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Who: Portugal vs Uzbekistan
Content: 2026 FIFA World Cup Group K matches
Location: NRG Stadium, Houston
Date and time: Tuesday, 12pm local time (17:00 GMT)
How to follow: Get everything ready on Al Jazeera Sports from 13:00 GMT ahead of the live text commentary stream.
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A day after Lionel Messi became the World Cup’s all-time top scorer, attention turned to his great rival Cristiano Ronaldo, with the world of football bracing for a bounce-back performance from the aging superstar forward in Portugal’s match against Uzbekistan.
Portugal, who suffered a shocking 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the opening game of the tournament, need a win to revive their hopes of progressing to the finals.
And for Ronaldo, who was virtually unknown in his first appearance, this game is a chance for redemption as he looks to catch up with the rest of North America’s most in-form strikers.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan, making their first appearance in the tournament, enter the match having lost 3-1 to Colombia, but need at least a draw to avoid elimination.
Here’s what you need to know about Portugal vs. Uzbekistan before the match.
‘It’s a process’: Martinez after Portugal’s lackluster start
Portugal drew criticism for their performance against the Democratic Republic of Congo, particularly their weakness in the final third. The two-time UEFA Nations League winners had overwhelming possession against the African side, but had seven shots on target and just one on target.
Coach Roberto Martinez said his players started the match brightly but lost their discipline and structure after the first 20 minutes. They hope to improve on that against a weaker Uzbekistan team.
“We are strong and focused,” Martinez said. “And our group is even more united than before. This is a process. Nervousness is not a part of our team.”
“It’s normal to have criticism after a bad result. Sometimes it’s unfair or negative, but that’s not part of our preparation.”
Amid calls for the 41-year-old centre-forward to be placed on the bench, Martinez declined to confirm whether Ronaldo would start the match. But the coach described him as a “role model” for a team considered to be outside of the tournament’s favorites.
Uzbekistan: “We have nothing to lose” Director Cannavaro
Uzbekistan arrived in North America on a historic run as one of the four teams making their first appearance in the tournament, and the young team has garnered attention in the Asian soccer world.
Although the season started with a loss to Colombia, Avosbek Faizulaev’s first goal for Uzbekistan at the World Cup gave millions back home a reason to celebrate.
Uzbekistan’s coach Fabio Cannavaro urged his team to play even harder as they face a talented Portugal team that includes Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and Rafael Leao.
“As I always say, we have nothing to lose,” said Cannavaro, who captained Italy to the 2006 World Cup. “Portugal always likes to control the game. They will start very well. They want to play fast and we will prepare for that.”
“We have a strategy. We know we’re playing against a very good team. We’re going to do our best and stay in the game until the end.”
“I asked the team to play with more fighting spirit than they did against Colombia, but we can’t just run around stupid everywhere.”
Portugal vs Uzbekistan predictions
Statistics provider Opta’s supercomputer gave Portugal a staggering 80.3 percent chance of winning against Uzbekistan, which only had a 6.8 percent chance of winning. The probability of a draw is 12.9%.
Portugal vs Uzbekistan: How to watch, kick-off time
Portugal: LiveModeTV, SPORT.TV5, TVI, TVI PLAYER (6pm BST) Uzbekistan: ZORplay, ZO’Rtv (10pm Uzbekistan Standard Time) UK: STV, ITVX, STV Player, ITV1 (6pm BST) US: FOX, FOX One, Telemundo App, Telemundo Network, Peacock (pm 1 p.m. (Eastern) Daylight Saving Time)
To see the TV listings for your country, visit the FIFA TV listings schedule here.
How will the World Cup group stage be played?
Group K includes Portugal, Uzbekistan, Democratic Republic of Congo and Colombia.
After the first round of matches, Colombia leads the group with three points, DR Congo in second place, Portugal in third place with one point each, and Uzbekistan in last place with zero points.
The top two teams in each of the 12 groups and the top eight teams in third place will advance to the next round of 32. The Round of 32 was first introduced at the World Cup after the tournament expanded from 32 to 48 teams.
form guide
(From the past 5 games, latest results)
Portugal: DWWWD
Uzbekistan: LLLWW
Portugal have performed much better than Uzbekistan in their last five matches.
They drew with the Democratic Republic of the Congo in their first match of the 2026 World Cup, but defeated Nigeria and Chile in pre-World Cup friendlies. Portugal also defeated the United States in March and drew with Mexico.
Uzbekistan lost to Colombia in the opening game of the World Cup, and lost to the Netherlands and Canada in pre-World Cup friendlies. However, they defeated Venezuela in a penalty shootout and also defeated Gabon in a warm-up game in March.
Portugal vs Uzbekistan: Head-to-head
Tuesday’s game in Houston will be the first meeting between Portugal and Uzbekistan.
Portugal vs Uzbekistan: Team news
All Portugal players except Tomas Araujo are available for this match, including Rubén Díaz, who missed the opening game.
There are no injury concerns reported in Uzbekistan.
Portugal’s expected lineup
(4-2-3-1): Costa (goalkeeper). Cancelo, Araujo, Veiga, Mendes. Neves, Vicinha. Silva, Fernandes, Neto. ronaldo
Expected lineup for Uzbekistan
(3-4-2-1): Yusupov (goalkeeper); Kusanov, Abdullaev, Ashurmatov. Karimov, Mozgovoi, Shklov, Nasrloyev. Faizulaev, Urnov. Shomrodov
