Portugal and Croatia will face off early Friday morning (2:00 a.m.) in Toronto, with a spot in the World Cup Round of 16 at stake, in one of the most evenly matched and high-quality matchups of the Round of 32.

Roberto Martínez’s Spanish side finished the group stage in second place in Group 11, behind Colombia, having dropped points in their opener against the Congo (1-1) and in a scoreless draw with the South Americans. Between those two matches, however, they put on an impressive performance against Uzbekistan, which they crushed 5-0, with Cristiano Ronaldo as the star of the show, scoring two goals.

Finishing second in the group has put Portugal on a more challenging path in the knockout stage, as a potential advancement could pit them against Spain, provided Spain manages to overcome Austria in the round of 32.

On the other hand, Croatia continues to prove that it is one of the most reliable teams in major tournaments. The 2018 finalists and third-place finishers at the 2022 World Cup advanced from the group stage in second place behind England, shaking off their heavy opening-match defeat (4-2) with two consecutive wins against Panama (1-0) and Ghana (2-1).

In the final group stage match, the evergreen Luka Modrić made history, becoming the oldest player to provide an assist in a World Cup knockout stage match, setting up Nikola Vlasic’s winning goal.

The head-to-head record clearly favors Portugal, which has won seven of the last ten matches between the two teams, and also eliminated Croatia in the Round of 16 at Euro 2016, going on to win the tournament. However, the Croatians have proven time and again that in the knockout rounds they transform into one of the toughest teams in the world, a fact that points to a great battle for a spot in the Round of 16.

Probable starting lineups:

Portugal (Martínez): Costa – Cancelo, Dias, Veiga, Mendes – Vitinha, Neves – Neto, Fernandes, Félix – Ronaldo.

Croatia (Dalić): Livaković – Stanisic, Šutalo, Pongračić, Gvardiol – Sučić, Modrić, Kovačić – Baturina, Budimir, Perišić.

*photo source: AP