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Turkey hopes to display its contention credentials when it faces Euro 2016 winners Portugal in a mouth-watering Group F clash.

Portugal must overcome the challenge of the Turkish national team when they face off in Dortmund on Matchday 2 of the 2024 UEFA European Championship.

This game sees the seventh-best side, according to the FIFA rankings, against a team 30 places below, and the Iberians must make their quality count on the night.

Both nations last met in the 2022 World Cup playoff semi-final, with Portugal winning 3-1 at the Estadio do Dragao before facing North Macedonia on the way to their eventual Quarterfinal finish in Qatar.

Furthermore, A Selecao has won four of their five meetings with Turkey and is heavily backed to extend that record to Euro 2024.

Portugal also won all ten games in 2023, keeping clean sheets in nine of those, which makes Turkey’s task a bit more daunting against Roberto Martinez’s men.

During qualifying, the Crescent-Stars finished top of Group D with a point ahead of World Cup semi-finalists Croatia. They are now entering their third consecutive European Championship finals, the first time they have achieved that feat.

Victories against Armenia, Latvia, and Wales from their first five qualifiers were not enough to convince the Turkish Federation, as poor performances culminated in a friendly 4-2 defeat to Japan that saw Stefan Kuntz lose his job.

In September, Vincenzo Montella was unveiled as the new Turkey national team manager, and they finished their qualification campaign as group winners. The Italian is undefeated four games into his new role and even oversaw a 3-2 win away to Germany in a friendly.

Turkiye will thus arrive for the Euros in a confident mood and capable of securing results, although Portugal is undoubtedly the group’s favorite. The Turks would do well to get points off them to put themselves in the run-in for qualification in what should be a tight group.

This would all appear déjà vu to Turkey, which has failed to make it out of their group in the last two Euros tournaments. Yet, they dream of upsetting the odds much like they did with a 3rd-place finish in 2008.

Portugal, on their part, has gone from strength to strength since they were last seen at a major tournament. The dramatic exit to Morocco, who made their first-ever World Cup semifinal, cost Fernando Santos his job to be taken over by Roberto Martinez.

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Drawn in a qualification group for UEFA Euro 2024 alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, and Slovakia. Portugal lived up to their favorites tag right from the off as they netted 13 unreplied goals in the first three matches.

1-nil victories over Iceland and Slovakia followed, but Portugal recorded their biggest-ever win by defeating Luxembourg 9–0 in September. They continued to win well and delivered a perfect qualification campaign for the first time in their history, with 36 goals scored and only two conceded.

Portugal arrived at Euro 2024 as one of the teams to win all of their matches, so they would have a target on their backs against unfancied sides such as Turkey.

Nevertheless, Martinez’s men have the quality throughout their squad to maintain a deep run in the competition, and it is pertinent that they win the first two games to advance as group winners.

Match Tickets

The match will take place on Saturday, 22 June 2024, with kick-off scheduled for 5 PM UK time. Match Tickets are being sold on the UEFA website with a meticulous process for allocation to supporters who have registered.

The talent on the show would be worth the admission fee as some of Europe’s best players take to the field for their national teams.

It also promises to be a colorful affair in the stands, with the famously passionate Turkish support expected to be present in numbers from their neighboring nation.

Hence, Dortmund’s Signal Iduna Park will be sold out as the spectacular 81,365-capacity arena hosts this exciting game. Getting match tickets via official channels could prove problematic for fans.

Those looking for Turkey vs Portugal tickets may be lucky to find theirs on a ticket resale site.

Team News

Turkey’s goalkeeping duo, Mert Gunok and Ertac Ozbir are injured but should be recovered before the tournament. It remains to be seen who will make the squad and any fitness updates that may change the scope.

For Portugal, there are a few niggles to some international regulars like Nuno Mendes, William Carvalho, Diogo Jota, and Pedro Neto, who could all have recovered and be included in the Euros squad.

Line-ups

Montella has instilled confidence in his Turkish side and must focus on developing a preferred team to take on the best in European football.

So far, a group of key players are emerging under the Italian, and he must depend on his trusted lieutenants to go one better than Euro 2020 and reach the knockout stage.

How much Portugal depend on Cristiano Ronaldo – their captain, most-capped player, and record goalscorer – during the tournament is yet to be seen, as his benching caused unnecessary media attention during the 2022 World Cup.

However, the 38-year-old will likely start the match against Turkey as the team looks to establish themselves in the tournament.

Prediction

An exciting game awaits as Portugal will surely take the game to their opponents while Turkey would set up to upset their heavily fancied counterparts.

Regardless of the experience within their ranks, Turkey is known for underperforming in recent major tournaments. Portugal’s fortunes may be too much for them to cope with during the match. Nonetheless, expect Ronaldo & co. to work hard for the result.