Anybody can beat anybody: Moutinho

PORTO • Portugal have been well and truly warned not to take the threat of North Macedonia lightly as they host Italy's conquerors in a decisive World Cup qualifying play-off today.

The Balkan nation stunned the European champions in their play-off semi-final in Palermo last week, condemning the Azzurri to a second successive absence from the Finals.

North Macedonia may be ranked a modest 67th in the world by Fifa, 59 places below the hosts, but Wolves midfielder Joao Moutinho is taking nothing for granted.

"At the moment, football is different. Anybody can beat anybody. Names, numbers and statistics don't matter," he said. "We have to show on the pitch that we have more quality and impose our own game."

The Portuguese are well aware of what underdogs can produce, having been given a scare by Turkey in last week's 3-1 semi-final win, as well as being beaten by Serbia to first place in their qualifying group.

But failing to qualify for the World Cup for the first time since 1998 would be little short of a scandal, given the quality in their ranks.

They also have an added incentive. At 37, this will surely be captain and all-time leading international goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo's last World Cup if they do get there.

The hosts have been boosted by the return of defenders Pepe, who has recovered from Covid-19, and Joao Cancelo, who was suspended for the Turkey game.

Manchester City midfielder Bernardo Silva knows there are no excuses, saying: "We have a responsibility to get to the World Cup, so that means the pressure is there, regardless of who we are playing. We know perfectly well that we have to be in Qatar."

There will be an air of expectation at the Estadio do Dragao after the 50,000-ticket allocation was sold out within hours and Silva does not want to let the home fans down.

"It is incredible the atmosphere we encounter every time we play in front of our fans. It's overwhelming in a good way, an advantage, for sure. They were instrumental in our win against Turkey and I totally expect it to be the same against North Macedonia," he said.

However, their opponents are quietly confident of causing another shock.

Euro 2020 was the first major tournament appearance of any sort for North Macedonia, but they continue to punch above their weight - winning four of their last five away qualifiers, with two of them in Germany and Italy.

"We are well on our way to confirming why we are among the top 20 teams in Europe," said coach Blagoja Milevski.

The other World Cup qualifying play-off final, in the Polish city of Chorzow, sees the hosts looking to end a run of six straight defeats by Sweden.

Both sides met previously at Euro 2020 last year, with Sweden scoring in injury time to win 3-2. Poland will be without striker Arkadiusz Milik after he suffered an injury in last week's 1-1 friendly draw with Scotland.

Ten European sides have already clinched places in Friday's World Cup draw in Doha, with three more spots still up for grabs.

Wales will feature in the third play-off final, which is on hold until June after Ukraine's semi-final against Scotland was postponed following Russia's invasion.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE, REUTERS