Portugal will face Ukraine at Estádio da Luz, in Lisbon, in UEFA Europe 2020 Qualification 1th Round. Portugal against Ukraine is the match with big interest because of great National squads and great perspectives in Qualification. Review our thoughts on this match here below.

Group B

1. Portugal

2. Ukraine

3. Lithuania

4. Luxembourg

5. Serbia

 

Portugal

FIFA Rating – 6

Portugal is the Europe Cup Trophy holders now. They won the Championship against France in Final after extra time in 2016. That Championship was very memorable due to the fact that Portugal won only one match in the main time. In the group stage of the Europe Cup, they collected 3 points from 3 draws. Moreover, they were lucky to be promoted as the third-placed team and met Croatia in 1/8 Finals and won in extra time. Then won against Poland by penalties, against Wales by main time, and finally against France in extra time. They were very strong and lucky to be winners of this Cup, so could they show the same this time we will see only in the year 2020. First of all, they need to be promoted to the main draw.

Group B is very unpredictable as there are 3 very strong teams. Portugal, Ukraine, and Serbia are almost on the one level, so we can expect a tough and interesting Group stage here. Portugal has grown a very talented and experienced team. Almost all players are participating in Premier League, Serie A, Bundesliga, LaLiga and Ligue 1. This year should be the moment to prove they were stronger, but not luckier in the last Europe Cup. Moreover, Cristiano Ronaldo is back to the squad after the UEFA National League break and that is the first time since World Cup 2018.

 

Head Coach

Fernando Santos

Squad

Goalkeepers

Rui Patricio; Beto; Jose Sa;

Defenders

Joao Cancelo; Nelson Semedo; Jose Fonte; Pepe; Ruben Dias; Raphael Guerreiro; Mario Rui;

Midfielders

Danilo Pereira; Ruben Neves; William Carvalho; Bruno Fernandes; Joao Mario; Joa Moutinho; Pizzi;

Forwards

Bernardo Silva; Joao Felix; Goncalo Guedes; Rafa Silva; Andre Silva; Cristiano Ronaldo; Diogo Jota; Dyego Sousa;

 

Ukraine

FIFA Rating – 30

Ukraine is one of the teams that could make a surprise during this qualification. They have a very strong and experienced team with players from different leagues. Moreover, the Domestic clubs have very strong youth growing academies. One of the examples is young and talented O. Zinchenko from Manchester City. He already proved that he is a decent player of the main City’s squad. Previously, Ukraine failed to be promoted to the World Cup in Russia by losing in the last match against Croatia with 3:0 result. In the last 11 matches since qualification, they lost only once against Slovakia in all competitions including Friendly matches.

Moreover, Andriy Shevchenko now is the head coach of Ukraine national squad. This great ex- Chelsea, AC Milan, Dynamo Kyiv, and national squad player can improve the squads level and lead to great victories and achievements.

 

Head Coach

Andriy Shevchenko

Squad

Goalkeepers

Denis Boyko; Andriy Lunin; Andriy Pyatov;

Defenders

Mykyta Burda; Bogdan Butko; Sergiy Krivtsov; Mykola Matvienko; Vitali Mykolenko; Artem Shabanov; Eduard Sobol;

Midfielders

Roman Bezus; Sergiy Bolbat; Vitaliy Buyalskiy; Oleksandr Karavayev; Yevhen Konoplyanka; Viktor Kovalenko; Ruslan Malinovskiy; Marlos; Mykola Shaparenko; Volodymyr Shepeliev; Taras Stepanenko; Sergiy Sydorchuk; Viktor Tsygankov; Oleksandr Zinchenko

Forwards

Artem Kravets; Roman Yaremchuk;

 

H2H

These teams met last time 23 years ago twice during the World Cup qualification. Home teams were more successful, as both won at home matches. In addition, these squads are great till now and can fight for the main Europe Cup draw.