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Portugal and Nigeria have confirmed their starting teams for their meeting in an international friendly in Leiria on Wednesday.
Roberto Martinez’s side beat Chile 2-1 at home on Saturday and start their World Cup campaign on June 17 against DR Congo (18:00 BST) in a group also featuring Uzbekistan and Colombia.
Nigeria are ranked 26th by FIFA but failed to qualify for a second successive edition of the finals, losing to DR Congo in the African play-offs.
Bruno Fernandes scored twice before half-time and Goncalo Ramos and Joao Mario netted after the break when Portugal won their last meeting with Nigeria in Lisbon in November 2022.
Together with the certainty that #VaiDarPortugal ❤️🔥🇵🇹#FIFAWorldCup | @433 pic.twitter.com/fD7n2i102a
— Portugal (@selecaoportugal) June 10, 2026
World Cup 2026 friendly: Portugal confirmed team vs Nigeria
Portugal make seven changes from their win over Chile with PSG midfielder Vitinha making his first appearance since winning the Champions League final.
Cristiano Ronaldo – of course – starts.
Portugal starting XI: Coast; Dalot, Inacio, Dias, Semedo; Vitinha, Neves; Trincao, Fernandes, Neto; Ronaldo
World Cup 2026 warm-up: Nigeria line up vs Portugal
Nigeria defender Igho Ogbu is out with an Achilles injury sustained during training and prolific forwards Victor Osimhen and Ademola Lookman are not part of the squad.
Stanley Nwabali was Nigeria’s first-choice goalkeeper at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations but the 30-year-old, who has been without a club since leaving South African side Chippa United in February, is not involved.
Fulham midfielder Alex Iwobi wins his 100th cap, joining Joseph Yobo, Vincent Enyeama and Ahmed Musa as Nigeria centurions.
Iwobi made his Super Eagles debut 10 years and 245 days ago, meaning the 29-year-old has achieved the feat 155 days quicker than Nigeria appearance record-holder Musa, who retired from international football last December on 111 caps.
Nigeria starting XI: Big; Akpan, Ajayi, Bassey, Onyemaechi; Iwobi, Ndidi, Dele-Bashiru; Nnadi, Adams, Simon
Where to watch Portugal vs Nigeria: TV channel, live online stream
Kick-off on Wednesday is at 20:45 BST (15:45 ET / 12:45 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Amazon Prime PPV, which charges £2.99 for the game.
World Cup 2026 friendly: Portugal vs Nigeria stats
- Cristiano Ronaldo is set to appear at his 12th consecutive major tournament and is the all-time record scorer in men’s internationals, with 143 goals
- Five-time Champions League winner Ronaldo became the first player to score at five World Cup final tournaments with a goal against Ghana in 2022
- Portugal’s 2-0 defeat in Ireland in qualifying in November is their only defeat in 12 matches, although they recovered to beat Armenia 9-1 at home to seal qualification three days later, hitting nine for the second time under Martinez
- They then drew 0-0 in Mexico in March, representing the second time in their last five games they have failed to score, having netted in each of their previous seven matches for a total of 20 goals
- Lucas Capeda’s 92nd-minute reply for Chile was the first time Portugal had conceded in a friendly in more than six hours and 36 minutes, although they have one clean sheet in their last five competitive matches
- That win over Nigeria was Portugal’s only friendly before the 2022 World Cup, proceeding to beat Ghana and Uruguay in the group stage before losing to South Korea in their third match and beating Switzerland in the last 16
- The result launched their current run of scoring in each of their last 20 competitive and non-competitive games since a 1-0 defeat to Spain in the Nations League in September 2022
- Nigeria conceded for the first time in three matches in their draw with Poland
- Including friendlies, they are unbeaten in six matches (W4) and have suffered one defeat in their last 24 matches over 90 minutes
- The three-time African champions have won nine of their last 12 games (including friendlies)
