The first team will punch its ticket into the semifinals of Euro 2016 on Thursday night in Marseille. Both Poland and Portugal needed 30 extra minutes to get into the quarterfinals, and they'll hope their extra time victories propel them on a great run in the wide open top half of the bracket.
Don't miss out on all of the great Euro 2016 odds at BookMaker.eu for this and all of the great quarterfinal matches of the tournament.
ODDS ANALYSIS
The Portuguese still haven't won a match in regulation in this tournament, but they're still going to be the betting favorites in this match against a Poland team which has only allowed one goal over the course of four fixtures.
Still, the margin won't end up being all that big for sure. Portugal won't be an odds-on favorite, and the draw is going to be lined at under 2 to 1 for sure.
The total in match is likely to be ridiculously low. We've already seen lines bordering on 1.5 in the Round of 16 in the Euros, and this might be another one of those affairs.
TOURNAMENT UPDATE
Poland wasn't the better team against Switzerland, but with matches which are decided by a single moment of brilliance one way or the other at this stage, it was the goal by Jakub Blaszczykowski in the 39th minute which ended up making a big difference. Sure, the Poles didn't end up holding onto that victory in the 90 minutes, but they held on as tight as they could in extra time to force penalties, and they stepped up and went 5-for-5 to win the match.
Portugal was drab offensively for 115 minutes as well against Croatia, but all of a sudden at the end of extra time, the team was able to mount a big counterattack which ended in a goal by Ricardo Quaresma off of a Cristiano Ronaldo shot on target, the first of its kind for either side in the match.
A Seleccao will be thrilled to be in the quarterfinals of Euro 2016, but it's got to be tough for them knowing that they haven't won a game in four tries when they've played against four teams which, quite frankly, they should be beating more often than not.
LIVE BETTING
There's understandably going to be a lot of attention paid to CR7, but Poland really seems to have the answer for him at this point. Portugal really hasn't had a lot of massive threats offensively in this tournament, and the Polish defense has been one of the best and most organized as well.
The question becomes whether Robert Lewandowski can finally make his first meaningful plays in Euro 2016. The Polish striker hasn't been good at all in this tournament, but perhaps getting a penalty to go into the back of the net will give him something to build off of. If so, Portugal is in a lot of trouble. Lewandowski is still one of the most dangerous strikers on the planet, and the one thing Portugal hasn't done well is shut down big strikers.
QUICK PICK
Poland has been referred to as the "Team of Opportunity" in this tournament, so why can't it successfully get past one of the most underachieving teams in the field? Portugal has been a disaster for our money, and though many will think that the goal in the 117th minute against Croatia will be a building block, we just don't see it.
Portugal will probably be on the ball more often than not in this game, but with the way Poland has been able to stay organized, we think it has the advantage.
This is the game where Lewandowski wakes up, and the dream could really be on for the Poles all of a sudden. With the way this bracket shapes up, they could have a real shot at winning this tournament.
Euro 2016 Odds: Poland 1, Portugal 0
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