Released on September 5th, 2025
WHO: Armenia vs Portugal
Content: UEFA Qualifiers for the FIFA 2026 World Cup
Location: Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia
Date and Time: Saturday, September 6th at 8pm (16:00 GMT).
How to Follow: Before the live text commentary stream, do all your builds from 13:00 GMT to Al Jazeera Sport.
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Portugal will begin its quest to reach the FIFA 2026 World Cup, travelling to Armenia for the UEFA qualifying match on Saturday, but the focus will be on the first match of the deceased Portuguese Dio Gojotah.
Portuguese midfielder Reuben Neves wore a 21 jersey from his friend Jota, who died during a national team match, and revealed a tattoo on his left calf in honor of the former Liverpool striker who passed away in July.
“Me and the whole national team will do everything we can to keep Diogo here with our team,” Neves said late Tuesday at a ceremony at a Portuguese training base held prior to the team’s World Cup qualifiers against Armenia and Hungary. Republic of Ireland is another team in Group F.
Jota and his brother, Andre Silva, died in a car accident on July 3rd.
Neves, who plays for Al Giral in Saudi Arabia, is very close to Jota and played together with British club Wolverhampton for Portugal, talking about his former teammates on behalf of the Portuguese squad.
The Portuguese Federation posted a video to X of Neves with a tattoo showing Jota, who was wearing 21 jerseys.
𝗡𝗮𝗡𝗮𝗱𝗮𝗣𝗼𝗱𝗲𝗦𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗮𝗿. Por Ti, Diogo Jota
– Portugal (@seecaoportugal) September 2, 2025
Tuesday’s ceremony was also a homage to former Portugal’s international Jorge Costa, who passed away from cardiac arrest last month.
Pedro Proca of the Portuguese Football Federation described Jota and Costa as “men who loved football, loved the country, loved the national team, and defended the colour of the flag with courage and dedication.”
Jota and Costa were awarded posthumously as commanders of the Medal of Merit and received medals accepted by their families.
The federation said the team is made up of “23 (+1)” players.
Why is Portugal not playing World Cup qualifiers yet?
Portugal, along with 23 other teams, is currently participating in the World Cup qualifying program, thanks to some advances in the top seed of the 2025 Nations League, which culminated in June.
Portugal won the championship as they defeated Spain 5-3 in a penalty in the 2025 final.
Portugal defeated Germany in the semi-finals, while Spain overcame France. The remaining qualifying rounds from the second half of that tournament are currently taking part in the World Cup qualifying round.
Head on
This is the seventh meeting with a country where four Portugal victory and two draws were previously recorded.
The last meeting took place in the Euro Qualifiers in 2015, with the Portuguese winning 3-2 for Armenia.
Armenian Team News
Narek Grigoryan is injured and Norbert Bryasco misses due to family problems.
However, both Lucas Zelarayan and Grant-Leon Ranos are back in their first team plans.
Portugal Team News
Rafael Leo is out with a calf injury, but Diogo Darott has muscle problems and is forced to withdraw.
Cristiano Ronaldo scored five goals in four matches against Armenia, including a hat-trick at the previous meeting.
Armenia predicted the starting lineup
Cancarevic; Hovhannisyan, Mkrtchyan, Arutyunyan, Muradyan, Tiknizyan; Iu, Dashyan. Bichavchan, Zeralayan. Barseghyan
Portugal predicted the starting lineup
Costa; Cancelo, Dias, A. Silva, Mendes; Fernandez, R. Neves, Bernardo; Concencico, Neto, Ronaldo
