The Portugal of Roberto Martinez was moving to face Melikyan Armenia this Saturday at 6 p.m. as part of the Qualifications for the 2026 World Cup. Armenia, in the position of Outsider, organized itself in 5-3-2 in order to densify its defense and resist a complete Portuguese team. On the Portugal side: In attack, Cristiano Ronaldo, captain of the Seleção, was established in a point, supported by João Félix on the left, his new teammate in Al Nassr since this summer, and Pedro Neto on the right. In the midfield, the trio João Neves, Vitinha and Bruno Fernandes was preferred to Bernardo Silva to control the game and fuel the attackers, while the Portuguese defense aligned the great return of João Cancelo on the right side, Ignacio, Rúben Dias in the axis and the Parisian Nuno Mendes on the left side. With this solid composition and the experience of several executives, Portugal presented itself as the logical favorite of the match against Armenia focused on defense and counters.
From the 10th minute of play, João Félix scored on a perfect center of João Cancelo, both recently returned to selection, offering a superb first goal in Portugal. On a perfect center of Pedro Neto in the 21st minute, the top scorer in the history of the selections, Cristiano Ronaldo, doubled the setting by prolonging the ball in the Armenian nets. With this new goal, it is still closer to the 1000 career achievements. Portugal triples the 32nd minute thanks to a goal from the left foot of João Cancelo. He was at the start of the action, and therefore in finish. The three players who play in Saudi Pro League have marked this afternoon, 10 minutes from intervals. From the start of the second period, CR7 scored the 4th Portuguese goal and therefore offered a double, he scored with a left foot on a beautiful pass from Bruno Fernandes. Félix too offered a double on a goal from a pigeon wing (0-5 61st). An offensive recital that allows Martinez’s men to take the 3 points.
England is essential with an unprecedented eleven
For its part, England received Andorra this Saturday, at Villa Park, and it posted a whole new face during this qualification match for the 2026 World Cup. Thomas Tuchel, coach of England since January 2025, opted for several strong choices: the new Gunner of Arsenal, Eberechi Eze in number 10 behind Captain Harry Kane, while Marcus Rashford, freshly transferred to Barça this summer, was made on the left wing. On the right, the young Noni Madueke, also arrived this summer in Arsenal, was established in the absence of Bukayo Saka. Reece James was preferred to Spence, who nevertheless made an excellent start to the season, while Alexander-Arnold was not selected for the post of right side, Lewis Kelly was aligned on the left flank. The middle was made up of a Duclan Rice and Anderson duo for its great first, with a central hinge composed of Guehi and Burn.
The Three Lions opened the scoring thanks to a goal against his Christian Garcia camp in the 25th minute of play, thus offering a first advantage to Tuchel’s men to fully take control of the match against a Andorran team in great difficulty. In the first period, the English literally smothered their opponent, with no less than eight shots and overwhelming domination in the midfield, displaying 83% of the ball. The Andorrane defense has struggled to contain the repeated assaults of the Three Lions, which however struggled in the finish. On an offering from Reece James, Declan Rice doubled the 67th minute, which led the former PSG coach to make three changes, in order to run. An important victory (2-0) for Tuchel’s men.
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