Share this: The 2018 FIFA World Cup begins exactly one year away, so it’s now time for soccer’s premier warm-up act. The 2017 Confederations Cup will kick off Saturday in Russia, when the host nation taking on New Zealand in front of legions of fans in attendance and hundreds of millions more watching from near and far. The competition features eight teams: the host of the upcoming World Cup; the reigning World Cup winner and the six most recent winners of each continent’s championship tournament. It’s men’s international soccer’s official tournament of champions. Watch our primer to see why the Confederations Cup is so important. FormatTwo groups consisting of teams will play a round-robin group stage. The top two teams in each group will advance
Tag: portugal
Benfica make it four in a row in Portugal
How they won itLast summer there were doubts about how Benfica would cope after losing midfielders Nicolás Gaitán to Atlético Madrid and Renato Sanches to Bayern, but reassurance came quickly – Jonas, Pizzi and new boy Franco Cervi scoring in a 3-0 Portuguese Super Cup win against Braga. Rui Vitória's men didn't quite hit the same heights as 2015/16, but took top spot in the fifth round of games and never looked back. Midfielder Pizzi, 27, was the star man, playing all 33 Liga matches so far, scoring ten goals in the process. Key number: 18This title triumph was Benfica captain Luisão's 18th honou... UEFA.com - News
FYR Macedonia v Portugal background
Portugal have dominated their previous contests with FYR Macedonia and will target another victory to end Group B on a winning note.Previous meetings• This is the teams' seventh competitive meeting at Under-21 level – Portugal winning five of those six past encounters.• Portugal won both fixtures in qualifying for the 2015 finals, recording a 2-0 home success thanks to goals early in the second half from Bernardo Silva (51) and Ricardo Esgaio (59pen). Gonçalo Paciência missed a 66th-minute penalty for Portugal.• The line-ups at the Estádio Cidade de Barcelos in Barcelos on 5 March 2014 were:PortugalUEFA.com - News
Tuesday friendlies: Spain beat France, Italy defeat Dutch
A number of European teams were in friendly action on Tuesday evening, with Spain, Italy and Sweden among the most notable winners.This week's European international friendly resultsAlbania 1-2 Bosnia and HerzegovinaAustria 1-1 FinlandEstonia 3-0 CroatiaFrance 0-2 SpainFYR Macedonia 3-0 BelarusGeorgia 5-0 LatviaLuxembourg 0-2 Cape VerdeNetherlands 1-2 ItalyPortugal 2-3 SwedenRepublic of Ireland 0-1 IcelandRussia 3-3 BelgiumTurkey 3-1 Moldova (Monday) Second-half goals from David Silva – via the penalty spot – and Gerard Deulofeu made the difference ... UEFA.com - News
Under-17 elite round line-up confirmed
UEFA European Under-17 Championship holders Portugal were among the 31 teams to make it through the qualifying round to join top seeds Germany in December's elite round draw, while the Faroe Islands made history by progressing and Armenia edged FYR Macedonia thanks to a better disciplinary record.The qualifiers (group winners listed first):Group 1: Russia, Bosnia and HerzegovinaGroup 2: Republic of Ireland, GreeceGroup 3: Switzerland, Faroe Islands, Czech Republic*Group 4: Italy, SerbiaGroup 5: France, Slovenia, Montenegro*
Romania frustrate Portugal in play-off first leg
Cláudia Neto fires early penalty against the upright for the hostsTie to decide 16th and final side through to 2017 UEFA Women's EUROCrowd of 3,415 in Lisbon, a record for a women's game in PortugalSecond leg on Tuesday in Cluj-NapocaFinals draw: 8 November, RotterdamCláudia Neto missed an early penalty as Portugal were forced to settle for a goalless draw against Romania in the UEFA Women's EURO 2017 play-off first leg.The home side had the better of things throughout in Lisbon but could not translate their superiority into goals. They came c... UEFA.com - News
What we learned from October’s World Cup qualifiers
What do you think of our choices? What stood out for you? Let us know using #WCQ on @EuroQualifiers Portugal in the goalsIn itself, Portugal beating Andorra and the Faroe Islands 6-0 is not extraordinary for the European champions against two of UEFA's smaller nations, but those Group B victories may yet prove decisive.Having lost their opener 2-0 away to Switzerland – who then won twice this month – Portugal know they could go into their final game at home to Vladimir Petković's side still three ... UEFA.com - News