Preview: Turkey vs. Portugal – prediction, team news, lineups

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Turkish fans may have brought the voice, but Portugal have brought the goals, and Roberto Martinez‘s men deservedly head into the break with the advantage that would send them through to the last 16 as group winners.

Bernardo Silva‘s first-ever goal for his country in a major tournament – a well-taken first-time strike on his left foot after a smart attack down the wing – propelled the Portuguese ahead, before disaster struck for the Crescent-Stars.

A catastrophic mix-up between Samet Akaydin and Altay Bayindir ended with the former rolling the ball into his own goal – despite the best efforts of Zeki Celik – as Portugal doubled their lead in the most bizarre of circumstances.

Turkey have not been without their threatening moments – Kerem Akturkoglu has been spritely on the left but was guilty of spurning a brilliant chance when the score was still 0-0 – and the half became all the more scrappy approaching the whistle.

Yellow cards were being brandished left, right and centre, and while Turkey have shown enough endeavour to suggest that they can pull one back, there should be no stopping Martinez’s men from here.

HALF-TIME PREDICTION: TURKEY 1-3 PORTUGAL

Seeking to secure top spot in Group F and progress to the last 16 of Euro 2024, Turkey and Portugal lock horns at Westfalenstadion in Dortmund on Saturday evening.

Both nations claimed maximum points on matchday one, with Turkey coming out on top by a 3-1 scoreline against tournament debutants Georgia, just a few hours before Portugal claimed a 2-1 comeback win over Czech Republic.

Match preview

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Turkey entered Euro 2024 on the back of a five-game winless run in all competitions and they had also lost the opening match in each of their previous five European Championship appearances, but they kick-started their campaign at this summer’s tournament with a stylish victory over Georgia on Monday.

After Georgia’s Georges Mikautadze cancelled out Mert Muldur‘s sweetly-struck opener in the first half, Real Madrid starlet Arda Guler announced himself on the continental stage with a memorable 65th-minute strike, becoming the fifth-youngest scorer in Euros history (19 years, 114 days) and the first teenager to score on his Euros debut since Cristiano Ronaldo back in 2004.

Kerem Akturkoglu then came off the substitutes’ bench to slot home a third for the Crescent-Stars deep into stoppage time to wrap up all three points, with head coach Vincenzo Montella celebrating his 50th birthday in joyous fashion.

However, Montella admitted after the match that his side must be “more accurate” in front of goal as they “won’t always be able to afford to miss so many” goalscoring opportunities in future games – Turkey registered just eight of their 22 shots on target.

Ranked 40th in the world by FIFA, Turkey have lost only two of their last 15 competitive games (W10 D3) and can secure their spot in the last 16 of Euro 2024 with a victory on Saturday, although they have never beaten Portugal at the European Championship, failing to score on all three occasions.

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After going through Euro 2024 qualifying with a perfect record of 10 wins from 10 games, Portugal were starring down the barrel of defeat in their opening Group F fixture on Monday when Czech Republic took a surprise lead midway through the second half.

Lukas Provod expertly curled a superb long-range strike in off the far post in the 62nd minute, but Czechia’s lead lasted only seven minutes as goalkeeper Jindrich Stanek could only parry Nuno Mendes‘s header against Robin Hranac and watch the ball bounce into his net.

Portugal then snatched all three points courtesy of a dramatic 92nd-minute winner from substitute Francisco Conceicao, who scored just three minutes after coming off the bench to make his competitive debut, netting 24 years after his father and ex-Porto boss Sergio Conceicao scored a hat-trick against Germany at Euro 2000.

Both Ronaldo and Pepe broke European Championship records in a memorable victory for Portugal, and a “deserved” one according to manager Roberto Martinez, who was pleased with the reaction of his players after going a goal behind in a “tough” opening contest against Czechia.

Sitting level on points with Turkey at the top of Group F, Portugal have kept only one clean sheet in their last six international matches, which will be a slight cause for concerns for Martinez. However, A Selecao should be confident of success on Saturday as they have won each of their last six competitive meetings with Turkey, scoring at least twice on four of those occasions.

Turkey European Championship form:

Turkey form (all competitions):

Portugal European Championship form:

Portugal form (all competitions):

Team News

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Turkey’s matchday one triumph was all the more impressive considering the fact that Caglar Soyuncu, Ozan Kabak, Ridvan Yilmaz, Enes Unal, Cengiz Under and Umut Nayir are all ruled out of the tournament due to injury.

The Crescent-Stars became only the second team in European Championship history to name two teenagers (Guler and fellow 19-year-old Kenan Yildiz) in their starting lineup, and both players could continue on the flanks against Portugal.

However, Montella has revealed that Guler is “not 100% fit” and a late call will be made over whether he will be selected in the first XI; Kerem Akturkoglu is waiting in the wings if needed.

Captain Hakan Calhanoglu is just one booking away from a suspension for the final group-stage match, but he is set to operate in a deeper midfield role alongside Kaan Ayhan, although Montella may consider replacing the latter with either Borussia Dortmund’s Salih Ozcan or West Bromwich Albion’s Okay Yokuslu.

Zeki Celik and Merih Demiral will both be pushing for a recall in defence, but a back four of Muldur, Samet Akaydin, Abdulkerim Bardakci and Ferdi Kadioglu may remain intact, while Feyenoord’s Orkun Kokcu could keep his place in the number 10 role ahead of Lille’s Yusuf Yazici.

As for Portugal, Martinez could stick with the 3-4-3 system deployed against Czech Republic, which could see Nuno Mendes operate on the left side of a back three next to Pepe and Ruben Dias, as Diogo Dalot and Joao Cancelo occupy wing-back roles.

Vitinha put in a man-of-the-match display last time out and is expected to retain his starting spot in midfield alongside Bruno Fernandes, forcing Joao Palhinha, Joao Neves and Ruben Neves to begin as a substitutes once again.

At the age of 39, Ronaldo will be looking to become the oldest goalscorer in European Championship history this weekend and is set to lead the line in between Bernardo Silva on the right and Rafael Leao on the left side of attack.

Ronaldo is the all-time record goalscorer at the European Championship (14), while he is also just one assist away from equalling Karel Poborsky‘s record for the most assists (eight) at the Finals.

Turkey possible starting lineup:
Gunok; Muldur, Akaydin, Bardakci, Kadioglu; Ozcan, Calhanoglu; Akturkoglu, Kokcu, Yildiz; Yilmaz

Portugal possible starting lineup:
Costa; Pepe, Dias, Mendes; Dalot, Fernandes, Vitinha, Cancelo; Bernardo, Ronaldo, Leao

We say: Turkey 2-3 Portugal

Spirits are high within both camps at present and they are sure to be motivated by the prospect of claiming the three points they need to punch their ticket to the knockout rounds with a game to spare.

An entertaining contest with plenty of goalmouth action could be in store between two forward-thinking teams, who have also looked leaky at the back in recent matches, but Portugal boast the stronger side, on paper, and should ultimately find a way to come out on top.

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