The two sides without a win following the opening round of matches in Group E will lock horns in Hamilton on Thursday. Portugal will need maximum points to ensure that they go into the final round of matches with a fighting chance of reaching the knockout round.
Women’s World Cup 2023 Preview
Portugal weren’t able to get off to the dream start at the Women’s World Cup in their Group E opener, as they fell to defeat against the Netherlands. The loss was the eighth time in nine clashes that they had lost to the Dutch, and it means that each of the last ten debutants at the World Cup had suffered defeat in their opening matches at the competition. But, Portugal will see this showdown against Vietnam as a perfect opportunity to register a victory.
European nations making their debut at the World Cup has suffered on the second round of matches throughout history, with only one of the last three landing a win. However, Portugal remains one of the growing nations in the women’s game, and they will be confident ahead of this clash.
Vietnam also made their World Cup debut in their previous clash, but they were no match for the two-time reigning champions. The Asian nation failed to register a single shot on target in that defeat, and they were only beaten by a three-goal margin after the USA had taken their foot off the accelerator.
In history, only one previous nation from the AFC region has lost each of their opening two matches at the World Cup by margins of 3+ goals. However, they will need to show more in the final third on Thursday after becoming the first nation since 2011 to fail to register a single shot in a World Cup fixture.
Portugal vs Vietnam Head to Head
This will be the first time that Portugal and Vietnam have locked horns in an international fixture. In fact, only once have debuting nations from Europe and AFC met in the World Cup, with France landing a 1-0 win over South Korea in 2003.
Portugal vs Vietnam Prediction
Portugal showed in their opening match that they are on the right track in the women’s game. Therefore, we fully expect them to record a first ever win at the World Cup on Thursday against Vietnam.
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