Fernando Santos' charges qualified for the European Championship by finishing top of Group I ahead of Albania, Denmark, Serbia and Armenia. Hosts France, holders Spain and world champions Germany are widely considered to be the three favourites to lift the trophy next month, but Portugal are among a group of teams who have been tipped as potential outside winners.
The side is heavily built around Cristiano Ronaldo, the best player in the tournament, but Portugal do have some extremely promising young players within their ranks, particularly in midfield: Renato Sanches sealed a big-money move to Bayern Munich in May, while Joao Mario, Rafa Silva, Andre Gomes, Danilo and William Carvalho are all also highly-rated. There are concerns about the defensive unit, though, with first-choice centre-halves Pepe and Ricardo Carvalho now 33 and 38 respectively, while it remains to be seen how the side will function with Ronaldo playing in a more central position as the Real Madrid man is expected to do.
Iceland overturned the odds to reach Euro 2016, finishing above Turkey and the Netherlands to seal second place in Group A. Little is expected of the smallest nation to have ever qualified for a European Championship, and that lack of pressure back home or anywhere else on the continent could serve them well. Iceland, who have joint-managers in Lars Lagerback and Helmir Hallgrimsson, will be hard-working, disciplined and difficult to break down, while there is enough technical quality in the squad to suggest they will be able to take advantage of any openings they are presented with. By measures such as population and tournament pedigree, Iceland should be nowhere near Euro 2016, so the fact that they have made it this far is a major achievement in itself.
It is still unclear which formation Santos will line his Portugal side up in on Tuesday, with the 4-3-3 potentially making way for a 4-4-2 configuration. The latter was employed in the 7-0 thrashing of Estonia in Portugal’s final warm-up game last week, with Ronaldo and Ricardo Quaresma up top, Joao Moutinho at the tip of a midfield diamond and Danilo at the base. Rui Patricio will start between the sticks, while Cedric Soares and Raphael Guerreiro seem to be the favourites to play at full-back.
Iceland will stick with the flat 4-4-2 they used throughout qualifying, with compactness between the lines likely to be key against Portugal. Gylfi Sigurdsson and Aron Gunnarsson are vital in the centre of midfield, while Kolbeinn Sigthorsson – a tireless, if not, prolific, striker – will be important when it comes to chasing down opposition centre-backs.
Portugal should have enough about them to record a victory in their opening game on Tuesday, although it may only be by a single-goal margin. Backing both teams to score could be a decent bet, while the in-form Quaresma looks like a good-value option to get his name on the scoresheet.
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