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On Friday night, Slovakia will host Portugal in Group J of the Euro 2024 qualifying tournament in a top-of-the-table matchup.
While their hosts are only two points worse off and might surpass their more regarded rivals with a maximum this week, Roberto Martinez's team has taken 12 of the 12 points that were on the table during a spotless start to the game.
Their most recent qualifying campaign began with a goalless draw against Luxembourg at home, but Francesco Calzona's team has since won convincingly over Bosnia-Herzegovina, Iceland, and Liechtenstein while giving up just one goal in the process.
However, the manner of their triumphs over Iceland and Liechtenstein was far from resounding. They narrowly defeated the former 2-1 before needing defender Denis Vavro's header against Liechtenstein, a country rated 153 places lower than them, to secure victory.
Although his team sits three points ahead of Luxembourg in the second qualifying slot, head coach Calzona will undoubtedly prioritize results above performances since if they fall outside the top two, the world's 47th-ranked nation would not receive a Nations League respite.
Slovakia will be in good shape thanks to a seven-game unbeaten record, and the Falcons have kept clean sheets in each of their previous four European qualifying games, although they haven't put together a four-game winning streak across all competitions since 2015.
When Euro 2016 champion Fernando Santos was attracted to Poland, Portugal manager Roberto Martinez had huge shoes to fill, but the former Everton and Belgium head coach could scarcely have asked for a better start to life in the dugout.
Portugal has amassed 12 points and 14 goals from their four initial games against Bosnia-Herzegovina, Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, and Iceland. They have also kept the back door slammed shut at the opposite end and recorded four clean sheets.
On his 200th appearance for the national team, Cristiano Ronaldo made the net ripple for the 123rd time in international football to lead his team to a 1-0 victory. The Selecao's performance in Iceland three months prior was hardly a vintage one.
Their total of 14 goals scored makes them the second-most prolific nation in the groups, behind England (15), and their overall winning run in Euro qualification matches stands at a respectable six. Only France and Hungary can also boast immaculate defensive records in Euro 2024 qualifying.
Portugal has won four games in a row against Slovakia without losing, most recently defeating Slovakia 2-0 in a 2006 World Cup qualifier in which Ronaldo scored the Selecao's second goal of the match. Portugal has lost just one of their last 19 games at this level—away to Ukraine in 2019.
Slovakia, which advanced to the round of 16 in 2016 before being eliminated at the group stage of the postponed 2020 competition, has solidified their position in the top two of Group J, as was generally anticipated. Slovakia is aiming to make a third consecutive appearance at the European Championship finals.
