61 overall by FIFA.
Ghana is participating in its fourth World Cup finals after qualifying three times in a row (from 2006 to 2014), but missing out in Russia in 2010. They have twice advanced to the knockout stages, with their best performance being in the 2010 quarterfinals.
In Portugal’s only meeting with Ghana, Portugal defeated Ghana 2-1 in the group stage of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil thanks to goals from Cristiano Ronaldo and a John Boye own goal.
Santos’s team has struggled to win any of their last three opening games on the biggest international stage, so fast starts have not been a theme for Portugal at the World Cup. Ghana will need to put on their best shooting boots if they hope to get past a Portuguese defence that has only allowed two goals in their last seven games.
Here is how the two teams line up for this game:
