The great team behind the success of the Moroccan team 1:24
(CNN) --
The knockout stages are packed with added tension this tournament for Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo, who is looking to win soccer's biggest trophy for his country in what will likely be his last World Cup.
His team will arrive at the Lusail Stadium on Tuesday as slight favorites against Switzerland in their round of 16 match, but the Portuguese have already suffered a surprise defeat in Qatar.
Cristiano Ronaldo has scored a goal in the last five World Cups.
Portugal seemed to be sailing smoothly through the group stage, defeating Ghana and Uruguay to confirm a place in the round of 16 with one game to play, but suffered a shock defeat against South Korea in the last game of the group stage. groups.
READ: Qatar 2022 World Cup calendar: round of 16 and quarterfinal matches, times and dates
Despite this, Portugal will be buoyed by the long-awaited return of midfielder Otávio, who missed the last two games with a thigh injury, as well as star defender Rúben Dias, who was rested against the Taegeuk warriors.
Switzerland, meanwhile, in a tough group, picked up victories against Cameroon and Serbia that took them to the round of 16 despite a loss to Brazil.
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The last time the two teams met was in the Nations League in June, when Portugal thrashed Switzerland 4-0 in Lisbon.
However, Switzerland rallied to win the second leg 1-0 a week later.
“For me, it will be totally different because there is no friendly game.
This is not the League of Nations: the pressure is high, so how the players deal with this pressure is important now,” Swiss midfielder Xherdan Shaqiri said on Sunday, according to Reuters.
Switzerland celebrates their victory against Serbia 3-2 and their qualification to the round of 16.
“We need a special performance.
Portugal, to be honest, is a good team and for me also the favorite in this game, but we also know our qualities.
We will try to have a good special performance and try to cause them a lot of problems in the game.
“The key is really to have a special performance from the whole team because, you know, we are Switzerland, we don't have Christians in our team,” Shaqiri said.
Ronaldo, who in this tournament became the first male player to score in five World Cups, will seek to match the Portuguese record of nine World Cup goals held by the great Eusebio.
Can Spain avoid another setback?
Like Portugal, Spain enters its round of 16 match against Morocco on the heels of a shock defeat to an Asian nation (a 2-1 loss to Japan) in the group stage.
The Spanish Álvaro Morata jumps to head the ball.
The two teams have met three times since 1961, but their rivalry goes beyond football results to their shared history, which has often been marked by conflict.
On the soccer field, La Roja began this tournament with a 7-0 aggregate victory over Costa Rica, but drew 1-1 with Germany and lost to Japan, ultimately qualifying for the round of 16 in an extraordinary Group E finale.
"I'm not happy at all.
Yes, we have qualified, I would have liked to win this game.
That was impossible because, in five minutes, Japan scored two goals... we were out, we were dismantled," coach Luis Enrique said after the loss to Japan, according to Reuters.
In a strange twist of fate, however, the defeat meant Spain qualified as group runners-up and arguably ended up with a potential easier route to the semi-finals, avoiding 2018 finalists Croatia in the round of 16 and a possible crossing of quarterfinals the five times world champion, Brazil.
Morocco, however, have impressed so far at this World Cup.
They achieved a goalless draw with Croatia, defeated Canada and, above all, beat Belgium, the number 2 team in the world ranking.
Morocco surprised Belgium with a score of 2-0.
These results ensured that he progressed to the round of 16 for the first time since 1986, while his manager Walid Regragui became the first Arab manager to guide a team to the round of 16.
“We said we wanted to give everything we had to get out of the group stage,” Regragui said, according to The Guardian.
“We can check that box now.
So why not aim for the sky?
“We needed to change and we needed to change our mindset.
We are not going to stop here.
We have a lot of respect for all the different opponents, but we're going to be a very tough team to beat."
What World Cup matches are played this Tuesday, December 6?
Morocco vs.
Spain
: Played at 10 am ET at the Estadio Ciudad de la Educación.
Switzerland vs.
Portugal
– Played at 2 pm ET at Lusail Stadium.
World Cup Qatar 2022