- This will be the third meeting between Portugal and Switzerland in 2022, having faced each other twice in the Uefa Nations League in June. Portugal won 4-0 in a match played in Lisbon, before Switzerland won 1-0 in Geneva a week later.
- Portugal and Switzerland have faced each other in competitive action on six occasions in the 21st Century, while both teams have won three games apiece. Their only previous clash at a major tournament (World Cups and Euros) came among these meetings, with Switzerland winning 2-0 at Euro 2008.
- Portugal will be looking to reach the quarterfinals of the World Cup for just a third time, previously doing so in 1966 and in 2006. However, they’ve failed to win any of their last five knockout games at the tournament, losing each of their last four, including defeats at this stage in 2010 (0-1 v Spain) and in 2018 (1-2 v Uruguay).
- Switzerland won two of their matches in the group stage at the 2022 World Cup (L1 v Brazil), and will be looking to win three games in a single World Cup tournament for the first time in their history.
- Portugal have opened the scoring in eight of their last nine World Cup games. However last time out against Korea Republic, they lost having scored first for the very first time at the World Cup (P19 W15 D3 L1).
- The last team to keep a clean sheet against Portugal at the World Cup was Germany in 2014 (4-0), with Portugal scoring at least once in each of their last nine games in the competition since then (16 goals). Cristiano Ronaldo (6) and Bruno Fernandes (2) have scored exactly half of the 16 goals in this period.
- All eight of Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup goals have come in the group stage of the competition, the joint-most goals scored by a player in the tournament’s history without ever netting in the knockout rounds (alongside Lionel Messi). Ronaldo is yet to find the back of the net in any of his six knockout appearances for Portugal at the World Cup, despite playing 514 minutes and having 25 total goal attempts.
- Xherdan Shaqiri’s goal against Serbia last time out saw him become the first player to score in three World Cup tournaments for Switzerland (2014, 2018 and 2022). If Shaqiri scores in this match, he would equal Josef Hügi (6) as Switzerland’s all-time top scorer at the World Cup (currently on five goals).
- Bruno Fernandes has been directly involved in four goals in two appearances for Portugal at the 2022 World Cup (two goals, two assists). This was the joint-most of any player during the group stage, along with Kylian Mbappé and Álvaro Morata (4).
- Manuel Akanji has carried the ball 888 metres during the 2022 World Cup so far. Indeed, only three players carried the ball further than the Swiss during the group stage, with each of those three players being fellow Manchester City teammates: John Stones (1080m), Nathan Aké (1001m) and Rodri (992m).
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