Portugal vs North Macedonia: TV channel, live stream, team news & prediction

Portugal are one game from the 2022 World Cup
Portugal are one game from the 2022 World Cup / Zed Jameson/MB Media/GettyImages
facebooktwitterreddit

EIther Portugal or North Macedonia will book their place at the 2022 World Cup when the two teams square off on Tuesday.

Fresh from their historic upset of European champions Italy – whom they beat 1-0 on Thursday night – the North Macedonians will be looking to spring another surprise against Cristiano Ronaldo and co.

Portugal comfortably beat Turkey to get to this stage and failure to win again here would be nothing short of a catastrophe.

Here is everything you need to know ahead of the high-stakes game...


How to watch Portugal vs North Macedonia on TV/live stream

When is kick off? Tuesday 29 March, 19:45 (GMT)
Where is the match being played? Estado de Dragao
TV channel/live stream? Sky Sports Football (UK), ESPN+ (US)
Referee? Anthony Taylor
VAR? Chris Kavanagh


Portugal team news

In a big boost for Portugal, Joao Cancelo should return at full-back after missing out in the previous round through suspension.

In further good news, Fernando Santos has no further selection issues to contend with ahead of this one. He should name close to a unchanged team with Joao Felix starting on the bench.


North Macedonia team news

Incredibly, North Macedonia managed to get the job done against Italy without their star man, Napoli midfielder Eljif Elmas. He will be back from suspension in time for this one though, as will Tihomir Kostadinov.

North Macedonia will likely be without Arijan Ademi and Boban Nikolov however, after both were forced off during the victory of Gli Azzurri.


Portugal vs North Macedonia score prediction

North Macedonia showed remarkable resilience to get through the majority of the Italy game unscathed before pouncing at the death to complete an incredible upset.

That performance would have taken a lot out of them but they will still be on a high from defeating the European champions while the return of Elmas is another huge boost.

Despite this, Portugal put in a professional job against Turkey and with Cancelo back in the squad we cannot see them failing to secure passage to Qatar on Tuesday.

Prediction: Portugal 2-0 North Macedonia