STAR FOOTBALL PREVIEW Thurs: Portugal v Wales

Wales kick off their UEFA Nations League campaign with a tricky trip to Lisbon, where they face a Portugal side whose World Cup journey was cut short by the eventual champions in the last 16, writes WILLIAM KEDJANYI.

Craig Bellamy’s side have had six months to get over that agonising penalty shootout defeat to Bosnia, costing them a place in the World Cup, but they now find themselves in a particularly difficult Nations League section that also includes Denmark and Norway.

Wales sit down at number 38 in FIFA World Rankings, which goes some way to explaining their 16/1 odds to win this game. Portugal, on the other hand, are a miserly 2/11 to get the job done, but when you look at the quality they possess in all departments, then it’s difficult to see how Wales can get anything at all out of this fixture.

Portugal v Wales
UEFA Nations League – Estádio José Alvalade
Thursday 19:45 – Live on BBC2 & BBC One Wales

LAST FIVE STATS

HEAD-TO-HEAD
JUL 2016 UEFA European Championship – Portugal 2-0 Wales
JUN 2000 Friendly – Portugal 3-0 Wales

PORTUGAL
JUL 2026 FIFA World Cup – Portugal 0-1 Spain
JUL 2026 FIFA World Cup – Portugal 2-1 Croatia
JUN 2026 FIFA World Cup – Colombia 0-0 Portugal
JUN 2026 FIFA World Cup – Portugal 5-0 Uzbekistan
JUN 2026 FIFA World Cup – Portugal 1-1 Congo

WALES
JUN 2026 FRIENDLY – Romania 2-1 Wales
JUN 2026 FRIENDLY – Wales 1-1 Ghana
MAR 2026 FRIENDLY – Wales 1-1 Northern Ireland
MAR 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier – Wales 1-1 Bosnia
NOV 2025 FIFA World Cup Qualifier – Wales 7-1 North Macedonia

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Remarkably, Portugal head coach Jorge Jesus (who was Cristiano Ronaldo’s manager at Al Nassr) has once again selected the 41-year-old, who was widely expected to announce his international retirement after the World Cup exit to Spain.

No doubt Ronaldo will start in Lisbon and if anything, that could help Wales given his very obvious lack of mobility nowadays. The bigger dangers to Wales, however, probably lie behind Ronaldo, because the likes of Joao Neves, Bruno Fernandes, Pedro Neto and Joao Felix are all capable of causing Wales serious damage.

The Dragons topped their 2024 Nations League group and produced some impressive performances in World Cup qualifying, including a narrow 4-3 defeat away to Belgium and a stunning 7-1 home victory over North Macedonia.
However, they lacked attacking threat in their home playoff against Bosnia, drawing 1-1 before losing 4-2 on penalties, and could find it difficult to trouble a talented and experienced Portugal side.

Wales might be able to frustrate Portugal initially, but the home side should be able to find their way to three points, and they are likely to do so without conceding. 17/20 with starsports.bet, I fancy an away win with both teams scoring.

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