One of the greatest of all time, Ronaldo has not started well against DR Congo. Portugal started their farewell World Cup of CR7 with a 1-1 draw. The Portuguese superstars failed to play as a team. Can they get the harmony back and win against Uzbekistan?
Uzbekistan started the World Cup with a loss against Colombia. They will try to fight and gain something against the unsettled Portugal side. Their expected goal against Colombia was the highest for a debutant in the World Cup since Slovakia in the 2010 World Cup.Ronaldo is goalless in his last 10 major tournament starts, where he had 33 shots and 11 on target. Can he get his rhythm back against a comparatively weaker opponent?
Portugal vs Uzbekistan: Head To Head
This will be the first-ever meeting between these two teams in any tournament. Portugal couldn’t get a win in their last two matches against Asian teams in the FIFA World Cup.
They lost against South Korea by 2-1 in the 2022 World Cup. They also shared the point against Iran in the 2018 World Cup with a 1-1 draw.
On the other hand, Uzbeks got only one in their last 23 matches against a team from Europe. Lost 12 and drew 10 out of these. The only win came against Kazakhstan in 2022 November by 2-0.
Group K Standings
| # | Team | P | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Pts |
| 1 | Colombia | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 1 | +2 | 3 |
| 2 | DR Congo | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 3 | Portugal | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 | Uzbekistan | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | −2 | 0 |
Match Schedule
Match: Portugal vs Uzbekistan
Date: Tuesday, 23 June 2026
Stadium: NRG Stadium, Houston, USA
Time: 12:00 noon local Houston time
Other time zones are given below:
| Time Zone | Local Kickoff |
| Houston, local (CDT) | 12:00 noon |
| New York / Eastern (EDT) | 1:00 PM |
| Los Angeles / Pacific (PDT) | 10:00 AM |
| Portugal (WEST) | 6:00 PM |
| UK (BST) | 6:00 PM |
| Central Europe (CEST) | 7:00 PM |
| Uzbekistan (UZT) | 10:00 PM |
Predicted Lineups and Formation
Portugal (4-2-3-1)
Manager: Roberto Martínez
Diogo Costa; Cancelo, Dias, Inácio, Nuno Mendes; Vitinha, João Neves; Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, João Félix; Ronaldo.
Uzbekistan (3-4-2-1)
Manager: Fabio Cannavaro
Yusupov; Khusanov, Abdullaev, Ashurmatov; Karimov, Mozgovoy, Shukurov, Nasrullaev; Fayzullayev, Khamdamov; Shomurodov.
Prediction
We have run 30,000 simulations, which result in more towards Portugal. 67.8% win prediction for Ronaldo’s side. Uzbekistan has 10.8% chance of winning the tie and 21.4% chance of a draw.
| Result | Probability |
| Portugal win | 67.8% |
| Draw | 21.4% |
| Uzbekistan win | 10.8% |
The most common score was 1-0, considering the defensive setup of Uzbekistan under Cannavaro. Here are our top three scorelines as per our simulations.
| Scoreline | Frequency |
| Portugal 1–0 | 15.6% |
| Portugal 2–0 | 13.5% |
| Portugal 2–1 | 9.5% |
Other possible outcomes:
- Average goals: Portugal 1.91, Uzbekistan 0.67
- Portugal clean sheet: 51.0%
- Both teams to score: 42.9%
- Over 2.5 goals: 47.3%