May 30, 2024
Even though this is undoubtedly one of the strongest squads that Portugal has ever introduced to an European Championship, the Seleção is still not ranked as one of the major favorites to win the trophy...
At the age of 39, nothing is guaranteed in football. We know that Cristiano Ronaldo will go to the European Championships this summer – he's been named in Roberto Martinez's provisional Portugal squad, at least, but he would be 41 by the time the 2026 World Cup rolls around; at which point, he will likely be far from a guaranteed selection. Which means that EURO 2024 will probably be his last major international tournament appearance – wouldn’t it be fitting if it was Portugal, and Ronaldo, that lifted the trophy? The good news for him and them is that they have a strong chance of a deep run in the tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo - All goals in 2023:
While we've learnt over thew years to expect the unexpected in tournament football, if all goes to plan then the best two teams at the European Championship, as per the EURO 2024 betting, are on a collision course to meet in the semi-finals.
The England EUROs odds of 3/1 wconfirm that Gareth Southgate's side are the favourites to prevail in Germany, while France are the "next best" at 7/2.
But the quirk of the draw is that if they win Groups C and D respectively – as expected – then England and France will be placed in the bottom half of the knockout phase draw; meaning that a meeting in the final would be impossible.
And so opportunity knocks for teams in the top-half of the EURO 2024 draw, you would surmise, which should give plenty of hope to Ronaldo and Portugal supporters.
39-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo and 41-year-old Pepe are in Portugal's squad for their upcoming friendlies 🇵🇹
— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) March 15, 2024
Timeless ✨#EURO2024 pic.twitter.com/ZLf4fz6niA
If the Portuguese finish top of Group F, or even as one of the best third-placed teams in the tournament, they will progress to the top half of the draw – where the likes of Germany, Spain, Italy, Denmark and Ukraine could await them.
That's not an easy passage to the final, but it's certainly more straightforward than if England or France stood in their way.
Do CR7 fans dare to dream of more major silverware?
Even though they are blessed with stacks of talent, you sense that Portugal are being somewhat underrated ahead of the EUROs – odds of 13/2 with the bookmakers are particularly intriguing when you consider their likely knockout round draw.
Over a calendar year from March 23, 2023, they won all eleven games they played – in EURO 2024 qualifying, that manifested itself in a perfect ten wins from ten, with nine clean sheets kept and 36 goals scored.
Ronaldo led the way with ten goals in that span, identifying the important role he plays in this team in attack alongside the likes of Diogo Jota and a host of young talents.
João Palhinha has now made 150 tackles in the @premierleague this season, surpassing his total from last campaign (148). 💪 pic.twitter.com/woedrXFQTW
— Fulham Football Club (@FulhamFC) May 13, 2024
But there's class running through the spine of this Portugal team. Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva will run the show in midfield, where they may be joined by the underrated Joao Palhinha – for the second season in a row, he completed more tackles in the Premier League than any other player in 2023/24.
The defence will be helmed by Ruben Dias, who heads to Germany on the back of another quality campaign with Manchester City. Joao Cancelo, Danilo Pereira and Raphael Guerreiro are just some of those that will offer elite-level support.
Head coach Roberto Martinez once guided Belgium to a World Cup semi-final, so there's first-class pedigree throughout this Portugal set-up. Can they make a run to the final of EURO 2024 while remaining under the radar?
Cristiano Ronaldo next game for Al Nassr is on May 31, against Al Hilal for the King's Cup. You can watch Al Hilal vs Al Nassr, Borussia Dortmund vs Real Madrid, Olympiacos vs Fiorentina, England vs Bosnia-Herzegovina, Italy vs Turkey and Germany vs Ukraine, all matches provided from our football streaming game pages.
Al Nassr next game:
Al Hilal vs Al Nassr kick-off time (31-05-2024):
Beijing (China) | UTC/GMT+8: 21:00
India (New Delhi) | UTC/GMT+5.30: 18:30
Saudi Arabia (Riyadh) | UTC/GMT+3: 17:00
Spain (Madrid) | UTC/GMT+2: 16:00
Portugal and England (Lisbon/London) | UTC/GMT+1: 15:00
Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) | UTC/GMT-3: 11:00
New York (United States) | UTC/GMT-3: 11:00
Los Angeles (United States) | UTC/GMT-6: 08:00
Sources: ronaldo7.net / uefa.com / premierleague.com
