42′ GOOD SAVE! Palhinha drives through the middle but manages to touch it out to Andre Silva before he’s dragged down. He picks out a good throughball to Ronaldo, but his low shot is pushed away by Moris, who rushed off his line.
40′ Luxembourg look to Rodrigues to get them upfield again and he’s not closed down as he drives through the middle. He tries to switch it out to Olivier Thill, but it’s Andre Silva that intercepts the pass this time.
38′ Pinto cushions a header down for Rodrigues, as he tries to set his side on the counter. Cancelo quickly slides in, but goes through the back of the player to win the ball, and gives away a free-kick.
36′ It’s a lovely pass out from Pepe to Cancelo, and he cuts inside before switching it to Ronaldo. He catches out Sebastien Thill with a wonderful backheel flick to Mendes, but he can’t find a way through on the wing.
34′ Cancelo slides a great throughball into Fernandes and he pulls away from Pinto to get into space before whipping a low cross towards Ronaldo at the far post. Carlson reads it well and intercepts it, but a belated offside flag goes up anyway.
32′ Martins has his arms around Bernardo Silva as he tries to stop his run, and it earns him a yellow card.
30′ Luxembourg’s high press is starting to cause Portugal a few problems here as Martins switches play out to Pinto on the left. He takes it around Cancelo before fizzing a low cross into Sinani, but his first touch lets him down.
28′ It’s a risky pass back to Moris by Pinto after he makes a good tackle to dispossess Fernandes on the right. Andre Silva is rushing towards the goalkeeper, but Moris just does enough to hook it clear in time.
26′ Bernardo Silva gets back to intercept Barreiro’s pass, but Rodrigues quickly wins it back before touching it out to Sebastien Thill on the left. He tries to float a cross into the box, but it’s cleared ahead of Sinani by Palhinha.
24′ Jans switches play out to Olivier Thill on the right and he initially does well to turn away from Mendes before pushing through the middle. He has Sinani up with him in support, but Pepe crowds him off the ball.
Nuno Mendes
Yellow Card
22′ Mendes loses his balance and goes to ground before pulling back Olivier Thill to stop him from getting onto the loose ball. He’s shown the first booking of the game, and that means he’ll miss the next match.
21′ CHANCE! Bernardo Silva curls another good corner into the box and Dias makes a late, unmarked, run towards the penalty spot. He thumps a header towards goal, but it’s straight down the middle at Moris.
19′ Luxembourg are trying to patiently work their way upfield, but they’re struggling to find a way past Portugal’s high press. Martins looks to Rodrigues down the left, but Mendes is there to break it up.
Bernardo Silva
Assist
17′ Pinto just hasn’t been able to cope with Bernardo Silva so far, and didn’t track back to stop him from getting into the box.
Bruno Fernandes
Goal
17′ FERNANDES SCORES! Yet again, Bernardo Silva gets away down the right, and he slides a good throughball into Fernandes, who times his run perfectly. It’s a tight angle, but he drills a low shot across goal and Moris does get a hand to it, but he can’t stop it from hitting the back of the net. 3-0 Portugal!
15′ Bernardo Silva surges forward down the right again and Pinto just can’t get close to him. He curls in a dangerous, low cross from the byline to Andre Silva at the near post, but his shot is deflected over by Carlson.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Penalty Goal
13′ RONALDO SCORES! He goes the same way as he did in the last one, but keeps the shot much lower this time. Moris does dive the right way this time, but can’t get a hand to it and the ball nestles into the bottom corner. 2-0 Portugal!
12′ NO GOAL! It’s another great penalty from Ronaldo as he fires it into the top right corner, sending the goalkeeper the wrong way again. The referee’s whistle goes as he runs off to celebrate, and he’s going to have to take it again as Pepe was encroaching the box.
10′ ANOTHER PENALTY TO PORTUGAL! It’s a poor pass from Carlson that gifts possession to Fernandes, and he lays it off to Ronaldo with his first touch. He drives into the box, wrongfooting Carlson to get into the middle and Moris comes flying off his line and takes out the forward’s feet, leaving the referee no choice but to point to the spot again.
Cristiano Ronaldo
Penalty Goal
8′ RONALDO SCORES! The captain steps up to the spot to and he hits it with a lot of power. He hits it straight down the middle, lifting it high over the keeper, who was diving to his right, and Moris had no chance of keeping that one out. 1-0 Portugal!
6′ PENALTY TO PORTUGAL! Bernardo Silva weaves his way between two Luxembourg defenders as he cuts into the box from the right, but Sebastien Thill doesn’t give it up. There’s a tangle of legs with Silva going down, and the referee points straight to the spot.
4′ Barreiro slides the ball through to Rodrigues, and Palhinha looks to have dealt with it until it skids under his foot. The forward holds him off as he turns, but he can’t pick out Sinani’s run down the right.
2′ It’s a lovely switch of play from Dias out to Bernardo Silva out on the right, and he plays a one-two with Ronaldo to try and open up space. When that doesn’t work, he touches it to Fernandes, who whips a first-time cross into the box, but it’s too deep for Andre Silva.
1′ Ronaldo gets the game underway for Portugal!
The teams are out on the pitch, the national anthems have been sung, and kick-off is just moments away!
Luxembourg have beaten Portugal just once in their history – a 4-2 home win over them in October 1961 in qualifying for the 1962 World Cup.
Luc Holtz makes just two changes to the side that lost to Serbia last time out. He welcomes back Martins and Rodrigues, who missed that match through suspension, with Borges and Deville dropping to the bench.
Fernando Santos makes eight changes from the friendly win over Qatar on Saturday, after giving his fringe players a chance to play in that game. He returns to a more recognised line-up, with only Mendes, Andre Silva and Ronaldo, who is back after serving a suspension in their last qualifier against Azerbaijan, retaining their places.
LUXEMBOURG SUBS: Michael Omosanya, Raph Schon, Eric Valga, Kevin Malget, Maurice Deville, Vahid Selimovic, Eldin Dzogovic, Yvandro Borges, Edvin Muratovic, Tim Kips, Aldin Skenderovic, Diogo Pimentel.
LUXEMBOURG STARTING XI (4-4-2): Anthony Moris; Laurent Jans, Maxime Chanot, Dirk Carlson, Michael Pinto; Danel Sinani, Christopher Martins, Leandro Barreiro, Olivier Thill; Gedson Rodrigues, Sebastien Thill.
PORTUGAL SUBS: Matheus, Anthony Lopes, Nelson Semedo, Goncalo Guedes, Joao Mario, Diogo Costa, Diogo Dalot, Jose Fonte, Ruben Neves, William Carvalho, Danilo Pereira, Rafael Leao.
PORTUGAL STARTING XI (4-3-3): Rui Patricio; Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Nuno Mendes; Joao Palhinha, Joao Moutinho, Bruno Fernandes; Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Silva, Bernardo Silva.
Portugal have slipped to second in the group, but do have a game in hand over new leaders Serbia. They’re unbeaten in qualifying so far (W4 D1) and have won all four games in all competitions since being knocked out of the Euros in the last 16. As for Luxembourg, they still have a slim chance of being able to qualify in a play-off place, but that means this match is a must-win for them. They’ve won two and lost three of their group games so far, but are winless in their last three in all competitions (D1 L2).
Hello and welcome to live coverage of the Group A World Cup qualifier between Portugal and Luxembourg at the Estadio Algarve!
C. Martins
Yellow Card