While Ireland will enter Thursday night’s World Cup qualifier against Portugal at the Aviva Stadium as massive underdogs, the visitors actually possess a rather poor record in Dublin.

You would have to go all the way back to 1996 to find Portugal’s last win on Irish soil, a friendly 1-0 victory. In fact, the European powerhouses have never won a competitive away game against Ireland.

Heimir Hallgrimsson’s side will be keen to keep that record going this week, although some in the Portuguese camp are already eyeing an end to the ‘curse’.

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Portugal Star Sends Warning To Ireland As His Side Look To End Dublin ‘Curse’

Joao Cancelo was an unused substitute on the last occasion that Portugal visited Dublin, a match that ended in a 0-0 draw in November of 2021.

The Al Hilal defender will be part of the squad once again on Thursday, with his side entering the fixture knowing that a victory will seal their place in next summer’s World Cup.

Speaking ahead of the fixture, Cancelo admitted that Portugal were keen to finally end their ‘curse’ in Ireland and secure their place in the finals in North America, informing their upcoming opponents that nothing less than a win will be expected.

I didn’t know about our record in Ireland, but let’s do it this Thursday and end this curse.

We are one of the best national teams in the world, and there’s no hiding it.

Individually, we have a lot of quality, and the objective will be to leave Ireland with three points and secure direct qualification for the World Cup.

I was expecting us to qualify in the last game against Hungary but football doesn’t work that way. We struggled late on against Hungary and were penalised for 25 minutes that were less than ideal. We want to turn things around against Ireland.

If I won the World Cup, I’d leave the national team; finishing on a high note is always better. If I don’t win, I’ll try again until I win again.

Portugal will be aiming to secure their place at next year’s World Cup with one game to spare, with Dominic Szoboszlai’s last minute equaliser for Hungary in Lisbon last month having delayed the confirmation somewhat.

As for Ireland, they know that at least a point will be required in order to remain alive in the campaign heading into Sunday’s game in Budapest.

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