Portugal v Uzbekistan: World Cup 2026 – live

Ryan Casey has his say on Ronaldo:

It’s been said before but it is very unfortunate for Ronaldo how the most talented Portugal squads have come at the beginning and end of his career, their lineups from 09-17 when he was at his best were pretty weak compared to the first golden generation in 04 and the midfield juggernaut they have now.

That said, his attitude and decline on the pitch have made it difficult for this group to rally around him in the way Argentina have rallied around Messi. In 2022 you got the sense they viewed it as their predestined duty on this planet to get Messi the trophy, don’t get this feeling at all from this Portugal squad.

It also must be noted that Messi continues to score for his side with five goals so far at this World Cup.

The players are out on the pitch in Houston and the anthems will soon follow. This match is about to get going. There was a slight smirk from Ronaldo as he looked into the camera as he led his team out.

Is the Ronaldo criticism coming too early? It is for Daniel Storey:

Am I the only one to think that the Ronaldo is useless consensus has got out of hand? Were Portugal useless in their first match? Yes. But there’s a distance to go in this tournament. Let’s see where it stands at the end of the tournament. This comment could age badly, I’m sure.

This may be Uzbekistan’s first World Cup but they are by no means just happy to be participating. They lost 3-1 to Colombia but they were resolute in defence and took time to break down so Portugal will have to be in good form to overcome their opponents. Here is more on them before kick-off:

John Pearson has got involved in the Ronaldo debate and said:

My opinions on Ronaldo don’t really matter and shouldn’t have ever mattered to fans of teams he has played for, such as Man United or Portugal. But, who’s opinions do matter? His teammates. And with the squad Portugal have, surely they are close to the end of their patience. Some would say that they’ve entered this competition with the strongest midfield in the tournament, and with an assist monster like Bruno Fernandez playing, I struggle to imagine that these elite football players are happy to have a 40 year old with 0 goals in his last 10 competitive games for the country given that they are seriously looking at their best chance of World Cup glory maybe ever.

Ronaldo would like that you have made him younger with the star actually 41. But today’s game really will be a test to see if the team are behind Ronaldo I think, especially with all of the outside noise this week.

There are many players who could have standout performances today but here is one player from each side to keep an eye on. For Portugal, it’s Bruno Fernandes. He had a great season with Manchester United and is a consistent player.

For Uzbeksitan they have a promising star in Abbosbek Fayzullaev, who scored against Colombia in the team’s 3-1 loss.

One Ronaldo opinion is already in from Justin Kavanagh:

Between Ronaldo’s endless narcissism and Bruno Fernandes’ endless narkyism, Portugal have become a hard team to like. Not to mention their coach’s lack of backbone for making a decision to drop a 41-year-old which shouldn’t be all that hard. It’s a shame, because they’re a country with a fine footballing tradition who have graced many international competitions. Still, it could be (and probably will be) worse. They’ll probably be managed by Mourinho at the next World Cup.

Safe to say Justin isn’t a fan then.

Some don’t want Cristiano Ronaldo to start or if he does, to not play the full 90. Some of his diehard fans want him to be on the pitch for every second. What are your thoughts? Email and let me know.

Cristiano Ronaldo has had a fair bit of criticism aimed at him this week after a disappointing performance for Portugal against the DR Congo. But the team’s manager, Roberto Martínez, has defended his player. In the build-up to this game against Uzbekistan, while not specifically referring to Ronaldo, the boss said some of the negative comments have been “unfair” and “unjust”. He added:

We are playing a World Cup so of course we have a lot of noise and tension, but it’s part of the game. The focus is on the team and we want to show a positive attitude … to be ready for the match. We are very much focused. We are strong. The team is even more united than before.

The Ronaldo debate has been raging on this week with the captain not scoring for his country in open play in their last 10 matches at a major tourament and here Miguel Dantas eloquently puts the situation into one piece:

It is not surprising that Uzebekistan have gone with a defensive line-up, they also have attacking quality but they will be aiming to keep Portugal out for as long as they can. It is also not a shock at all that Cristiano Ronaldo is in the starting line-up but he has faced a lot of criticism this week, let’s take a look at that now.

Uzbekistan have made three changes to the starting side that lost 3-1 to Colombia. The biggest change is at goalkeeper with Abduvohid Nematov between the sticks with Utkir Yusupov on the bench. Aziz Ganiev and Odiljon Hamrobekov also come in.

Uzbekistan (5-4-1): Nematov; Khusanov, Ashurmatov, Nasrullaev, Abdullaev, Karimov; Shukurov, Hamrobekov, Ganiev, Fayzullaev; Shomurodov. Subs: Yusupov, Ergashev, Alijonov, Sayfiev, Eshmurodov, Ulmasaliyev, Urozov, Mozgovoy, Iskanderov, Jiyanov, Urunov, Khamdamov, Esanov, Amanov, Sergeev.

Portugal have made two changes to their starting XI that drew with DR Congo. Bernardo Silva and Tomas Araújo drop to the bench with Ruben Dias and João Félix coming into the team. The captain Cristiano Ronaldo starts once again.

Portugal (4-3-3): Diogo Costa; Dias, Veiga, Cancelo, Mendes; Fernandes, Neves, Vitinha; Ronaldo, João Félix, Neto. Subs: Sá, Rui Silva, Semedo, Araújo, Dalot, Inácio, Samú Costa, Nunes, Bernardo Silva, Neves, Ramos, Trincão, Leão, Guedes, Conceição

Here is a reminder of what happened in both nations’ World Cup openers:

Portugal v Uzbeksitan is not the only game happening today, here is the full fixture list:

• Portugal v Uzbekistan

• England v Ghana

• Panama v Croatia

• Colombia v DR Congo

Hello and welcome to the World Cup Group K match between Portugal and Uzbekistan. The outcome of this game could see Portugal temporarily top the group with Colombia currently leading the way after their opening win against Uzbekistan.

Portugal sit third currently after their 1-1 draw against DR Congo and there has been a lot of discussion around Cristiano Ronaldo’s performance in that fixture, we will have more on that shortly.

For Uzbekistan, they are searching for their first point of the tournament to give them a much needed boost of getting to the knockout stages. Portugal will be favourites to come away with all three points as the Asian nation are in a men’s World Cup for the first time.

The team news will be announced shortly before kick-off at 6pm BST/1pm CDT/10pm UST. Will be bring you all of those updates, as well as what has been said in the build-up. Also do not hesitate to drop me an email.