Portugal vs Armenia – Will Portugal be tested?

Recent Nations League winners Portugal take on Armenia for the second time in this World Cup Group F qualifier match. Portugal won the first fixture back in September 5-0. Armenia, however, has been known to cause a few upsets in their short International history, and this includes beating the Republic of Ireland in this very qualifying campaign which has still kept them with an outside chance of qualifying via the playoffs. The Portuguese may well have qualified by the time this kicks off depending on results, after Hungary’s last minute equaliser robbed them of this last time out. Portugal will start as the strong favourites as they are currently top of the standings in Group F. Armenia is still in the running for a play-off spot.  Continue reading to find out more about our Portugal vs Armenia prediction.

Portugal goes into the game in great form and has pretty much beaten everyone comfortably in this qualifying campaign. In recent years, they have been on top form, winning all 10 fixtures they played in 2023. In 2024, they lost 4 of 16 games, although two of these were friendlies. The other two were at the Euro 2024 finals, where they lost their third group game (after already qualifying from the group). Their final defeat was on penalties, as they lost to France in the quarterfinals. In 2025, they have only lost one game, a 1-0 defeat in a two-legged Nations League fixture with Denmark. They won the second leg  5-2.

Portugal has never lost to Armenia, having beaten them four times in their previous five encounters. Although Armenia’s surprise victory against the Republic of Ireland earlier in the campaign means they are capable of an upset.

Portugal – Looking to continue unbeaten run

Portugal’s flying start to the campaign means they are now strong favourites to win the group and automatically qualify for the World Cup. They won all their opening matches in the campaign, including a 5-0 victory over Armenia. They did have to come from behind to beat Hungary 3-2, and the recent 2-2 draw in the return game against the same opposition from 2-0 up shows their defence may need some strengthening.

With Ronaldo already scoring five goals in three matches in what is sure to be his final World Cup, and not having lost a competitive home fixture since 2022, this is almost certain to be another strong performance by Portugal, cementing their place in next year’s World Cup.

Armenia – Can they cause another upset?

The Armenia team’s mood will be high; a recent unexpected victory against the Republic of Ireland in September means they are capable of causing an upset.

Unfortunately for Armenia, its rare successes tend to be when playing at home. Since 2022, Armenia has won only 8 fixtures, and 6 of these victories have been at home. The most recent away victory was against Latvia in November 2024, a team ranked nearly 50 places lower in the world ratings. Since then, they have lost or drawn each away fixture, conceding at least two goals each game and suffering heavy defeats to Georgia (1-5) and Kosovo (2-5).

However, their recent victory against the Republic of Ireland, (although they lost 1-0 in the return fixture) combined with the knowledge they have managed to score in five of their last six games, will give them hope of an upset. They will likely need one to take 2nd place in this group, coupled with a good result when they play Hungary at home 3 days before this one.

Portugal vs Armenia – Possible Lineups

Portugal

Portugal is likely to maintain a similar lineup and formation (4-2-3-1), which they have used throughout the competition. One change for the better will be in the right back position, where João Cancelo should return from a hamstring injury and replace Semedo. Ronaldo will once again head the attack, supported by Fernandes and Neto.

Diogo Costa
Nuno Mendes
Rúben Dias
Rúben Neves
João Cancelo
João Neves
Vitinha
Bernardo Silva
Pedro Neto
Bruno Fernandes
Cristiano Ronaldo (Captain).

Armenia

Eghishe Melikyan is likely to employ a 3-4-2-1 formation, which they successfully used to overcome the Republic of Ireland earlier in the campaign. They will look to Eduard Spertsyan and Tigran Barseghyan to provide the goals to cause what would be an even bigger upset.

O. Čančarević
E. Piloyan
S. Muradyan
G. Harutyunyan
N. Tiknizyan
E. Spertsyan
U. Iwu
K. Hovhannisyan
L. Zelarayán
T. Barseghyan (Captain)
G. Ranos.

Where to watch Portugal vs Armenia

The Portugal vs Armenia match will be available to watch on several platforms. At the time of writing, a comprehensive list was not available; however, a few options are outlined below. More options will become available, so ultimately it will be down to you to pick whichever platform has the best commentary team.

• UEFA.tv
• RTVE PLAY
• Amazon Prime Video UK
• TNT Sports.

Prediction Portugal vs Armenia

Portugal are heavy favourites for the game, and I believe they are likely to win the game by a number of goals. However, the odds of a Portugal win will not provide much of a return on your bet. Therefore, I have opted for a prediction of over 2.5 goals. The reverse of this fixture earlier in the campaign was a 5-0 victory for Portugal away from home. At home, they are likely to match or better that result.

Portugal is not known for a solid defence, but is known for scoring goals. Armenia is also known for being in high-scoring games; in fact, every game this year has contained 3 or more goals.

The final reason I have gone with this prediction over just a Portugal win is I have considered what I believe is the most likely result if not a Portugal win, which I believe would be Armenia managing to get themselves a draw, with both teams not having the best defensive record it is more likely this will be a high scoring draw, which would also result in this prediction being successful.

The odds for over 2.5 goals are likely to be between 1.60 and 1.90 so anything close to evens is going to be a good bet.