PORTUGAL have not beaten Spain since 1981 but the hosts know that unless they defeat their great rivals in Lisbon tomorrow night they will be eliminated. If Luis Felipe Scolari’s team do pull off a victory, they will probably knock out their neighbours. Anything less and Spain and Greece will go through from group A.
Greece are favourites to finish first and need only a draw with Russia to reach the quarter-finals. The only way Greece could fail to finish in the top two is if they lose to eliminated Russia by a greater margin than Spain lose to Portugal. Results between sides take precedence over goal difference in separating teams that are level on points. So, should Portugal draw and Greece lose to Russia, both will have four points but Portugal will go out because they lost to Greece.
The winner of this group plays the runner-up of group B — England’s group — in Lisbon on Thursday. The second-placed team meets group B’s winner on Friday, also in the capital.