Portugal - Serbia (21:45, House A, Sports 4).
A 0-0 draw against Ireland put Portugal away from tonight's draw against Serbia from a direct ticket to the World Cup in Qatar.
At the same time, this draw highlighted the biggest problem that accompanies Fernando Santos' team - Cristiano Ronaldo and Bruno Fernandez do not go together.
It does not really work in Manchester United, much less works in the national team uniform.
While Ronaldo had a normal evening in Dublin in his own terms - good condition, 90 minutes, a girl breaking into the pitch for his shirt, Bruno experienced a normal evening in his own terms - he was far from his peak, did not threaten the goal and was substituted in the 75th minute.
It was the tenth time in Portugal's last 11 official games that the 27-year-old midfielder was replaced before the final whistle.
He has had one official goal in the last two years and also came in 0: 5 against Luxembourg where Ronaldo scored a hat-trick.
Ola Gunnar Solskjaer actually claimed that it was possible to mix the two.
"Good players can always play together," the United manager said when Ronaldo arrived, and really in the first game against Newcastle the two won.
But since then Ronaldo has continued on his own and Bruno has stopped his.
He has not had a goal in the Red Devils uniform for two months now, and he has had to make do with cooking, especially in the Champions League.
Recently it has become apparent that in both Portugal and United the freedom that Ronaldo receives is stabbing Bruno.
This is a price that everyone is willing to pay, and assuming that Serbia does not beat Portugal again as has happened in all seven meetings between the teams, that will be enough for a ticket to Qatar.
To succeed there, there seems to be no choice but to find a way to combine the two.
Bruno.
Having difficulty in the last two months, Photo: Reuters,
Spain - Sweden (21:45, House B, Sports 4).
The Spanish squad for the two decisive games in the World Cup qualifiers - against Greece on Thursday (0: 1) and tonight against Sweden - was announced by Luis Enrique from the VAR room, with the guests appearing on the screens.
It was a cynical reminder of the controversial goal the team snatched against France in the League of Nations final and that the Spanish coach feels very comfortable in his place.
If Spain complete the task tonight against Sweden and get at least a draw in the game in Sevilla, the credit will be entirely to the coach, who arrived in 2018 and immediately announced: "I am the leader here."
While Jordi Alba and Sergio Busquets are the only survivors of the golden generation, Luis Enrique has in recent years put together a new, diverse, deep Spanish team that has reached the Euro semi-finals, the League of Nations final, and that tonight you can get a ticket to Qatar.
The 51-year-old coach returned to the bench after a family trauma, and from the first moment he showed that he was in control.
He invited the good guy, whether it was 17-year-old Gabi or 27-year-old Raul de Thomas, to make his debut in Greece, was unmoved by injuries and shortages and involved more than 50 different players.
True, his Spain is not always impressive and not always convincing, but somehow it always gets far.
Next stop: Qatar.
Luis Enrique.
Feeling comfortable, Photo: EPA,
Croatia - Russia (16:00, House 8, Sports 1).
The 0: 6 victory over Cyprus at the weekend was an exceptional standard deviation for Valery Karpin's Russian team. Since the former player replaced Stanislav Cherchesov at the disappointing end of Euro 2020, the Russian team has had minimalism at its best. It "defeated" Malta and Cyprus 0: 2, defeated Slovenia and Slovakia by a goal difference and finished 0: 0 against Croatia. Tonight, in Split, she needs to return to the sources to get at least one point against the world runner-up to win a ticket to the World Cup in Qatar.
Carpin cannot be blamed for taking the team back.
He had to make do without goal-scorer Artyom Dziuba who decided not to come because of an old conflict between the two, star Alexander Golovin has not scored in the national team for two years, second star Alexei Mirenchuk is still without a goal in the qualifiers and Fyodor Smolov, Alexander Yeruhin and others are responsible for the conquest.
Against Cyprus it worked beautifully, but tonight against Croatia Karpin's Russia will settle, again, for the required minimum.
Carpin.
Successful quite a few difficulties, Photo: AFP,