Cristiano Ronaldo will look to keep his final World Cup journey going as Portugal match up against a familiar European opponent in Switzerland.
The two nations have matched up twice already through the 2022 calendar year in UEFA Nations League play, with each side winning their one home fixture.
Ronaldo, at 37 years old, is almost surely be playing in his final World Cup tournament. He became the first male player ever to score in five World Cup tournaments with his goal against Ghana in the group stage, but still has yet to score a goal in the knockout round. In fact, Ronaldo is the player with the most career World Cup goals (8) but none in the knockout stage.
Below are the projected lineups for both teams based on the latest news leading up to the match.
MORE: How to watch Portugal vs. Switzerland in World Cup action across the globe
Portugal vs. Switzerland lineups
There’s been much talk about Cristiano Ronaldo and his standing with the Portugal squad of late. The former Manchester United striker has reportedly signed for Saudi Arabia club Al-Nassr for eye-watering money, but some feel that he should be dropped from the Portugal starting lineup.
Head coach Fernando Santos addressed reports of discontent between the two in his pre-match press conference.
“Let me split my answer into two,” Santos said. “The first is when I went to the press conference, as you know, when the match had ended. I had a flash interview, and then obviously I went straight to the press conference and what I said l repeat it here again. There on the field, nothing happened, nothing. So I just heard him discussing with the players of Korea, I didn’t hear anything else.
“Now the second part of your question, if I have seen the images? Yes. I didn’t like it. Not at all. I did not like it. I really didn’t like it.”
It remains to be seen whether Ronaldo will be punished for the incident with his place in the starting lineup revoked. Below are the projected starting lineups for both teams ahead of their match at Lusail Iconic Stadium on Tuesday, December 6.
Portugal projected starting 11
(4-3-2-1, right to left): 22. Rui Costa (GK) — 2. Diogo Dalot, 3. Pepe, 4. Ruben Dias, 20. Joao Cancelo — 10. Bernardo Silva, 18. Ruben Neves, 14. William Carvalho — 8. Bruno Fernandes, 11. Joao Felix — 7. Cristiano Ronaldo.
- Injured: Nuno Mendes (thigh), Danilo Pereira (broken ribs), Otavio (hamstring)
- Suspended: None.
Cristiano Ronaldo missed the defeat to South Korea in the final match of the group stage, as the squad was rotated by Fernando Santos. He reportedly was suffering from an injury, training individually, but should be fit for this match.
The news is not so good for either Danilo Pereira (broken ribs) or Nuno Mendes (thigh), as the two PSG players have both been ruled out for this match, with Nuno done for the World Cup.
Fernando Santos is likely to keep bringing Rafael Leao off the bench despite the fact that he’s arguably been Portugal’s best wide attacking player.
Switzerland projected starting 11
(4-2-3-1, right to left): Gregor Kobel (GK) — 3. Silvan Widmer, 5. Manuel Akanji, 22. Fabian Schar, 13. Ricardo Rodriguez — 10. Granit Xhaka, 8. Remo Freuler — 17. Claudio Vargas, 15. Djibril Sow, 23. Xherdan Shaqiri — 7. Breel Embolo.
- Injured: None.
- Suspended: None.
There are no injury concerns for Switzerland, who are expected to have Noah Okafor back from his thigh injury. Goalkeeper Yann Sommer returned from his ankle injury just in time for the tournament, and has been one of the best goalkeepers at the World Cup, but missed the last match against Serbia due to illness and could again give way to Gregor Kobel.
Switzerland have a host of players in danger of a yellow card suspension if they advance, with Manuel Akanji, Nico Eveldi, Fabian Schar, Granit Xhaka, Silvan Widmer, Ruben Vargas, and Fabian Reider all having been booked once this tournament.
Portugal vs. Switzerland World Cup squads
Here are the 26 names on the current Portugal and Switzerland World Cup squads in Qatar:
*Caps as of start of Qatar tournament
Portugal squad
| Position | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Rui Patricio | Roma (ITA) | 34 | 104 |
| Goalkeeper | Jose Sa | Wolves (ENG) | 29 | 0 |
| Goalkeeper | Diogo Costa | Porto (POR) | 23 | 7 |
| Defender | Pepe | Porto (POR) | 39 | 128 |
| Defender | Raphael Guerreiro | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 28 | 56 |
| Defender | Diogo Dalot | Manchester United (ENG) | 23 | 6 |
| Defender | Antonio Silva | Benfica (POR) | 19 | 0 |
| Defender | Ruben Dias | Manchester City (ENG) | 25 | 39 |
| Defender | Nuno Mendes | PSG (FRA) | 20 | 16 |
| Defender | Danilo Pereira | PSG (FRA) | 31 | 63 |
| Defender | Joao Cancelo | Manchester City (ENG) | 28 | 37 |
| Midfielder | Otavio | Porto (POR) | 27 | 7 |
| Midfielder | Joao Palhinha | Fulham (ENG) | 27 | 15 |
| Midfielder | Bruno Fernandes | Manchester United (ENG) | 28 | 48 |
| Midfielder | Bernardo Silva | Manchester City (ENG) | 28 | 72 |
| Midfielder | Matheus Nunes | Wolves (ENG) | 24 | 9 |
| Midfielder | William Carvalho | Real Betis (ESP) | 30 | 75 |
| Midfielder | Vitinha | PSG (FRA) | 22 | 4 |
| Midfielder | Joao Mario | Benfica (POR) | 29 | 52 |
| Midfielder | Ruben Neves | Wolves (ENG) | 25 | 32 |
| Forward | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United (ENG) | 37 | 191 |
| Forward | Ricardo Horta | Braga (POR) | 28 | 5 |
| Forward | Rafael Leao | AC Milan (ITA) | 23 | 11 |
| Forward | Joao Felix | Atletico Madrid (SPA) | 22 | 23 |
| Forward | Goncalo Ramos | Benfica (POR) | 21 | 0 |
| Forward | Andre Silva | RB Leipzig (GER) | 26 | 51 |
Switzerland squad
| Position | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Yann Sommer | Borussia Monchengladbach (GER) | 33 | 77 |
| Goalkeeper | Gregor Kobel | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 24 | 3 |
| Goalkeeper | Philipp Kohn | RB Salzburg (AUT) | 24 | 0 |
| Goalkeeper | Jonas Omlin | Montpellier (FRA) | 24 | 3 |
| Defender | Fabian Schar | Newcastle (ENG) | 30 | 73 |
| Defender | Manuel Akanji | Manchester City (ENG) | 27 | 43 |
| Defender | Ricardo Rodriguez | Torino (ITA) | 30 | 100 |
| Defender | Nico Elvedi | Borussia Monchengladbach (GER) | 26 | 40 |
| Defender | Silvan Widmer | Mainz (GER) | 29 | 34 |
| Defender | Eray Comert | Valencia (SPA) | 24 | 10 |
| Midfielder | Granit Xhaka | Arsenal (ENG) | 30 | 107 |
| Midfielder | Remo Freuler | Nottingham Forest (ENG) | 30 | 49 |
| Midfielder | Fabian Frei | Basel (SUI) | 33 | 22 |
| Midfielder | Denis Zakaria | Chelsea (ENG) | 25 | 43 |
| Midfielder | Djibril Sow | Frankfurt (GER) | 25 | 32 |
| Midfielder | Renato Steffen | Lugano (SUI) | 30 | 27 |
| Midfielder | Michel Aebischer | Bologna (ITA) | 25 | 11 |
| Midfielder | Ardon Jashari | Luzern (SWI) | 20 | 1 |
| Midfielder | Fabian Rieder | Young Boys | 20 | 0 |
| Midfielder | Xherdan Shaqiri | Chicago Fire (USA) | 31 | 109 |
| Midfielder | Ruben Vargas | Augsburg (GER) | 24 | 27 |
| Midfielder | Edimilson Fernandes | Mainz (GER) | 26 | 22 |
| Forward | Noah Okafor | RB Salzburg (AUT) | 22 | 8 |
| Forward | Christian Fassnacht | Young Boys (SUI) | 28 | 15 |
| Forward | Haris Seferovic | Galatasaray (TUR) | 30 | 88 |
| Forward | Breel Embolo | Monaco (FRA) | 25 | 59 |
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