Portugal play their first match since Cristiano Ronaldo retired from international football when they host Denmark at the Estadio Municipal de Braga on Saturday at 7:45pm, with a place in the Nations League quarter-finals already secured.
Danish Dynamite are second in Nations League A Group 4 on six points, three clear of Norway and Wales, and arrive in Braga after losing to the Selecao in Copenhagen on 1 October.
Ronaldo announced his retirement on 5 November, ending an international career that brought a record 146 goals in 234 caps, and Jorge Jesus responded the next day with a squad that includes first senior call-ups for Alberto Costa and Gustavo Varela.
Portugal had already shown they could cope without him on the pitch, winning 4-2 in Copenhagen on 1 October, a day after Ronaldo left the camp.
Jesus’ side have won all four group games, scoring nine goals and conceding four, with the 1-0 win over Wales on 24 September their only clean sheet.
Joao Felix and Goncalo Ramos have scored three goals each across three different matches, although Felix’s 0.74 expected goals suggests his return has outstripped his chances, while Ramos’ 2.48 sits much closer to his tally.
In their Nations League matches this season Denmark have won two and lost two, with both defeats, 3-2 at Norway on 24 September and 4-2 against Portugal, coming when the opposition scored three or more goals.
Rasmus Hojlund has scored three goals in three different games from 12 shots, including the 75th-minute penalty that beat Wales 1-0 in Cardiff on 4 October.
Mikkel Damsgaard scored Denmark’s first goal against Portugal on 1 October before an ankle injury sent him home from camp, and he has since been named in this squad.
Danish Dynamite have kept two clean sheets, both against Wales, and have conceded seven times in their two games against Norway and Portugal.
A draw in Braga would lift Denmark to seven points, more than Norway or Wales can reach this weekend because they play each other, but if Norway win that game and then beat Denmark in Copenhagen on 17 November, they would finish on nine and overtake them.
