Serbia’s winning start to their FIFA World Cup qualification (WCQ) campaign (W 3-2) was not without a few nervy moments, but they won the second half by a one-goal margin for the second competitive home game in succession. A repeat of that seems unlikely though, with Serbia’s last win against a current top-five ranked FIFA nation coming in October 2006. With Serbia being outsiders here, a draw is no disgrace. Interestingly, all three of Serbia’s post-independence WCQ home games (2008-present) played against a top-seeded group side have ended in a 1-1 scoreline. They came from behind in the last two, while two of that trio saw one goalless half. After a laboured opening win (1-0) vs the lowly Azerbaijan in midweek, Portugal now boast a 100% win rate across their previous ten WCQ fixtures. They won both halves in seven of those games, and netted 3+ times on six occasions across those ten victories, although the average margin against teams currently in FIFA’s top-40 alone was just 2.00 goals. If excluding games on neutral venues, and including only teams within FIFA’s current top-40, Portugal have lost just once away from home since the end of the last World Cup (W4, D2, L1). All of the victories saw them win/lose the first half by a one-goal margin (HT: W3, L1), scoring all of their first-half goals across those away wins between the 31st minute and HT.
Serbia’s winning start to their FIFA World Cup qualification (WCQ) campaign (W 3-2) was not without a few nervy moments, but they won the second half by a one-goal margin for the second competitive home game in succession. A repeat of that seems unlikely though, with Serbia’s last win against a current top-five ranked FIFA nation coming in October 2006.
With Serbia being outsiders here, a draw is no disgrace. Interestingly, all three of Serbia’s post-independence WCQ home games (2008-present) played against a top-seeded group side have ended in a 1-1 scoreline. They came from behind in the last two, while two of that trio saw one goalless half.
After a laboured opening win (1-0) vs the lowly Azerbaijan in midweek, Portugal now boast a 100% win rate across their previous ten WCQ fixtures. They won both halves in seven of those games, and netted 3+ times on six occasions across those ten victories, although the average margin against teams currently in FIFA’s top-40 alone was just 2.00 goals.
If excluding games on neutral venues, and including only teams within FIFA’s current top-40, Portugal have lost just once away from home since the end of the last World Cup (W4, D2, L1). All of the victories saw them win/lose the first half by a one-goal margin (HT: W3, L1), scoring all of their first-half goals across those away wins between the 31st minute and HT.
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