After stunning Italy in the semifinals, North Macedonia has advanced to Europe's World Cup Qualifying Finals, where they'll look to stage an upset of Portugal to clinch their ticket to the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The winner of this game will secure their spot in the 2022 World Cup, so needless to say, both sides will be giving it their all in hopes of victory.
North Macedonia enters this game on the heels of a jaw-dropping upset against Italy, keeping the Euro 2020 winners out of their second consecutive World Cup. The 1-0 victory was one of the biggest upsets in international football history, and they'll look to follow it up with an equally difficult win over Portugal on Wednesday.
Portugal enters play after a convincing 3-1 victory over Turkey. They'd lost to Serbia in their previous outing, leaving them in second place in their qualifying group. The squad will be hoping its world-class attackers such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Diogo Jota will be able to supply them with enough firepower in the attacking third.
With all that in mind, here's everything you need to know for Wednesday's World Cup Qualifying final between Portugal and North Macedonia, including kickoff time, predictions, tv channel and live streaming info, and more.
Portugal-North Macedonia start time and tv channel
What time does the game start?
The game is set to kick off at 2:45 p.m. EST on Tuesday, March 29, 2022.
Where is the game being played?
The match will take place at Estadio Do Dragao in Porto, Portugal.
How to watch or live stream?
The match will be broadcast via ESPN 2, UniMas, and TUDN. Live streams can be found via ESPN + and Univision NOW.
Portugal vs North Macedonia predictions
Portugal is the clear favorite in this matchup. They'll be playing with home-field advantage and have the star power that North Macedonia simply lacks. Ronaldo, Fernandes, Jota, and more will all be critical in getting Portugal an early lead, and they should have no problems holding their advantage once they get on the score sheet.
The main issue in Italy's collapse against the Macedonians was their lack of scoring. Despite taking as many as 30 shots in the game, less than 10 were put on target, resulting in a goalless outing for the Italians. North Macedonia capitalized on that with their 90th-minute game-winner, needing just the one strike to earn the victory.
With the attacking prowess of Portugal, North Macedonia will have its work cut out for them in terms of keeping the score low. While they held Italy scoreless, that was more a result of the Italian side's inability to place their shots, as opposed to a lack of scoring opportunities.
We're expecting Ronaldo and Co. to get the job done and punch their ticket to Qatar, and despite North Macedonia's stunning win over Italy, this game shouldn't be particularly close.
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