In the European World Preliminary Round play-off final, North Macedonia faces Portugal away. Similar to the situation in the semi-finals away to Italy, the dark horse North Macedonia is still a despised side, and the gap is still so large.
In the semi-finals against Italy, which had just won the European Championship last year, North Macedonia had only a 6% chance of winning, and as a result, they beat Italy 1-0 in the face of 4-32 goals.
Now they will face Portugal, the winner of Euro 2016, in the final, and the probability of their winning is only 5.5%, which is another game that needs a miracle to win. What are the probabilities of consecutive elimination of Italy and Portugal, two European Champions League champions, to qualify for the World Cup? It is 0.33%, which is 33 parts per thousand.
At the pre-match press conference, North Macedonia coach Milevsky said: "Portugal is not only C Ronaldo, they also have many players playing in Europe's top giants, and the overall strength is beyond doubt." But I would say that we are not here for tourism, we are well prepared to enjoy the game and try to win the game. No one would have thought we would make it to the final, but we did, and it's no accident. We are only one step away from participating in the World Cup in Qatar and we don't want to stop. ”
Last year, North Macedonia, a small European country with a population of just 2 million, made a historic push into the Finals of the European Championship. If portugal are beaten this time, they will make history again, as they have not played in the World Cup before. It is understood that the prime minister of North Macedonia promised to reward 500,000 euros per player if he could reach the final round of the World Cup.
Of course, for the 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, the Qatar World Cup is likely to be the last international competition of his career. He has already won the European Championship, and if he wins the World Cup again, then his historical position in world football will surely surpass Messi. But the premise is that Portugal must pass the North Macedonia pass this time, and Messi's Argentina has already obtained the ticket to the Qatar World Cup.