World Cup: Interesting Stats Show Portugal Do Not Need Cristiano Ronaldo

• Interesting stats have revealed how Argentina and Portugal would have performed in the group stage without Messi and Ronaldo respectively
• Portugal’s last five goals in the group stage have all been scored by players other than Ronaldo
• In contrast, Messi has been crucial for Argentina with his playmaking and two goals so far

Statistics so far at the Qatar World Cup have given an interesting perspective on Argentina and Portugal’s chances of going further in the competition without the services of their respective talisman Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.

Both Portugal and Argentina are in the knockout stage of the competition, with the Selecao set to face Switzerland on Tuesday, December 6.

Argentina will come up against Australia on Saturday, with La Albiceleste expected to cruise into the quarter-final.

It was not a straightforward route to the last 16 for Argentina by any stretch, as they initially suffered a shock defeat to Saudi Arabia in their first game.

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For Portugal, a 3-2 win over Ghana in their Group H opener put them well on course to qualify for the knockouts.

How important is Messi, Ronaldo for their nations?

A careful analysis of the group stages will reveal that Lionel Messi has been far more crucial for Argentina than Ronaldo for Portugal.

It is easy to argue that Portugal have a more potent squad than Argentina, who seem to always be out of sorts without their talisman firing either in terms of goals or assists or simply playmaking.

In fact, Portugal’s last five goals have had nothing to do with Cristiano Ronaldo, whose one and only strike in the World Cup was the penalty against Ghana on Thursday, November 24.

For Argentina, Lionel Messi scored the opening goal against Saudi Arabia and despite the defeat, he had 65 touches on the ball and created three big chances.

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Messi also scored the opener against Mexico as a desperate Argentina were searching for the goal to kickstart their quest to qualify for the knockouts.

Against Poland, the PSG star did not score, but had a man-of-the-match performance after 98 touches on the ball and 85% pass accuracy. He also had four shots on target.

Cristiano in minor confrontation with player

Sports Brief also reported on the minor confrontation Cristiano Ronaldo had with a Souh Korean player on Friday, December 2.

Portugal played the Taeguk Warriors in the last Group H fixture, with the latter looking for maximum points and positive results elsewhere to ensure progression.

After 65 minutes, Portugal Head Coach Fernando Santos decided to hook off Ronaldo was visibly upset with the decision. He appeared to mull a few words to the technical area before putting his hands on his mouth and telling him to shut up.