Key events
18 mins: Should this be a Germany penalty? Pavlovic plays a lovely one-two with Woltemade and goes down in the area. Play is waved on, and Woltemade’s shot is turned behind by Costa. Replays show Pavlovic went over a little easily; that’s not going to be overturned on review.
16 mins: Kimmich flicks the ball away from Silva and heaves in a deep cross which Portugal clear, before the visitors are awarded a free kick for a Wirtz foul on João Neves.
14 mins: Germany’s latest attack ends as Sané fouls Bruno Fernandes – and Portugal break again, João Neves stepping up from right-back and finding Ronaldo on the left. After a trademark stepover, his shot is deflected behind, but officials point for a goal kick, somewhat inexplicably.
13 mins: Germany’s 3-4-3 setup doesn’t really seem to be working early on – they look a little short at the back and in central midfield, and haven’t really been able to get their front three into the game.
12 mins: Neto again causes trouble in behind the back three, but Kimmich is covering and gets an arm in the back from the Portuguese winger.
10 mins: Pavlovic is picked off by Pedro Neto, who races from the edge of his own area into a shooting position, then fires a shot just over the bar.
“Will Cristiano Ronaldo leave Al-Nassr at the end of the month and sign with Inter Miami?” asks Kurt Perleberg. As wild as that may sound, none other than Gianni Infantino himself has suggested Ronaldo wants to play in next month’s Club World Cup, which Al-Nassr failed to qualify for. Whether he ends up playing alongside Lionel Messi in the 305, we’ll have to wait and see.
6 mins: Neto gets more joy up against Germany’s back three, galloping into space and crossing for Ronaldo, whose first touch sets up a shot at goal … which is just too close to Ter Stegen. A decent opening for each side in the opening minutes.
4 mins: First opening for Germany as Kimmich, playing as a right wing-back, gets upfield to cut back a long ball to Goretzka, whose shot on the turn is straight at Diogo Costa.
3 mins: Andy Hinchcliffe is on co-comms, which is adding a Middlesbrough-v-Norwich-on-a-November-weeknight vibe to proceedings. No offence, Andy.
2 mins: Pedro Neto gets down the left and hooks in a cross that’s cleared behind for a corner. Ronaldo takes it, and Ruben Dias tries a header from 20 yards out that flies wide of the far post.
Kick off!
We’re under way 10 minutes late. Both teams are wearing different colour shirts and shorts – Germany white and black, Portugal red and green – giving the whole thing an old-school flavour.
Correction: that heavy hail storm will cause a slight delay to kick-off; we’ll start at 8.10pm. The weather has eased and the venue looks packed to the rafters, with the Portugal ‘away end’ a sea of red and green flags.
The Allianz Arena has been hit by a hailstorm just before kick off, although the weather isn’t causing any delays to the game. Ronaldo will earn his 219th cap tonight, and is seeking to extend his men’s world record of 136 international goals. The captain has already had to deal with an occupational hazard, as a young fan tried to run on to the pitch and greet him, only to be tackled decisively by stewards.
Team news
Germany (3-4-3): Ter Stegen; Anton, Tah, Koch; Kimmich (c), Pavlovic, Goretzka, Mittelstädt; Sané, Wirtz, Woltemade.
Subs from: Baumann, Nübel, Gross, Nmecha, Füllkrug, Undav, Adeyemi, Kehrer, Gnabry, Gosens, Raum, Andrich, Bischof.
Portugal (4-2-3-1): Diogo Costa; João Neves, Dias, Inácio, Nuno Mendes, Rúben Neves, Bernardo Silva; Trincão, Bruno Fernandes, Pedro Neto; Ronaldo (c).
Subs from: Sá, Rui Silva, Semedo, António Silva, Dalot, Palhinha, Gonçalo Ramos, João Félix, Renato Veiga, Leão, Gonçalves, Jota, Vitinha, Mora, Conceição.
Preamble
If you can’t wait for the Club World Cup and Euro 2025 to fill your days, there’s another major tournament finale squeezed into football’s almost non-existent summer break. The men’s Nations League finals kick off in Germany, with the hosts seeking a trophy to somewhat atone for falling short at last year’s home Euros. They face Portugal in the semi-final in Munich, with France and Spain contesting the other semi in Stuttgart.
It’s been an exciting run to the final four for both these teams; in the new two-legged quarter-finals, Germany squeezed past Italy 5-4 on aggregate, while Portugal were minutes from defeat to Denmark before winning 5-3 on aggregate in extra time. This is Germany’s first run to the final four; Portugal won the first finals back in 2019. Still, Julian Nagelsmann’s side start as favourites at the Allianz Arena tonight.
Liverpool fans may be hoping to get a glimpse of Florian Wirtz in action tonight, with the hosts likely to field a strong line-up despite injuries to Jamal Musiala, Kai Havertz and others. The Portugal coach, Roberto Martínez, must decide whether to call on PSG heroes Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and João Neves, who lit up this very stadium four night ago. And will he start Cristiano Ronaldo, 40, up front? Readers, he probably will.
Kick-off is at 8pm BST; team news and buildup to come.
