Portugal v Uzbekistan: Confirmed line-ups as Ronaldo starts and tries to emulate Messi, Haaland and Mbappe

Cristiano Ronaldo will look to make a similar impact to the other superstars at the World Cup when Portugal take on Uzbekistan this afternoon.

Ronaldo drew a blank in Portugal’s opening 1-1 draw with DR Congo last week and has been overshadowed by great rival Lionel Messi, as well as the likes of Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappe, so far.

Messi has five goals in the United States, Canada and Mexico, although he has played two games. Haaland and Mbappe have four each.

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Ronaldo, 41, will fancy his chances of getting off the mark against an Uzbekistan side beaten 3-1 by Colombia in their first pool match.

Here are the full teams for this afternoon’s game in Houston.

PORTUGAL TEAM NEWS

Ruben Dias returns at the centre of defence after injury kept him out of the DR Congo game.

Joao Felix comes in for Bernardo Silva in midfield.

Portugal: D Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Veiga, Mendes; Neves, Vitinha, Felix, Fernandes, Neto; Ronaldo

Portugal substitutes: Sa, R Silva, Semedo, Araujo, Dalot, Inacio, S Costa, Nunes, B Silva, Neves, Ramos, Trincao, Leao, Guedes, Conceicao

UZBEKISTAN TEAM NEWS

Uzbekistan coach Fabio Cannavaro has made a change in goal with Abdouvakhid Nematov coming in.

Uzbekistan: Nematov; Khusanov, Ashurmatov, Nasrullaev, Abdullaev, Karimov; Shukurov, Xamrobekov, Ganiev, Fayzullaev; Shomurodov

Uzbekistan substitutes: Yusupov, Ergashev, Alijonov, Sayfiev, Eshmurodov, Ulmasaliyev, Urozov, Mozgovoy, Iskanderov, Jiyanov, Urunov, Khamdamov, Esanov, Amonov, Sergeev

Where to watch Portugal v Uzbekistan: TV and online streams

Portugal v Uzbekistan kicks off at 6pm UK time on Tuesday. It will be broadcast on ITV1 and STV and available to stream via ITVX and the STV Player. Sky subscribers can also stream the game via Sky Go.

Stats for Portugal v Uzbekistan

• This is the first meeting between Portugal and Uzbekistan.
• Ronaldo has failed to score in each of his 10 major tournament games.
• The 41-year-old has not scored a non-penalty goal in his last 13 tournament appearances.
• Only once before have Portugal failed to win both of their opening two games at a World Cup. That incidence came in 2014, when they failed to progress to the knockouts.
• Portugal are winless in their last two World Cup games against AFC teams, losing to South Korea in 2022 following a draw with Iran in 2018.
• Uzbekistan have lost their last three games having suffered defeat in both pre-World Cup friendlies.
• Only one of Uzbekistan’s last 23 games against UEFA opposition has ended in victory (D10, L12).

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