World Cup Group H: Portugal not a solid pick

World Cup Group H odds, teams and fixtures

In our guide to World Cup Group H, we assess the prospects of Portugal, Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea as they bid to reach the last 16 at Qatar 2022.

We also highlight the betting odds for each team and list the fixtures including kick-off times and television coverage for all six matches.

Portugal

Portugal rarely live up to their billing as potential World Cup winners but will be determined to go deep into what will be Cristiano Ronaldo’s fifth appearance at the finals and surely his last major international tournament.

Even with Ronaldo in their squad they have failed to make it past the round of 16 at the last three editions and they were eliminated at that stage of the European Championship last summer.

They had to qualify through the play-offs after finishing behind Serbia so of all the group favourites in Qatar, Portugal look one of the most vulnerable.

No longer relying on Ronaldo as much may do them a favour and they have plenty of other star names but are missing Diogo Jota due to injury.

Uruguay

The FIFA rankings suggest Uruguay are the next best team from South America after favourites Brazil and Copa America champions Argentina.

That was backed up by their third-place finish in qualifying but they only managed one goal in four defeats against the continent’s big guns to highlight their limitations.

They lost six of their 18 qualifiers and sacked Oscar Tabarez as coach along the way. Diego Alonso took over and oversaw four straight wins to secure a ticket to Qatar and while several of the big names in his squad are past their best, they have some exciting youngsters in the likes of Darwin Nunez and Federico Valverde.

Ghana

Ghana will be on a revenge mission when they face Uruguay, having lost to them on penalties in the quarter-finals in 2010 in controversial circumstances, with Luis Suarez having handled on the line in the last minute of extra-time.

🇬🇭 "I let the whole continent, my country down"

That #FIFAWorldCup moment against Uruguay still haunts @ASAMOAH_GYAN3 to this day

— FIFA World Cup (@FIFAWorldCup) November 1, 2022

They must ensure they are still in the hunt for qualification by then though and need to improve on a dismal showing at last year’s African Cup of Nations when they finished bottom of a group containing Gabon and Comoros.

Plenty of their players have experience at a high level for European teams and their world ranking of 61 probably does not do them justice.

South Korea

Qualifying for the World Cup is never an issue for South Korea these days and this is their 10th successive appearance at the finals.

Their best showing so far was their run to the semi-finals as co-hosts in 2002 but they have only made it out of their group on one other occasion (2010).

Much of their hopes depend on Tottenham forward Son Heung-min so the fractured eye socket he suffered against Marseille in the Champions League recently is a serious cause for concern.

World Cup Group H fixtures

Nov 24: Uruguay v South Korea, 1pm, Education City Stadium, BBC

Nov 24: Portugal v Ghana, 4pm, Stadium 974, ITV

Nov 28: South Korea v Ghana, 1pm, Education City Stadium, BBC

Nov 28: Portugal v Uruguay, 7pm, Lusail Iconic Stadium, ITV

Dec 2: South Korea v Portugal, 3pm, Education City Stadium, BBC

Dec 2: Ghana v Uruguay, 3pm, Al Janoub Stadium, BBC

World Cup Group H winner odds

8/13 Portugal

9/5 Uruguay

10/1 Ghana

11/1 South Korea

Odds to qualify

1/7 Portugal

2/5 Uruguay

5/2 Ghana

5/2 South Korea

View the latest World Cup odds

All odds and markets are correct as of the date of publication