FIFA World Cup 2014 Predictions: Match #46 Portugal vs. Ghana

Final Score

Portugal 2 Ghana 1

Overview

The forty sixth match of the FIFA World Cup 2014 is going to be held between Portugal and Ghana. The Group G match should be quite an interesting contest between the two as this will be the last chance for both the teams to try for a berth in the "group of 16."

Teams

Portugal: Portugal's 0-4 defeat against Germany turned out to be so expensive that Cristiano Ronaldo's team would find it extremely difficult to proceed to the next round. Things look pretty improbable but there is still hope for Portugal. Here are the calculations. Germany must win against the United States. If that does not happen, Portugal will be eliminated no matter what the result of this match is. Even of the match between Germany and the U.S.A ends in a draw, it will be the end of Portugal in 2014 FIFA World Cup. However, it is pretty likely that Germany will win. In that case, winning this match may still make things possible. Portugal's goal difference in -4 now, which will be a mountain to climb as the goal difference for the U.S.A is +1. The bigger the win for Germany, the fewer goals Portugal has to score.

Ghana: Ghana has only 1 point just like Portugal. That is why this match is equally important for the African team as well. Ghana's advantage is its goal difference. Unlike Portugal which is far behind at -4, Ghana's goal difference is -1 which can be recovered more easily. Moreover, Ghana's performance against the mighty Germany was extra-ordinary. It was widely praised for a 2-2 draw against a team which had defeated Portugal 4-0 in its previous match. Ghana's performance has been much better than Portugal. The top ranked African team has played some stunning football. If it manages to win this match with at least 2-goal margin and the U.S.A loses against Germany, no matter how slim the margin is, Ghana will go to the next round. If both teams have the same goal difference, the team which has scored more goals will go ahead. At the moment, the U.S.A has scored 4 goals and Ghana 3.

Head to Head

These two teams never played against each other before.

Key Players

Portugal: Cristiano Ronaldo and Pepe (should be back after the ban)

Ghana: André Ayew and Asamoah Gyan

Date, Time & Venue

Brazil's time zone is UTC/GMT -3. The match starts at 1 pm (local time) on June 26, which means it is 2 am on June 27 in New South Wales, Australia. The match will be held at Estadio Nacional in Brasilia.

Prediction

Cristiano Ronaldo will not be able to do enough to take him team to victory. Ghana will be the better team on field. The African team will win 3-1.

Group Predictions

Group A, Group B, Group C, Group D, Group E, Group F, Group G & Group H

Reference: FIFA

Contact the writer: s.mukhopadhyay@ibtimes.com.au