World Cup play-offs finals preview: North Macedonia to spring another shock v Portugal?

Tuesday night sees four nations battle it out to see if they can reach the World Cup in Qatar later this year as Poland and Sweden, and Portugal and North Macedonia go head-to-head.

Will it be another memorable night across Europe? We preview the action.

Portugal v North Macedonia

Both Portugal and North Macedonia played out riveting games last week, but could we be in store for a World Cup upset once again.

Portugal rode their luck to reach this play-offs final after Burak Yilmaz missed a crucial penalty for Turkey as they fell to defeat in the semi-final last week. 1998 was the last World Cup Portugal missed out on and they are heavy favourites heading into this final play-off fixture, priced at 2/11 for victory. Cristiano Ronaldo has said that this will be his final World Cup so he will be keen to get on the scoresheet. The footballing legend is priced at 4/9 to score anytime, while Ronaldo to score first has been enhanced from 6/4 to 2/1.

North Macedonia defied all odds to defeat reigning European champions Italy in their play-off semi-final fixture last week and they will have their eyes set on yet another mammoth upset in Porto on Tuesday. North Macedonia are priced at a huge 16/1 to win in 90 minutes. The last time these two sides met, North Macedonia held Portugal to a memorable 0-0 draw in 2012, but could it happen again? If you think so, a goalless draw is priced at 14/1.

Poland v Sweden

Following an extra-time victory over Czech Republic in the play-offs semi-finals last week, Sweden will face Poland in a tough battle to reach the 2022 World Cup on Tuesday evening.

This will be the 28th meeting between the two teams across all competitions and Sweden have the upper hand heading into this fixture. Sweden have won this fixture 15 times compared to Poland’s eight and they are 11/5 to defeat Robert Lewandowski and Co. once again this time round. Sweden have come out on top on both occasions they have faced Poland in World Cup qualifying but can Janne Andersson’s side reach Qatar?

Hosts Poland, who finished second to England in qualifying, received a bye to the play-off final and will be looking to reach a consecutive World Cup in 2022. Favourites Poland are priced at 29/20 to defeat Sweden and key man Lewandowski will be looking to reach Qatar desperately. The Bayern Munich star is priced at 11/10 to find the back of the net anytime and 13/2 to score two or more on Tuesday evening – odds which have been enhanced from 11/2.

Check out all the latest football betting odds at William Hill