There’s only one thing missing from Cristiano Ronaldo’s resume: a World Cup title. The Portuguese icon came closest in 2006, when the Seleção das Quinas came fourth, and he’s famously never scored a knockout goal in the world’s premier competition. It was widely assumed that 2022 would be his last shot, but he’s still included in Portugal’s squad as it seeks to qualify for the 2026 competition, which will take place next summer in the United States, Canada, and Mexico.
The Seleção das Quinas will begin their qualification journey tomorrow with a 12 p.m. ET (8 p.m. local) clash against Armenia at the Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium in Yerevan. Portugal is a -750 favorite at DraftKings Sportsbook, with Havaqakan +1800 on the Moneyline. There are +750 odds that the teams will draw.
Armenia vs. Portugal prediction, pick
The Seleção das Quinas have been playing pretty well lately, embarking on a run through the UEFA Nations League to win the tournament for the second time in four attempts. Their run included a 2-1 away win against Germany in the semifinals and a spot-kick victory over Spain in the final in which Ronaldo scored the equalizer in the 61st minute before giving way to Gonçalo Ramos, who scored Portugal’s first penalty in the shootout. During the Nations League, Ronaldo ranked second behind only Sweden’s Viktor Gyökeres with eight goals, so he’s clearly still capable of high-level football. The Seleçao das Quinas will have heavy hearts — this’ll be their first match together since Diogo Jota’s tragic death on July 3 — so expect the team to rally around Jota’s memory.
Armenia shouldn’t present a huge challenge. The Caucasus nation is currently ranked 105th in the world, 99 spots below Portugal, and though Havaqakan made a run through Nations League C to enter the B/C promotion-relegation playoffs, they were battered across two legs by Georgia, 9-1 on aggregate. The only wins that Armenia got in the Nations League came against Latvia, ranked 137th in the world, and only one of its regular players — Borussia Mönchengladbach reserve Grant Ranos — plays in Europe’s top five leagues. Lucas Zelerayán, who plays for Argentine side Belgrano, led the team with three goal contributions in the Nations League, and Krasnodar attacking midfielder Eduard Spertsyan notched two goals as well. Wahan Biczachczian was the only other player to attempt more than seven total shots.
The biggest issue for Havaqan lies in the back: goalkeeper Ognjen Čančarević converted just 52.9% of his possible save opportunities, including 40% in each of his games against the only quality attackers he faced in Georgia. Admittedly, Khvicha Kvaratskhelia and Georges Mikautadze is a terrifying attack partnership, but it’s probably not better than the trio of Ronaldo, Francisco Conceição, and Pedro Neto. Plus, even if those three sit — which is a distinct possibility, especially given that Al-Nassr will want to protect the 40-year-old Ronaldo’s health — the reserve attack of Gonçalo Ramos, Francisco Trincão, and João Félix is hardly easier. Félix, a failed wunderkind trying to rehabilitate his image in Saudi Arabia, managed a hat trick in his maiden start for Al-Nassr. He netted in his lone Nations League start against Croatia, a far more sound defense.
Three Portuguese players were among the 30 nominated for the Ballon d’Or, and none of them were even named above: the PSG trio of Vitinha, Nuno Mendes, and João Neves. Plus, there are plenty of other Seleçao das Quinas players who have previously been nominated but weren’t in 2025 because of a lack of team success, including Manchester United captain Bruno Fernandes and Manchester City captains Rubén Dias and Bernardo Silva. The flashy move would be to back Armenia, but this Portugal team is just too good and should win easily even if it plays its backups.
