Over 60,000 fans will flock to the Estádio da Luz in Lisbon tomorrow as the Seleção aim to take another step towards qualification for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

For the second time in less than a year, Fernando Santos and his team are facing a crunch game against Hungary, who so nearly brought Portugal’s Euro 2016 tournament to a premature end in the memorable 3-3 draw in Lyon last June.

What can the Seleção expect from Bernd Storck’s team? To find out PortuGOAL talked to Hungarian football journalists Tomasz Mortimer and Rita Kamocsai.

Fernando Santos has named the Portugal squad for next week’s World Cup qualifier against Hungary in Lisbon and the friendly against Sweden in Madeira.

There were no surprises in the announcement, with the injured Sporting captain Adrien Silva and Valencia forward Nani the only names missing from the group of players that have contested the qualifiers so far.

The Seleção have been playing catch-up in Group B since losing the opening match of the qualifying campaign to Switzerland.

The Swiss have a 100% winning record in four matches, and with only the top team in the group qualifying automatically for Russia 2018, victory for Portugal against Hungary at the Estádio da Luz on 25 March is crucial. 

Why Cédric should be Portugal’s starting right-back

It should have been a goal. He had already shown exceptional awareness to pick-pocket Marcos Rojo, and good strength to shrug off the Argentine’s last-ditch challenge. But even when Cédric’s lovely outside-of-the-right-boot cross for Gabbiadini’s goal was incorrectly ruled out for offside in the 11th minute of the EFL Cup final, I knew I had witnessed something special about a player that is so often understated.

Just 5’7” tall, the 25 yr old German-born fullback has never been one to cover the front pages of football periodicals with gaudy statistics. But Cédric’s stout build and collective guile has thus far served him well since transitioning to the English Premier League two summers ago from Sporting.

With strength, composure under duress, and the kind of positional discipline that frustrates attackers looking to exploit an extra yard of space, Cédric embodies not just the pragmatic elements of the modern fullback, but also those most essential to the Seleção.

Ricardo Quaresma is enjoying his “second football life”. Once regarded as a greater talent than Cristiano Ronaldo, Quaresma never quite scaled the heights many expected of him.

Like Ronaldo, a product of Sporting’s famous Alcochete academy, he always struggled to emerge from the shadow of the four-time Ballon d’Or winner, international teammate and his great friend.

The decision to move to the Middle East when still in his twenties apparently confirmed his place in the pantheon of “Great Unfulfilled Football Talents”. But another chapter was to be written.

Over the last few seasons, Quaresma has been in fine form for club and country, and, happily for Seleção fans, his key contributions to the Portuguese national team in its finest hour has completely re-written his legacy.