Bosnia-Herzegovina vs Portugal football prediction: Ronaldo rests

Portugal secured their place in the EURO 2024 finals after beating Slovakia in the previous round. Roberto Martinez's team has three more qualifying matches to play, and this is an opportunity for the Spanish coach to test his calculations.

The question that fans are interested in now is whether Cristiano Ronaldo will play in matches that do not have a significant meaning for results. Clearly, the 38-year-old superstar is still the face that fans most want to see in matches involving his team.

Ronaldo currently holds the record for the number of appearances and the record for the number of goals not only for the Portuguese national team. For the Al Nassr striker, each match is an opportunity for him to set new milestones to consolidate his position in the flow of world football history.

Portugal could rest Ronaldo. (Photo: Getty Images)

However, at 38, Ronaldo also needs to rest sometimes. His exhausted runs at the end of the match against Slovakia showed the striker's physical limits. Coach Martinez has a reason to leave Ronaldo out, or only use him during certain stages of the match.

Aside from Ronaldo's fitness, the Spaniard also needs to experiment with other options. With qualification secured, this is the right time for Martinez to do so. Goncalo Ramos is ready to take on the main striker role - after many matches playing alongside Ronaldo, while Joao Felix and Diogo Jota are also waiting for their chance.

While Portugal are comfortable, their opponents are in a difficult position. Bosnia-Herzegovina are only fourth in Group J ahead of Matchday 8. They must win to keep alive their hopes of overcoming Slovakia and Luxembourg. However, that is a very difficult task.

Bosnia-Herzegovina have only won 3 of their 7 matches in 2023, including 2 against Liechtenstein - one of the weakest teams in the world. In their last 2 matches against Portugal, they lost 2-9 on aggregate. Portugal under coach Martinez are very strong in attack and it would not be surprising if the visitors won by a large margin.