Will Portugal keep their clean sheet in the preliminary round?
While the first round of 16 matches at the 2022 World Cup are already on the agenda, the preliminary round will still be completed on Friday.
In Group H, the favourites from Portugal lived up to their billing and are already through to the last 16. Fernando Santos can therefore start the rotation machine in the last group game. Nevertheless, the bookmakers are only offering odds of 1.60 on South Korea against Portugal when betting on the Europeans.
The Portuguese could end the preliminary round with three wins for only the third time in World Cup history (1966 and 2006). The Asians around superstar Heung-Min Son have only one point to their credit, but can still flirt with the knockout phase.
For this to happen, however, they need a win of their own and some help in the parallel match between Ghana and Uruguay. Theoretically, a place in the last 16 is possible, but it is by no means realistic.
After the last preliminary round matchday on Friday at the 2022 Winter World Cup in Qatar, there is no time to take a breather. Because the first two knockout matches are already on the agenda on Saturday.
South Korea – Statistics & current form
The Taegeuk Warriors’ final group game will be a very special one for their head coach. Although they won their last group match against Germany at the 2018 World Cup, they were still eliminated and national coach Tae-yong Shin had to vacate his post.
Since then, the now 53-year-old Portuguese Paulo Bento has been in charge of Heung-Min Son & Co. In 55 international matches, Bento has a very good average of 2.09 points per game. However, he has not managed more than winning the title at the 2019 East Asian Championships so far in his tenure.
Should South Korea fail to reach the last 16 of a World Cup for the third time in a row on Friday, Paulo Bento’s tenure would likely come to an end. He was Portugal’s national coach from 2010 to 2014, and now it is imperative that he defeat his homeland. Yet South Korea have only won five of their 23 games against European teams at World Cups (six draws, twelve defeats).
Disappointing performances on the big stage
In the run-up to the World Cup, the South Koreans had to fear for their big star Heung-Min Son, although the Tottenham legionnaire was fit in time, he has by no means been the usual and hoped-for performer in the Asian game.
The morale of Paulo Bento’s team can by no means be denied, as was shown against Ghana. Within just three minutes, Gue-song Cho was able to nod in twice with his head and turn a 0:2 deficit into a 2:2. In the end, however, South Korea still came up empty-handed, losing 3-2. South Korea have now won only one of their last 11 World Cup matches (three draws, seven defeats), with that victory coming against the DFB team in 2018.
Head coach Paulo Bento clashed with the referee after the final whistle and was even shown the red card. He will therefore only be able to watch the special match against his home country from the stands and must prepare his team as well as possible in advance. This is not necessarily an advantage, but the completely new Portuguese team could well justify betting on the double chance 1X for the match between South Korea and Portugal. Portugal doesn’t have to play with the utmost consistency, because even in the event of a defeat, winning the group is quite likely.
Predicted line-up of South Korea:
Seung-Gyu Kim – Jin-Su Kim, Young-Gwon Kim, Min-Jae Kim, Moon-Hwan Kim – In-Beom Hwang, Woo-Young Jung – Heung-Min Son, Woo-Yeong Jeong, Chang-Hoon Kwon – Gue-Sung Cho
Last matches played by South Korea:
World Cup Group H
28/11/2022 – South Korea 2 – 3 Ghana
24/11/2022 – Uruguay 0 – 0 South Korea
Friendly matches
11/11/2022 – South Korea 1 – 0 Iceland
27/09/2022 – South Korea 1 – 0 Cameroon
23/09/2022 – South Korea 2 – 2 Costa Rica
Portugal – Statistics & current form
Did he or didn’t he? If superstar Cristiano Ronaldo has his way, he touched Bruno Fernandes’ cross. In the meantime, however, the pictures prove that the now club-less superstar was wrongly celebrated as the goal scorer. In the end, it doesn’t matter – the fact is that thanks to that goal and a penalty by Manchester United’s Bruno Fernandes, the Portuguese also had the upper hand against Uruguay.
With six points from two games, their place in the last 16 is secure and group victory is within their grasp. If the prediction for South Korea against Portugal is correct, Ronaldo & Co. would finish the group stage without losing a point for the third time in World Cup history (1966 and 2006).
Rotation is to be expected
In the World Cup, it is not the direct comparison that counts in the event of a points tie, but the goal difference. Therefore, Ghana still have a chance to knock Portugal out of first place, although Otto Addo’s Black Stars need a win against Uruguay, Portugal lose to South Korea and Ghana also have to make up for the worse goal difference of three goals. An extremely unlikely scenario that would have a huge impact.
Fernando Santos’ team will certainly have to give many regular players a rest and will also have to do without Danilo Pereira (multiple rib fractures) and Otavio, but the group win should not be in danger. Second place would almost certainly mean that top favourite Brazil would be waiting in the round of 16. This would be an absolute worst-case scenario.
A look at the bench still provides an enormous amount of quality and certainly justifies a favouritism in favour of the Europeans. Nevertheless, there is no value to be seen between South Korea and Portugal at the odds on offer. The lack of automaticity due to the large rotation should not be underestimated and therefore suggest a rather open match with advantages in favour of the Portuguese.
Predicted line-up of Portugal:
Rui Patricio – Guerreiro, Ruben Dias, Antonio Silva, Dalot – Palhinha, Vitinha, Nunes – Leao, Andre Silva, Goncalo Ramos
Last matches played by Portugal:
World Cup Group H
29/11/2022 – Portugal 2 – 0 Uruguay
24/11/2022 – Portugal 3 – 2 Ghana
Friendlies
18/11/2022 – Portugal 4 – 0 Nigeria
UEFA Nations League A Grp. 2
28/09/2022 – Portugal 0 – 1 Spain
25/09/2022 – Czech Republic 0 – 4 Portugal
South Korea – Portugal Direct Comparison / H2H Record
The only previous meeting between the two national teams took place 20 years ago at the 2002 World Cup. At that time, the clash also took place in the preliminary round and South Korea took advantage of the home advantage against the favoured Portuguese. Portugal was sent off twice (27th and 65th minutes). In the 11 vs. 9 match, Ji-Sung Park was the match-winner with his golden goal.
South Korea – Portugal Tip
As group winners, Portugal will not only almost certainly avoid the Selecao, but Fernando Santos’ side would also have another day off. The group runners-up are already back in action on Monday. As group winners, Ronaldo & Co. do not have to play again until Tuesday. Due to the starting situation, however, Portugal will still make many changes to their starting line-up, which means that between South Korea and Portugal, betting on the Europeans is too risky.
The lack of pressure in the Portuguese game means that the protagonists from the second row will want to play their way to the fore, which tends to suggest a more attacking performance. South Korea will also have to seek their salvation in the offensive due to the fact that only a win counts. All in all, the prediction between South Korea and Portugal is over 2.5 at odds of 1.80. Six units are recommended as a stake for this bet.
