Cristiano Ronaldo and Portugal face a crunch 2022 World Cup playoff semifinal against Turkey in Porto tonight, with a final place against either Italy or North Macedonia on offer for the winner.
The side coached by Fernando Santos find themselves in the uncomfortable position of needing to navigate a marathon playoff schedule this week, after finishing second in Group A in qualifying.
If the home side can get past Stefan Kuntz’s visitors at the Estadio de Dragao they face a winner-take-all clash at the same stadium on March 29 against either Italy or North Macedonia.
With Italy hotly tipped to reach the final, that playoff final could potentially pit the defending European champions (Italy) up against the 2016 winners, in Ronaldo & Co.
Sporting News is following the match live and providing live score updates, commentary.
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Portugal vs. Turkey live score
| 1H | 2H | Final | |
| Portugal | — | — | — |
| Turkey | — | — | — |
Goals:
(All times Eastern)
4th Min: A positive start from Portugal here as Zeki Celik gets back to win an important header inside the Turkey penalty area.
1st Min: WE ARE UNDERWAY IN PORTO
RRRROOOOLA A BOLA NO DRAGÃO!#PORTUR | 0-0 | #VamosComTudo #WCQ pic.twitter.com/YeP4aajqh7
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) March 24, 2022
3:30 p.m: COULD IT BE ANOTHER BIG NIGHT FOR PORTUGAL?
Portugal has played against Turkey 8 times.
🇵🇹 6 wins, 16 goals
🇹🇷 2 wins, 8 goalsFirst contest since 2012.
Tonight at every seat in Dragão fans will find a Portugal flag.
— PortugueseSoccer.com ⚽️ (@PsoccerCOM) March 24, 2022
3:00 pm.: TEAM NEWS
Injuries and suspensions have forced a reshuffle in defence for Portugal with Danilo filling in at centre back and Otavio picked in attack alongside Diogo Jota and Cristiano Ronaldo.
Senhoras e senhores, o nosso para hoje! 📋👥 #VamosComTudo pic.twitter.com/NZZCIEqZIW
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) March 24, 2022
#BizimÇocuklar’ın Portekiz maçı 11’i belli oldu. 🇹🇷 #PORTUR #WCQ pic.twitter.com/gKJiZz1X6Q
— Türkiye #BizimÇocuklar 🇹🇷 (@MilliTakimlar) March 24, 2022
2:30 p.m.: “Believe in us, believe in the national team,” was Cristiano Ronaldo’s message to his compatriots.
O capitão da seleção de Portugal deixou uma mensagem aos portugueses, antes do duelo com a Turquia para as meias-finais do play-off de apuramento para o Mundial de 2022. “Tudo faremos para corresponder ao vosso apoio… Força Portugal!“, acrescentou. pic.twitter.com/Eho4eMiKvG
— CNN Portugal (@cnnportugal) March 24, 2022
1:00 p.m.: The scene is set in Porto.
🇵🇹✖️🇹🇷 pic.twitter.com/mLgDclF1ED
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) March 24, 2022
Portugal vs. Turkey lineups
The big news for Santos ahead of this tie has been a raft of high-profile injury withdrawals with Ruben Dias, Nelson Semedo and Ruben Neves among those missing out. The influential Pepe is out due to COVID-19 and Joao Cancelo and Renato Sanches are suspended.
Portugal starting lineup (4-3-3): 22-Costa (GK) — 5-Guerreiro, 6-Fonte, 13-Danilo, 20-Dalot — 8-Moutinho, 10-B Silva,11-Fernandes — 16-Otavio, 7-Ronaldo, 21-Jota
Portugal subs (12): 12-Sa (GK), 1-Patricio (GK), 13-Carvalho, 3-Djalo, 17-Guedes, 23-Felix, 15-Leao, 2-Mendes, 18-Nunes, 19-A Silva, 21-Soares, 4-Vitinha
Kuntz has the majority of his big hitters available for this match, but he is without top scorer Cenk Tosun due to a long-term knee injury.
Turkey starting lineup (4-4-2): 23-Cakir (GK) — 13-Kutlu, 4-Soyuncu, 3-Demiral, 15-Kabak, — 21-Akturkoglu, 10-Calhanoglu, 19-Kokcu, 2-Celik — 17-Yilmaz, 7-Under
Turkey subs (12): 1-Bolat (GK), 12-Bayindir (GK), 22-Ayhan, 5-Aziz, 6-Muldur, 11-Yazici, 20-Omur, 16-Unal, 9-Dursun, 14-Antayali, 18-Erkin, 8-Tokoz
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How to watch Portugal vs. Turkey
- Date: Thursday, March 24
- Time: 3:45 p.m. ET
- USA TV channel: ESPN2, UniMas, TUDN
- Canada TV channel: Univision Canada
- USA streaming: fuboTV, ESPN+
The match from Porto’s Estadio do Dragao will be available exclusively in the USA on ESPN2 (English), UniMas (Spanish) and TUDN (Spanish). Univision will carry the match in Canada.
The ESPN2, UniMas and TUDN broadcasts in the USA are streamed on fuboTV, which is available to new users on a free trial. ESPN+ will also stream the match for U.S. subscribers.
