Two of FIFA’s greatest powerhouse nations, reigning European champions Portugal and their Iberian rival Spain — winner of the 2010 World Cup — will clash in a Group B match on Friday from Russia. What could be the marquee matchup of the opening two days at the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Spain will be breaking in a new manager just hired three days earlier, as Reuters reported.
In a stunning move, Spain gave the sack to Manager Julen Lopetegui after he accepted the job opening at Spanish club giant Real Madrid, FIFA.com noted, after that club won its second straight UEFA Champions League title in May.
The Spanish national side brought in Fernando Hierro to lead their bid for a second World Cup title, even though Hierro has never managed a team at a higher level than Spain’s second tier. But star-studded La Roja, featuring a cast of familiar characters, including David De Gea, Sergio Ramos, Gerard Pique, Andres Iniesta, and Diego Costa, according to FIFA.com , may still possess the edge over Portugal both on the field, and psychologically.
To find out how to watch a live stream of the Portugal vs. Spain 2018 FIFA World Cup Group B showdown, see the streaming instructions at the bottom of this article. Kickoff for the biggest matchup of the first two days in World Cup play is scheduled for 9 p.m. Moscow Standard Time at Fisht Olympic Stadium in Sochi, Russia, on Friday, June 15. In the United Kingdom, that start time will be 7 p.m. British Summer Time, while fans in the United States can log in to the live stream at 2 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time, or 11 a.m. Pacific.
But Portugal has perhaps the world’s greatest player in Cristiano Ronaldo, who led his country to its first UEFA European Championship just two years ago, and credited the team’s “many years of sacrifice” for the victory, as the Independent reported. Ronaldo now hopes to complete the double with Portugal’s first-ever World Cup trophy.
The last, and only, time that Spain and Portugal faced off in a World Cup match came in 2010, when Spain eliminated their rivals from the Round of 16 with a 1-0 win and went on to win the World Cup that year, as Sky Sports recounted. But the two nations have met 35 times previously, with Spain winning 17 to just six wins for Portugal, according to the site 11v11 . The two countries have drawn 12 of their matches.
Watch a preview of the Portugal vs. Spain match courtesy of ESPN FC in the video below.
https://youtu.be/aYr35BS7YuM
To watch a live stream of the Portugal vs. Spain World Cup Group B match, use the stream provided by Fox Sports Go . Bear in mind that accessing the Fox Sports Go live stream requires login credentials from a cable or satellite TV provider subscription.
To watch the Portugal vs. Spain FIFA World Cup opening showdown stream live for free without a cable subscription, fans should sign up for a free trial of an “over the top” streaming TV package such as Sling TV , YouTube TV , or DirecTV Now . All three of the “internet TV” services require credit card information and subscription fees — but they all offer seven-day free trial periods, and if the subscription is canceled prior to the expiration of that free week, fans can watch the Portugal vs. Spain match — and all World Cup matches during that weeklong period — streamed live at no charge.
In the U.K., a live stream of the Portugal vs. Spain 2018 FIFA World Cup opening match will be carried by ITV and may be accessed inside the U.K. only with the BBC iPlayer .
