When Cristiano Ronaldo made his World Cup debut for Portugal back in 2006, Spain’s Lamine Yamal wasn’t even born yet. Now, as Ronaldo is in the final World Cup of his career, Yamal will be looking to win his first with Spain. It’s a heavyweight matchup between two of the top favorites to win the entire tournament, and we’re all here for it. The round of 16 has been electric so far, and this is a match that will be no different.
Portugal needed VAR to rule out an equalizer by Croatia in the round of 32, while Ronaldo needed a penalty to score his first-ever goal in the knockout stage of the tournament. Continuing to play like that will lead to Spain’s balanced side getting the win and Ronaldo failing to add the one trophy that he lacks in the World Cup, so Roberto Martinez will need to figure.out what to do. The team looked better in attack with Goncalo Ramos leading the line, which is a good start, but when Ronaldo is expected to start, they need to find the right balance.
Yamal started the tournament injured and is still finding his best form for the national team, but with Mikel Oyarzabal scoring four goals and counting, Spain have something that they haven’t had in years: a striker. That is one of the reasons why Unai Simon has the longest shutout streak in World Cup history, at 519 minutes and counting, which spans two World Cups. Being able to put the ball in the back of the net while also having their vintage passing makes this team so hard to beat and Portugal will need to find a way through.
How to watch Portugal vs. Spain
Date: Monday, July 6 | Time: 3 p.m. ET
Location: AT&T Stadium — Dallas, Texas
TV: FOX (Eng), Telemundo (Spa) | Live stream: Fubo (Try for free)
Odds: Portugal +300; Draw +250; Spain -105
Portugal vs. Spain predicted starting lineups
Portugal Diogo Costa, Nuno Mendes, Renato Veiga, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Rafael Leao, Bruno Fernandes, Pedro Neto, Cristiano Ronaldo
Spain: Unai Simone, Marc Cucurella, Aymeric Laporte, Pau Cubarci, Pedro Porro, Pedri, Rodri, Alex Baena, Dani Olmo, Lamine Yamal, Mikel Oyarzabal
Portugal vs. Spain pick, prediction
Portugal’s run comes to an end in Dallas. Even Ronaldo announcing that this will be his final World Cup won’t be enough to push the team to a win over such a strong Spain side. Yamal will score his second goal of the World Cup so far while Olmo also finds the back of the net as Spain gets the job done to advance to the quarterfinals. Pick: Portugal 1, Spain 2
Golazo 48 Nations: Follow the World Cup all summer long
Golazo 48 Nations is your all-access destination for the World Cup, with wall-to-wall coverage across the CBS Sports Golazo Network. From the first whistle to the final recap, the entire Golazo crew will guide fans through every moment of the tournament.
Each day begins with Morning Footy, setting the stage with the newest news, storylines, and previews ahead of kickoff. From there, Golazo Matchday and Golazo Matchnight deliver reaction and analysis as the action unfolds. Fans can also tune in for coverage of USMNT matches with the Call It What You Want team, as well as reaction to other marquee matchups.
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