Cristiano Ronaldo starts and captains Portugal as they begin their World Cup campaign against Ghana today.
The now-free agent striker missed the Selecao’s warm-up encounter with Nigeria due to an illness, but has declared himself fit for the opening match.
With Diogo Jota ruled out of the campaign due to a calf injury, a potent attacking trident has still been picked by Portugal.
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This year has seen Rui Patricio’s time as undisputed Portuguese No1 come to a close and Diogo Costa gets the nod in goal.
Ghana secured an impressive win over Switzerland in their final competitive on-field business before the World Cup, continuing a good first year under manager Otto Addo, who was installed ahead of the qualifying play-off success against Nigeria.
Addo’s squad appears fully fit ahead of the first game, with Arsenal’s Thomas Partey anchoring the midfield.
The availability of Inaki Williams is a boost for the Black Stars, with the striker switching allegiance from Spain this summer after winning his only cap for the country of his birth in a friendly in 2016.
Jordan Ayew of Crystal Palace is on the bench as Ghana go with a five-man defence, while his brother Andre is now based in Qatar and recently passed Asamoah Gyan as the most-capped Black Stars player of all time.
Portugal XI: Costa; Cancelo, Danilo, Dias, Guerreiro; Neves, Otavio; Silva, Fernandes, Felix; Cristiano Ronaldo.
Ghana XI: Zigi; Amartey, Seidu, Djiku, Salisu, Rahman; Abdul Samed, Partey, Kudus; Williams, A. Ayew.
