WORLD CUP GROUP K: The Ultra previews PORTUGAL v DR CONGO with a recommended BETDAQ bet.
🏆 World Cup 2026 🏆
🇵🇹 Portugal v DR Congo 🇨🇬
6pm Group K gets underway on Wednesday evening UK time on WORLD CUP 2026 Betdaq Betting Exchange! as Portugal take on DR Congo in Houston. As I said in my Group K preview, this group is the Cristiano Ronaldo show – at 41 years old, chasing the one trophy that has eluded him throughout an extraordinary career, and this is where his sixth World Cup begins. Surely he is close to retiring but you could have said that at the last World Cup! It’s a midday kick-off locally, so the Texas heat will be a real factor here. It’s fair to say that most football fans will be expecting a comfortable win for Portugal here, and it’s no surprise they come into the game as the red-hot favourites at 1.32 with DR Congo 13.0 and the draw is 6.0 at the time of writing.
The squad Portugal carry into this tournament is genuinely impressive, and you could argue it’s the deepest collection of talent they have ever assembled. Bruno Fernandes should be the heartbeat of the side after setting the all-time Premier League assists record this season with 21 for Manchester United. Then you have the PSG contingent – Vitinha, Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes and Goncalo Ramos – all arriving fresh off winning the Champions League and full of confidence. It’s easy to see why Roberto Martinez might feel this is finally Portugal’s time. They are reigning Nations League champions after beating Spain in last summer’s final too – their first major trophy since Euro 2016. Some football pundits have been saying Ronaldo doesn’t actually fit into this side – which is obviously a fascinating sub-plot heading into the World Cup!
Does Ronaldo actually take away from this side at 41? It’s not as mad a question as it sounds. The record speaks for itself – the all-time leader in international caps and goals, however father time catches up with everyone eventually. Ronaldo has been playing at a reasonably low level in Saudi Arabia too, and might just lack a bit of pace now at this level. The flip side is he’s still scoring for fun at international level – eight goals in his last ten for Portugal – and his presence alone occupies defenders. As I said in the group preview, the real question is whether Martinez has the bottle to hook him if it’s not going well. And then the obvious question after that is how Ronaldo actually handles that; he didn’t exactly take that well back at Manchester United. The reality here is those questions will not be answered given DR Congo are unlikely to trouble Portugal, so we’ll just have to wait and see.
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DR Congo’s qualification story is one of the best at the tournament, they secured their place in the most extraordinary fashion – drawing 0-0 with Jamaica in the inter-confederation playoff with time almost up, Burnley’s Axel Tuanzebe headed home in the 100th minute of extra time to send them to the World Cup. Fantastic scenes for a country that has endured decades of conflict and instability. Obviously getting here is fantastic for them, but they are really up against it in terms of quality. With Portugal 1.32 here and it’s hard to see past them winning, I’m happy to stay out of the match odds market. I feel that they can cover the handicap on the way to winning, and the 1.88 -1.5 goals looks a nice bit of value to start the evening!
The Ultra Says:
Two points win Portugal -1.5 goals to beat DR Congo at 1.88 with BETDAQ BETTING EXCHANGE.
You can view all markets here -> https://betdaq.biz/WCPoDr
