Portugal vs North Macedonia Odds & Prediction – European Qualifers World Cup Playoff Final

• Portuguese with superstar Ronaldo host visitors at Estadio Do Dragao in Porto at 2:45 pm ET on Tuesday
• North Macedonians stunned soccer with  a historic victory against mighty Italy in the semifinal
• See odds, best bets and preview for Portugal vs North Macedonia in the European Qualifiers World Cup Playoff Final

North Macedonia will seek to pull off another sensational upset when it heads to Portugal for a World Cup play-off final on Tuesday.

Soccer was stunned when the tiny Balkan nation defeated four-time winner Italy 1-0 in the semifinal.

Now it heads to the city of Porto to take on Cristiano Ronaldo and Co. in a one-off knockout clash with a place in the finals in Qatar at stake.

Portugal vs North Macedonia Odds

Odds as of March 28 at Barstool

Clearly, the oddsmakers do not expect another upset this time around in the World Cup odds. But they feel it is likely there will be several goals.

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Superstar Ronaldo is aged 36 and will be desperate to ensure that he gets to play in the tournament one last time – after previously appearing in four finals.

Accordingly, Portugal is rated a huge favorite for a win by Barstool Sportsbook at a price of -530.

Meanwhile, the North Macedonians are rated as huge outsiders at +1600.

North Macedonia Rated No. 67 In World By FIFA

North Macedonia, furthermore, is ranked 67th in the world by FIFA while Portugal is placed in the eighth spot.

The draw over 90 minutes, moreover, is priced at +600.

The game kicks off at the Estadio Do Dragao at 2:45 pm ET.

So much seems stacked in Portugal’s favor.

However, North Macedonia has a habit of overturning the biggest nations even though it has never attended the World Cup finals.

It was a 2-1 winner away in Germany in its World Cup qualifying group.

Portugal was a 3-1 winner in Turkey in its playoff semifinal

This enabled it to finish second in its standing and enter these playoffs.

Portugal, meanwhile, was a 3-1 winner in Turkey in its playoff semifinal in the Porto stadium last Thursday.

The goals came from Otavio, Diogo Jota and Matheus Nunes – with Burak Yilmaz scoring for Turkey but also missing a penalty.

The Portuguese side was dominant early on. And although Turkey fought its way into the game later on, Portugal enjoyed 60-percent possession overall against the visitors’ 40-percent.

It also had 16 goals attempts against 12 for Turkey.

Survival Act Against Italians

Meanwhile, North Macedonia survived a battering by the mighty Italians before it snatched its historic victory.

Alexander Trajkovski – who plays for AL Feihla in Saudi Arabia – scored the winner in added time at the end of the second half.

Bernardo Silva and Portugal team-mates are not taking giant killers North Macedonia lightlyhttps://t.co/8sURyuqzDE

— Paul Hirst (@hirstclass) March 27, 2022

That meant Italy has failed to reach the finals for two tournaments in succession.

But the statistics showed just how resilient the Macedonians were in repelling Italy’s onslaught – which will boost their confidence in Portugal.

It saw off no fewer than 32 goal attempts from the Italian side while having only four itself.

And Italy officially had a massive 103 dangerous attacks while, comparatively, North Macedonia had only 12.

This obviously suggests that North Macedonia will dig in and attempt to pull off another smash-and-grab raid in Portugal.

It will, furthermore, be in a buoyant mood having won its last three games in this World Cup qualifying competition.

It has also kept clean sheets in its last three away World Cup qualifying games.

So Portugal may be bursting with attacking talent. But it may not have it easy.

🇲🇰 What it means 🥰

Congratulations, North Macedonia 🙌#WCQ pic.twitter.com/hzNnZVj49e

— UEFA EURO 2024 (@EURO2024) March 24, 2022

However, Portugal has not failed to qualify for the World Cup finals since 1998.

Additionally, it has scored in all of its last 19 World Cup qualifying games on home soil – a record stretching back to 2009.

Portugal vs North Macedonia Stats

*Stats from WCQ Group Stage & Playoffs.

Naturally enough, Ronaldo is the favorite to get on the scoresheet at +230.

But it is worth taking a look at Diogo Jota, who is priced at an attractive +400 to find the target.

He has scored 19 times for Liverpool this season while also hitting nine goals in 23 appearances for his country.

Portugal vs North Macedonia Best Bet

If, as seems, likely, this game will be tight, an ‘Exact Winning Margin’ prop selection may be compelling.

At odds of +1400 for Portugal to win by one goal, this is a good proposition.

🎙️ Bastian Schweinsteiger:

“North Macedonia beat Italy, they also beat Germany last year …. a tough team. Portugal should be warned." pic.twitter.com/P8FKu0KnUK

— Everything Cristiano (@EverythingCR7_) March 26, 2022

These nations have met twice before but never competitively – when North Macedonia was known simply as Macedonia.

There was a 1-0 win for Portugal in 2003. Then, subsequently, there was a 0-0 draw in 2012.

The Portuguese team may be without Wolves’ midfielder Ruben Neves and Porto defender Pepe.

What a night in #skopje #Macedonia #NorthMacedonia #WorldCup2022 #ItalyNorthMacedonia pic.twitter.com/ys4uHh5FAN

— Michael Hsun (@michael_9v) March 24, 2022

So, to sum up, North Macedonia is perfectly capable of making life very difficult for Portugal.

But the home team is likely to advance to the finals, albeit by a narrow margin.

Pick: Portugal to win by 1 goal (+1400)