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Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to start when Portugal take on Turkey in the FIFA World Cup playoff semis on Thursday. The 37-year-old forward is keen to play in a fifth straight World Cup.
The Euro 2016 winners failed to top their qualification group ,which has now seen them drop down to the playoffs. The Selecao finished second in their group, three points behind Serbia, who have qualified for the World Cup in Qatar.
Portugal will have to win two games to book their place at the World Cup later this year. The first game is against Turkey at the Estadio do Dragao in Porto. The winner of this tie will play either North Macedonia or Italy to qualify for the showpiece tournament.
Cristiano Ronaldo is expected to lead the Portuguese attack against Turkey. The five-time Ballon d'Or could be partnered alongside Diogo Jota, Joao Felix or Bernado Silva in attack.
It's worth mentioning that Ronaldo has never scored a goal against Turkey. The Portuguese forward has faced them twice in his career but has failed to find the net. Ronaldo will look to change that to help his national side make it through to Qatar.
Ronaldo had a great group stage campaign The Manchester United forward netted six goals in the group phase, including a hat-trick against Luxembourg earlier this year. He also netted two late goals against the Republic of Ireland to secure a comeback 2-1 win.
His goals in the group stage of the qualifying campaign saw him overtake Iranian forward Ali Daei to become the leading goalscorer in men's international football. Ronaldo now has 115 goals in 184 caps for Portugal.
Ronaldo's club form has also been impressive this season. The 37-year-old forward has scored 18 goals in 32 appearances for United across competitions.
This could be Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo's last chance to win the FIFA World Cup
The 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar could be Portugal captain Cristiano Ronaldo's last chance of winning the tournament.
Despite being prolific for club and country, Ronaldo has never come close to lifting football's biggest prize. The closest he came to World Cup glory was in 2006 when Portugal finished fourth, losing to hosts Germany in the third-place playoff after losing to France in the semis.
Ronaldo has qualified for every single FIFA World Cup so far in his career. The Portuguese captain will look to keep that run going.
