Cristiano Ronaldo was left cursing a disallowed goal against Serbia earlier in World Cup qualification when Portugal lost the return match.
Ronaldo was close to tears as the home defeat condemned Portugal to second place in the group, denied automatic qualification to Qatar 2022. His second chance comes via the treacherous route of the play-offs.
How the World Cup play-offs work
There are 12 teams in the European play-offs, consisting of eight second placed group teams and four best placed third teams.
These dozen are split into three sections, with one winner from each. Essentially only three of the 12 will get a place at Qatar 2022.
Portugal face Turkey in the first semi-final, and the winner will take on the winner of Italy and North Macedonia.
Italy and Portugal are the two highest ranked teams in the play-offs, and unfortunately for them, only one can make it, if they even get to the final.
Turkey’s record
Turkey are ranked 39 in the FIFA World Rankings, with Portugal number 8 and Italy 6.
They finished second in their group with 21 points, just two behind group winners the Netherlands. Like Portugal, they only lost one game all qualification, and paid the price.
Kick-off time
The match is one leg and takes place at Porto’s stadium in Portugal. The winner of the game will host the final on Sunday March 29..
The match kicks off today, March 24, at 7.45pm UK time.
How to watch
The match will be shown on Sky Sports in the UK.
Three United stars
Cristiano Ronaldo is one of three Manchester United players hoping to start the match for Portugal.
Club teammate Bruno Fernandes will also be looking to start, while Diogo Dalot will also be involved and looking to move one step closer to booking their place at World Cup 2022.
Receive a digest of our best United content each week direct to your mailbox
