2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifying: Ireland vs Portugal

Republic of Ireland host Portugal in a must-win 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifier in Qualifying Group F.

Victory would lift Ireland into second in the group if Hungary fail to beat Armenia in Yerevan, whilst Portugal will secure automatic qualification for the tournament with a win.

 

Team News

Ireland will be without Ryan Manning and Jayson Molumby due to suspensions following their second bookings of the qualifying campaign in a 1-0 home win over Armenia.

Evan Ferguson is ruled out with a sprained ankle and has been replaced by Johnny Kenny.

Portugal will be without Pedro Goncalves and Pedro Neto after the pair withdrew due to respective muscle and groin injuries.

 

When is Kick-Off?

Ireland host Portugal at Aviva Stadium on Thursday 13 November at 7:45pm GMT, live on Amazon Prime in the UK.

 

Stat Attack

• Ireland are yet to beat Portugal in FIFA World Cup Qualifying (D3, L2).
• Portugal drew their two previous FIFA World Cup Qualifying trips to Ireland (D2), as they were held to a 1-1 draw in June 2001 then a 0-0 result in November 2021.
• Portugal have kept clean sheets in their last two FIFA World Cup Qualifiers against Ireland (D1, L1), having claimed a 0-0 draw away as mentioned above then won 1-0 at home in October 2025.
• Ireland are looking to win consecutive FIFA World Cup qualifiers for the first time since October 2017 when they beat Moldova and Wales.
• Five of Portugal’s eight away goals in this qualifying campaign were scored by Cristiano Ronaldo (3) and Joao Cancelo (2).

 

Prediction

October proved to be a game of two halves for Ireland because whilst they lost away to Portugal despite a resilient effort, they clinically edged past Armenia with a performance which they need to replicate because defeat and a win for Hungary would end their play-off dreams.

Portugal however are rightly top of the group and with a chance to secure automatic qualification here, I would expect them to take it but they will need to be more classy than they were last month as they scraped past Ireland then drew 2-2 in a scrappy clash against Hungary.

Ireland’s past World Cup Qualifiers against Portugal though have often been very closely fought and if both play like they did last month, I expect another close game with the Irish this time holding out for a point.

Prediction: ROI 1-1 Portugal

Result: ROI 2-0 Portugal