Portugal and Iceland are the last two teams to get their Euro 2016 campaign underway on Tuesday night when they meet in Saint-Etienne.
Led by Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal are the favourites to win Group F, which also includes Austria and Hungary, and they come into the tournament in good form.
Ronaldo scored twice before being substituted at half-time in a 7-0 win against Estonia in their final warm-up game, but Fernando Santos’ men were beaten by Chris Smalling’s 86th minute winner against England at Wembley prior to that, although they did play much of the game with 10 men following Bruno Alves’ red card in the first half.
Portugal won seven of their eight matches qualifying – all by a one-goal margin – as they struggled to find fluency in attack, netting just 11 times.
They will certainly be heavily reliant on Ronaldo – who will pick up his 127th cap on Tuesday – to add to his 58 international goals, while their squad also includes Premier League, and Southampton, duo, Jose Fonte and Cedric Soares.
Meanwhile, despite it being their first ever major tournament, Iceland proved that they are no pushovers by beating the Netherlands twice in qualifying, eventually finishing runners-up to Czech Republic.
However, they come into the competition with doubts over their form and defence – they have lost four of their last six games and have conceded 17 goals in their last eight matches, although they did beat Liechtenstein 4-0 in their final warm-up game before they travelled to France.
One of their star men is undoubtedly Swansea City midfielder Gylfi Sigurdsson, who scored or assisted more than half of his nations goals in qualifying, while there is a familiar face to English top flight supporters included in the squad too – former Chelsea and Tottenham striker, Eider Gudjohnsen, who is 37.
Portugal will be looking to improve on a record of winning just two of their opening six futures at a European Championship finals, while they will have to be alert when their opponents have a set-piece – nine of Iceland’s 17 goals in qualifying came from free-kicks and corners.
Portugal will once again be looking to Cristiano Ronaldo to lead them at Euro 2016. Photo: Marc Atkins / Offside.
Team News:
Ricardo Quaresma, who shone in Portugal’s 7-0 win against Estonia, is a doubt because of a muscle problem, meaning former Manchester United forward Nani could partner Ronaldo upfront.
For Iceland, Sigurdsson, Aron Gunnarsson and Kolbeinn Sigthorsson, who has an impressive 20 goals in just 39 caps, have proven their fitness after they were injury concerns when they squad was announced, and the latter will be joined in attack by either Alfred Finnbogason or Jon Dadi Bodvarsson.
FIFA World Ranking: Portugal – 8th; Iceland – 34th
Best European Championship Finish: Portugal – Runners-Up (2004); Iceland – First tournament
Previous Meeting: Portugal 5-3 Iceland (October 7, 2011 – Euro 2012 qualifier)
Form: Portugal – WLWWLW; Iceland – LLLWLW
Key Men: Portugal – Cristiano Ronaldo; Iceland – Gylfi Sigurdsson
Shoot Says: Portugal 2-1 Iceland