Uzbekistan vs Portugal

Uzbekistan face Portugal in a fixture that, on paper, looks like a mismatch of the sort the expanded 48-team tournament was designed to produce. But the White Wolves have earned their place here through sheer grit, emerging from an AFC qualifying campaign in which they lost only once in the final phase. The question is whether that ceiling is high enough.

Portugal's front line is relentless: Martínez has built an attack that scored 36 goals in ten qualifying matches, and the movement of Fernandes, Leão, and whichever striker starts will test Uzbekistan's low block in ways few Asian sides can replicate. Shomurodov, operating as a lone striker, will need to win aerial duels against Rúben Dias and perhaps hold the ball long enough for Husniddin Aliqulov to join from midfield. The one crumb of comfort for Uzbekistan is that Portugal have occasionally started slowly in group openers — the 2022 draw with Ghana being a case in point — and if the match reaches the hour mark at 0-0 or 1-0, the underdogs' belief will grow. Realistically, though, Portugal's depth from the bench should overwhelm a side whose substitutes are drawn from domestic leagues with a fraction of the competitive intensity.