Portugal Players
Reuters

Portugal host Sweden for the first leg of the World Cup qualifying play-off between the two sides at Estadio da Luz on Friday evening. The second leg will be played in Sweden on 19 November.

Where to Watch Live

Kick-off is set for 7:45pm GMT. Live coverage of the game will be available on Sky Sports 1 and Sky Sports 1 HD.

Overview

Portugal lost the top spot in Group D to Russia as the latter topped the group with 22 points from 10 games while Paulo Bento's side lost the first place by a point. However they come into this game after a comfortable 3-0 victory over Luxembourg, with Silvestre Varela, Nani and Helder Postiga all on the score sheet.

Bento will bank on Cristiano Ronaldo to fire against Sweden, but can also call on Nani to inject some flair if needed.

Zlatan Ibrahimovic
Reuters

Meanwhile, Sweden come into this game after losing the last group stage fixture 5-3 to Germany at home. Erik Hamren's side were two goals up until the 42nd minute, but the manner in which they crumbled will have been chastening for the coaching staff.

While Portugal missed out on qualification by a whisker, Sweden never looked like topping Germany and eventually finished a chasmic eight points adrift in their group.

All eyes will be on Zlatan Ibrahimovic to fire against Portugal as Hamren would be looking for a crucial away goal at Estadio da Luz on Friday.

What Managers Say

Paulo Bento: "Sweden are a quality team, very well-organised and they had a knack of reacting to adversity during qualification. They were losing in the Republic of Ireland, they were losing 4-0 in Germany and they were losing against Austria. Therefore, they never give up and will force us to play with very high levels of concentration."

Erik Hamren: "Of course, it's a fight between these two world-class players [Ronaldo v Ibrahimovic]. Zlatan needs support but if he gets that from the team then he can be the match winner. He has been scoring well recently, so that's good. But so has Ronaldo so maybe their form is pretty even. All I know is that Zlatan is in really good shape. He's feeling strong and that's good for us."

Team Form

Portugal

    • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): W D L W D
    • Last Result: Portugal 3-0 Luxembourg

Sweden

    • Last Five (all competitions, most recent first): L W W W W
    • Last Result: Sweden 3-5 Germany

Team News

Cristiano Ronaldo
Reuters

Portugal

    • Injured: Miguel Veloso (knee)
    • Doubtful: Fabio Coentrao (ankle), Joao Pereira (thigh)
    • Suspended: N/A

Probable Lineup: Patricio; Antunes, Pepe, Alves, Costa; Meireles, Veloso; Moutinho, Postiga, Nani; Ronaldo

Sweden

    • Injured: N/A
    • Doubtful: N/A
    • Suspended: N/A

Probable Lineup: Isaksson; Lustig, Nilsson, Antonsson, Olsson; Wernbloom, Elm; Larsson, Kacaniklic, Elmander; Ibrahimovic

Portugal Germany Russia