Portugal vs Scotland

Estadio da Luz sets the stage for a ‘David vs Goliath’ UEFA Nations League clash between Portugal and Scotland.

Portugal couldn’t have imagined a better way to start their quest to conquer the Nations League, as they did in the inaugural season in 2018/19, as they defeated Croatia 2-1 on home turf. Superstar forward Cristiano Ronaldo stole the show with his 900th career goal to help erase the memory of a gut-wrenching quarter-final exit at Euro 2024. Despite becoming the first team to win the Nations League trophy, Roberto Martinez’s men haven’t made it out of the competition’s group stages since. However, they’re well-versed in quick-fire Nations League starts, winning their first two matches in two of the previous three editions. As they’ve never conceded more than once in a Nations League game on home turf, another triumphant weekend is well on the cards.

Adding to this sentiment, visiting Scotland slumped to a 3-1 loss the last time these two teams met in 2018, extending their losing streak against Portugal to three matches. Steve Clarke’s side failed to recover from a disappointing Euro 2024 campaign (D1, L2), suffering a 3-2 home defeat to Poland at the beginning of their Group A1 journey. As a result, the Tartan Army’s disastrous spell of form since September 2023 now includes just one win from 13 games (D4, L8), underscoring their underdog status in this fixture. To put Scotland’s form woes in context, their solitary win in that period came against European minnows Gibraltar, while every loss at the hands of the top-ten teams in the world yielded at least a two-goal margin.