Lions look to pull off another upset in World Cup play-off final after dumping Italy out

Portugal host North Macedonia on Tuesday in a World Cup play-off final to determine which side will go to Qatar.

The Lions are ranked 67th in the world and are looking to make it to their first World Cup since they became an independent country in September 1991.

They overcame Italy in a World Cup play-off semi-final thanks to a goal from Aleksandar Trajkovski in the dying minutes of the game.

The forward used to play for Palermo and came up with a stunning strike on his old stomping ground to ruin Italy’s World Cup dreams.

Everyone thought that Portugal would face Italy for a place at the World Cup, but that won’t be the case, and North Macedonia will fancy their chances again.

The Euro 2016 champions beat Turkey 3-1 but the scoreline slightly flattered Fernando Santos’ side.

These two sides have only faced each other twice, and never competitively, so this is a historic clash.

Portugal v North Macedonia: Date and start time

This World Cup play-off final will take place on Tuesday, March 29.

The Estadio do Dragao is the venue, with kick-off scheduled for 7:45pm UK time.

North Macedonia finished second in a group with Germany and they did beat the 2014 World Cup champions in qualifying.

Portugal v North Macedonia: TV channel and live stream

The match will be broadcast on Sky Sports Action with coverage starting at 7:40pm.

Sky Sports customers can live stream this via the app using their mobile, tablet or computer devices.

If not, you can purchase a Sky Sports Day Pass from NowTV for £9.99.

Updates will also be live on talkSPORT throughout the afternoon while talkSPORT.com will be running a live blog for all the action.

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Portugal v North Macedonia: Team news

Portugal XI: Costa, Joao Cancelo, Danilo, Pepe, Nuno Mendes, Bruno Fernandes, Joao Moutinho, Otavio, Ronaldo, Jota, Bernardo Silva.

Subs: Leao, William Carvalho, Rui Patricio, Andre Silva, Jose Sa, Goncalo Guedes, Joao Felix, Fonte, Guerreiro, Cedric, Vitinha, Matheus Luiz.

North Macedonia XI: Dimitrievski, Stefan Ristovski, Musliu, Velkovski, Alioski, Elmas, Bardhi, Ademi, Trajkovski, Milan Ristovski, Kostadinov.

Subs: Todoroski, Miovski, Naumovski, Churlinov, Spirovski, Serafimov, Dorian Babunski, Nikolov, David Babunski, Siskovski, Ristevski, Askovski.

Portugal v North Macedonia: What has been said?

Fernando Santos said: “We need to show the same respect to North Macedonia that we would to Italy.

“I told you before we could be playing them, those games are not a joke, it’s like a final and anything can happen.

“You have to face it with the focus and concentration that it deserves.

“A team that goes to Italy and beats the European champions doesn’t need introductions.”