Spain to face Portugal in Group B opener at Russia 2018 World Cup

- Former world champions Spain will face Portugal in their 2018 World Cup Group B opener

- The last time they met was at the 2010 World Cup in which Spain won 1-0 in round of 16

- Real Madrid duo of Cristiano Ronaldo and Sergio Ramos will come one on one in this tie

European champions Portugal will face 2010 World champions Spain in the Group B opener at the 2018 FIFA World Cup tournament which began on Thursday, June 14.

The encounter between these two teams is expected to be tough considering their pedigrees and the players they will parade on the pitch.

Spain will go into this tie with new coach Fernando Hierro who replaced Julen Lopetegui who was sacked for his decision to have accepted Real Madrid job.

Real Madrid star Dani Carvajal has returned to training with Spain following a hamstring injury but remains a doubt for the World Cup opener.

Portugal on the other hand have reported no injury concerns ahead of this clash on Friday evening, July 15.

The last time Spain and Portugal met was at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa in which David Villa's only goal condemned Portugal to a defeat in the round of 16.

But this time around, Cristiano Ronaldo will come face to face with his captain at Real Madrid sergio Ramos for the first time since they both won the Champions League title in Kiev.

Meanwhile, 7pm Nigerian time is when this match will kick off and NAIJ.com will bring you the live updates.

Possible line ups for Portugal

Rui Patricio, Ricardo Pereira, Pepe, Bruno Alves, Raphael Guerreiro, Ricardo Quaresma, Joao Moutinho, William Carvalho, Bernardo Silva, Cristiano Ronaldo, Andre Silva.

Possible line ups for Spain

Isco, Diego Costa, David Silva, Saul Niguez, Sergio Busquets, Andres Iniesta, Jordi Alba, Gerard Pique, Sergio Ramos, Alvaro Odriozola, David De Gea.

Earlier, NAIJ.com had reported how Russiaopened their account with a 5-0 victory over Saudi Arabia in the first match of the Russia 2018 World Cup.

The host nation had the advantage in the opening exchanges of the match as Yuri Gazinkiy put the home side ahead with a well-placed header to make the scores 1-0.