Portugal vs Ghana Live Stream Free, Start Time: Watch Online World Cup 2014 Football (ESPN 2 TV Schedule)
Portugal and Ghana fight it out on Thursday as World Cup 2014 Group G reaches a climax. Both of these teams know their fate is not in their own hands, and they are relying on a result from the group's other game between USA and Germany to go favorably to give them a chance. Today's game between Portugal and Ghana will start at 12 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the ESPN 2 network or online through free live stream (details below).
This is a must win for both teams today if they are to stand a chance of progressing at this year's World Cup. Even a win might not be enough, and a draw between the United States and Germany would put both Portugal and Ghana out of the tournament.
A draw between the United States and Germany today would send both of those teams through. So it is expected that both teams might make sure they have players behind the ball from the start and not push forward too much.
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However, it would be unrealistic to think that both of these teams will just sit back and see out a bore draw, and neither are likely to want to risk it.
Both Germany and the United States have in fact come out ahead of the game to deny they would both push for the mutually beneficial draw today. But some have highlighted the 1982 World Cup, when Germany and Austria played out a placid beneficial result to ensure they both qualified for the next round. However, speculation suggesting such a thing could happen here has been denied.
Ghana are arguably the main threat to both USA and Germany should either lose today. A Ghana win over Portugal would see them move to four points, level with the loser of today's game between USA and Germany.
Coming into this final game Ghana have a -1 goal difference, where as USA have +1 and Germany have +4. Therefore if Germany lose by a single goal today they would still in all likelihood qualify as group runners up, unless Ghana go on a scoring spree against Portugal and win by at least five goals.
That would be unlikely. Both Ghana and Portugal would much prefer if Germany won today. Even a single goal win for Ghana and a single goal loss for USA would put them on the same 0 goal difference. In that case the team who qualifies would go down to total goals scored, with whoever has scored the most in the three games to date going through. If that is the same at the end of today's games then USA would go through as they defeated Ghana when the two teams played in their opening game.
It might be worth noting that coming into this game USA have scored four, where as Ghana have scored three.
Technically Portugal could go through, if there is a winner in the USA-Germany game, and if Portugal can go on a scoring spree over Ghana. Portugal come into this game with a goal difference of -4, having suffered a 0-4 defeat in their opening game against Germany.
The Portugal against Ghana game will kick off at 12 p.m. ET and can be watched on TV on the ESPN 2 network, or online through free live stream by clicking here.
