Former Portugal assistant coach Lionel Pontes has tipped his former side and Uruguay to qualify out of the group in the 2022 World Cup.
The 2016 European champions have been paired alongside Uruguay, Ghana and Korea Republic in Group E of the tournament.
Pontes who was assistant coach of the Portuguese team at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil says the team has the quality and good players to qualify for the next stage.
He also assessed the other opponents in Group E going to play against Portugal in the group stages.
"Portugal is better than its competitors in the group, through the quality of the players, and I expect it to qualify with Uruguay for the next round. We are one of the best teams in the world, but we just need defensive toughness and a good dose of tactical and strategic elements".
"We beat Ghana, in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, we know it's a team with good players, it uses a lot of strength, associated with a lot of technical quality, but it's not very strict tactically. As for Uruguay, they are strong, they are used to participating in the World Cup, and they have mature and experienced players, who play in great European teams.
"With regard to the South Korean national team, it is currently led by the Portuguese coach, Paulo Bento, who was the coach of the Portuguese national team between 2010 and 2014, and I was his assistant at that time. The Korean national team is a very humble and ambitious team, and they have a player who can make the difference, Son Heung-min, the star of Tottenham".
Portugal will open their campaign against Ghana on November 24th.
The tournament will be played between November-December later this year with the kick off set off for November 21.