{"id":888735,"date":"2026-01-30T00:18:22","date_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:18:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/ronaldo-vs-osimhen-portugal-line-up-super-eagles-test-as-june-friendly-talks-reach-advanced-stage\/"},"modified":"2026-01-30T00:18:22","modified_gmt":"2026-01-30T06:18:22","slug":"ronaldo-vs-osimhen-portugal-line-up-super-eagles-test-as-june-friendly-talks-reach-advanced-stage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/30\/ronaldo-vs-osimhen-portugal-line-up-super-eagles-test-as-june-friendly-talks-reach-advanced-stage\/","title":{"rendered":"Ronaldo vs Osimhen: Portugal line up Super Eagles test as June friendly talks reach advanced stage"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer <\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<p><img width=\"750\" height=\"500\" alt=\"Soccer Ronaldo vs Osimhen: Portugal line up Super Eagles test as June friendly talks reach advanced stage\" decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2026\/01\/Portugal-Super-Eagles-friendly.jpg\" srcset data-sizes=\"auto\" data-expand=\"700\"><\/p>\n<p>Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Victor Osimhen of Nigeria. Photo by: IconSport<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Portugal are in advanced discussions to play a friendly match against the <a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/tag\/super-eagles\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Super Eagles<\/a> of Nigeria in June, as part of their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The proposed fixture is expected to take place on June 6, likely in Lisbon, with both football federations and their intermediaries having reached an agreement in principle, although some final details are still to be concluded.<\/p>\n<p>If all goes to plan, football fans could witness a blockbuster showdown between Victor Osimhen and Cristiano Ronaldo on the same pitch.<\/p>\n<p>Nigeria will not take part in the 2026 World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico, but their impressive showing at the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations in Morocco, where they finished third, has made them an attractive opponent for several World Cup-bound teams.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_194026\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-194026\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2026\/01\/imago1071256785-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Super Eagles\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1703\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-194026\">Super Eagles. Photo by Segun Ogunfeyitimi Copyright: xshengolpixsxIMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2>Soccer Portugal vs Nigeria: Agreement in principle reached<\/h2>\n<p>Portugal, who have already secured qualification for the 2026 World Cup, are looking to fine-tune their squad against high-quality opposition. Per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.afrik-foot.com\/vers-un-choc-portugal-nigeria-avant-la-coupe-du-monde-2026\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Afrik Foot<\/a>, the Selecao have proposed the Super Eagles as one of their June test matches, with talks progressing positively between both sides.<\/p>\n<p>The European giants currently know two of their three group-stage opponents for the World Cup \u2014 Colombia and Uzbekistan. Their final group rival could be the Democratic Republic of Congo, depending on the outcome of the intercontinental playoff involving the winner of New Caledonia vs Jamaica, scheduled for March 31 in Guadalajara, Mexico.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_195644\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-195644\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2026\/01\/imago1067819250.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal during the World Cup Qualifiers match between Portugal and Hungary\" width=\"4000\" height=\"2666\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-195644\">Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal during the World Cup Qualifiers match between Portugal and Hungary. Copyright: xMiguelxMarruffox\/xPRESSINxIMAGO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Despite missing out on World Cup qualification, Nigeria remain one of Africa\u2019s most respected football nations and were among the standout teams at AFCON 2025. Their bronze-medal finish in Morocco underlined their growing competitiveness on the continental stage.<\/p>\n<h2>Soccer Recent history favours Portugal<\/h2>\n<p>The only previous meeting between Portugal and Nigeria took place on November 17, 2022, shortly before the World Cup in Qatar. On that occasion, the Selecao ran out 4\u20130 winners at the Est\u00e1dio Jos\u00e9 Alvalade in Lisbon.<\/p>\n<p>Bruno Fernandes scored twice in that match, with Gon\u00e7alo Ramos and Jo\u00e3o M\u00e1rio also finding the net to seal a comfortable victory for the Portuguese.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_193558\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-193558\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/media.soccernet.ng\/main\/2026\/01\/imago1071098298-1-scaled.jpg\" alt=\"Soccer Super Eagles during the AFCON match between Algeria and Nigeria\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1710\"  ><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-193558\">Super Eagles during the AFCON match between Algeria and Nigeria Copyright: IMAGOxshengolpixsx<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>If finalised, the June friendly will offer Nigeria another opportunity to test themselves against elite European opposition, while Portugal will view the Super Eagles as ideal preparation ahead of their World Cup campaign.<\/p>\n<p>The match would also mark a rare meeting between the two nations and could provide a platform for several Nigeria-based and Europe-based stars to stake their claim ahead of upcoming international competitions.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div>\n<p><img alt=\"<!-- Author Start -->axel.clody@gmail.com<!-- Author End -->&#8221; src=&#8221;https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/5966716a85eef3d4bc2365395b3534d03c4a9638fe4703c73fea0230cd08ae36?s=80&#038;d=mm&#038;r=g&#8221;  height=&#8221;80&#8243; width=&#8221;80&#8243; loading=&#8221;lazy&#8221; decoding=&#8221;async&#8221;>\t\t<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/soccernet.ng\/2026\/01\/ronaldo-osimhen-portugal-super-eagles.html\" class=\"button purchase\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Read More<\/a>Axel Clody<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Soccer Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal and Victor Osimhen of Nigeria. Photo by: IconSport Portugal are in advanced discussions to play a friendly match against the Super Eagles of Nigeria in June, as part of their preparations for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, Soccernet.ng reports. The proposed fixture is expected to take place on June 6, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":888736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96184,23537,2005],"tags":[96183,14008],"class_list":{"0":"post-888735","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-osimhen","8":"category-ronaldo","9":"category-soccer","10":"tag-osimhen","11":"tag-ronaldo"},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888735","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=888735"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/888735\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/888736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=888735"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=888735"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=888735"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}