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Comprehensive match preview of Portugal vs DR Congo at World Cup 2026. We talk tactics, team news and more.

It's so close you can almost touch it. After years of build-up, the 2026 World Cup will kick-off in just over 24 hours' time when co-hosts Mexico face off against South Africa in a repeat of the opening game from 2010. Over the next five-and-a-half weeks, records will be broken and legacies rewritten as a number of modern greats do battle to win the most recognisable trophy in all of sport.

Cristiano Ronaldo is preparing to lead Portugal into a record-breaking sixth World Cup, but questions are already being asked about whether his time on home soil is coming to an end. National team boss Roberto Martinez has addressed whether a pre-tournament friendly against Nigeria serves as a final farewell for the legendary forward.

Portuguese legend Maniche believes Cristiano Ronaldo remains indispensable to the national team and should start at the 2026 World Cup. Despite the forward's advancing age, his former team-mate insists there is currently no superior alternative to the five-time Ballon d'Or winner.