Portugal vs Bosnia & Herzegovina

Estadio da Luz forms the backdrop for a tasty-looking Euro 2024 qualifier between continental heavyweights Portugal and out-of-sorts Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Following a heartbreaking defeat against Morocco in the World Cup quarter-finals in Qatar, which resulted in the departure of the legendary coach Fernando Santos, Portugal has swiftly recovered by making a flawless beginning to their Euro 2024 qualification campaign (ECQ). Confronting the two lowest-ranked teams, Liechtenstein (#199) and Luxembourg (#91), in Group J, the champions of Euro 2016 demonstrated their superiority, triumphing with an impressive aggregate score of 10-0. This outrageous performance signals a promising prospect of securing their eighth consecutive participation in the prestigious European Championship. Head coach Roberto Martinez is eager to preserve Portugal’s fantastic home record in Euro qualifiers in the new millennium (W14, D6, L1). He has every reason for optimism, with the ‘Selecao’ will six of their seven home internationals since the start of 2022 (L1).

As for visiting Bosnia and Herzegovina, a disheartening 2-0 defeat at Slovakia overshadowed their stunning 3-0 home triumph over Iceland in their curtain-raising Group J fixture, leaving them a point behind the second qualification spot at the start of this round. Seeking their first-ever foray into the Euro finals as an independent nation, the Bosnians must overcome a ponderous six-game away form (D3, L3) to bolster their chances of closing the gap on Slovakia. However, Portuguese soil could prove a formidable ground for the ‘Dragons,’ considering they’ve lost both previous visits to this Iberian country by a total score of 7-2. Moreover, their last two international travels have yielded multi-goal margin defeats, further dampening the spirits in the visiting camp.