On Monday, Portugal and Slovenia meet in Frankfurt with a place in the last eight of Euro 2024 on the line. Here is everything you need to know before they face off at Deutsche Bank Park.
Ronaldo looked to have finally broken through Slovenia’s stubborn defence in the Portugal National Football Team vs Slovenia National Football Team Timeline, but his side-footed attempt was easily blocked by Costa.
Portugal
The Portugal national football team (Selecao das Quinas) represents Portugal in international competition. It is administered by the Portuguese Football Federation, an affiliate member of UEFA. Over its history, Portugal has won two UEFA Euro Championship titles and four FIFA World Cup qualifying tournaments.
The Portuguese squad takes its name from Lisbon, where its matches are hosted at Estadio de Benfica. It is famous for its attacking style of play – making Portugal one of the most exciting teams to watch over recent history – but is also revered for its defensive expertise, featuring goalkeepers among the best worldwide since the 1980s.
Portugal experienced an early ’90s period of consolidation, reaching all major tournaments. By mid-decade, however, a new generation of players known as “Golden Generation” started taking over their roles on the team; having won two U-20 World Cups each and becoming stars at their respective clubs.
At the 1994 World Cup, Portugal qualified for the knockout stage with two victories over North Korea and one tie against England, but their progress was marred by off-field issues such as doping cases and a boycotting incident at Saltillo training ground due to manager Rui Costa’s treatment of players.
Portugal enjoyed only limited success over time. Their UEFA Euro 1984 campaign ended with defeat to eventual champion France, while they missed out on qualifying for the 1998 World Cup due to an unfair refereeing decision against Czechia.
Portugal qualified for the 2020 UEFA European Championship through qualifying matches involving Ukraine, Serbia and Lithuania in an unfavorable group with Ukraine. They began with an opening loss against Albania that led to Paulo Bento being fired as coach and veteran Primeira Liga manager Fernando Santos taking his place – finishing third overall with 19 points and six victories.
Slovenia
Gareth Southgate will have been impressed by Slovenia’s defensive display against Portugal, who held their ground despite difficult stadium conditions, poor pitch quality, and being without possession. They held England to a 0-0 draw in their final group match while still looking dangerous against an uninspired Portuguese side who weren’t performing to their full potential.
With their quarterfinal hopes on the line, Portugal will look to maintain their impressive start when they face Slovenia at Waldstadion in Frankfurt on Monday evening. Portugal have won both of their previous encounters against their Slovenian opponents so they will hope for another success against them this time around.
The Slovenians are one of the toughest teams to break down at this tournament and they have proven this by keeping two clean sheets against Denmark and England. Their compact formation makes them difficult for opposition sides to play into wide areas by pressing high up the field; furthermore they boast impressive numbers in terms of duels won and aerial duels won – both factors which discourage any attempts by opposing sides at breaching their back five.
Remarks: They possess great counterattacking numbers and can be extremely lethal on the break. Their fast through balls to their fast wingers – known for their pace and possession skills – allow them to exploit gaps in defence by exploiting gaps with fast through balls that force wingbacks either to launch crosses or play in runners behind the defense, leaving your defence exposed.
Slovenia boasts a very powerful midfield that can create chances and score goals, and their forwards have the ability to score from set-pieces. Their main strength lies in their deep defensive play; Portugal will likely use counterattacks to hit Slovenia on the counter-attack; Slovenia must perform at their best if they want to cause an upset against one of the tournament favourites – something they have yet to accomplish at an European Championship! Never having made it beyond group stage before now will require exceptional effort on their behalf to advance further than this stage! Never have Slovenia made it beyond this far before and they need a fantastic performance to advance further than previous European Championships before; that will need special effort as it never have done so previously!
Head-to-Head
On Monday at Frankfurt Arena, Portugal and Slovenia will clash in the Round of 16 match-up for a chance at upset. Matjaz Kek’s underdogs aim to impress Matjaz at his inaugural major soccer competition meeting; this will mark their first time together at any major soccer competition.
European champions Portugal recently suffered an embarrassing 2-0 loss against Georgia, prompting many critics of manager Roberto Martinez and the team’s approach. Cristiano Ronaldo failed to score, disappointing many fans as the top-scorer on his squad.
Slovenia are undefeated in nine matches across all competitions and currently rank eighth worldwide. Although they have never advanced past group stage in major football tournaments, they have proven they can compete with some of the top teams around.
Portugal holds a perfect 1-0 advantage against Slovenia in their most recent meeting, while their friendly contest in March ended in a draw – Adam Gnezda Cerin and Timi Max Elsnik scored for Slovenia at that matchup.
Both teams have struggled in the final third this tournament, so expect another low-scoring encounter in Frankfurt. The opening half should feature plenty of action as both defenses exchange passes; both will want an early goal to set themselves up well for the second half.
Winner of this game will advance to the quarterfinals; should there be a tie, it will go straight into a penalty shootout. Quarterfinal winners will advance to semifinals at Allianz Arena Munich where they will face runners-up from other brackets; winners of semifinals advance directly into championship contest and will meet for final battle.
Fixtures
After an underwhelming Euro 2024 campaign opener against France, Portugal will attempt to turn things around against Slovenia. They come into this match as heavy favorites and aim to reach the quarter-finals for the seventh time ever at any European Championship tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo played an instrumental role in creating chances in the early minutes, yet both his leaping attempt to connect with a free kick and sliding attempt were denied by Slovenia’s defence.
In the second half, Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo came close with two one-on-one chances. Unfortunately, Vanja Drkusic denied him with an excellent slide tackle before Zan Karnicnik blocked his attempt on the line.
Jan Oblak made an outstanding save to keep Ronaldo out, leaving the Portuguese distraught. Although comforted by his teammates, his disappointment was clear.
Slovenia achieved history when they made an unprecedented breakthrough to the last 16 of a European Championship for the first time ever, and are showing genuine promise in doing so. While yet to win any game at this tournament, Slovenia held Denmark, Serbia and England all to draws during their three group matches.
If you can’t watch Portugal vs Slovenia live or want to bypass regional restrictions, using a Virtual Private Network could help. A VPN enables users to bypass geographic limitations so they can watch Portugal vs. Slovenia via their favorite streaming service from any location around the globe.
Opta Match Centre provides all the stats you need for Monday’s Euro 2024 clash between Portugal and Slovenia at Euro 2024 – from team and player stats, expected goals data, passing networks to more.
Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal has scored six goals across all competitions this season and already two at Euro 2024 – on course to becoming the only player in tournament history to achieve such feat. Furthermore, he scored five times in four appearances for his national side this year alone!
Read Also : Netherlands National Football Team vs England National Football Team
