Armenia v Portugal background

Portugal are currently unbeaten by Armenia as the sides line up for their sixth encounter in UEFA EURO 2016 qualifying Group I.

Previous meetings
• Portugal and Armenia have met five times before, with Portugal boasting the record W3 D2 L0 (W3 D0 L0 at home, W0 D2 L0 away).

• Cristiano Ronaldo (72) scored the only goal of the game when the teams met in their first Group I meeting in Faro-Loule on 14 November.

• The sides first came together in 1998 FIFA World Cup qualifying. Long-serving Armenia goalkeeper Roman Berezovski made his international debut as the teams drew 0-0 in Yerevan on 31 August 1996, but Artur Jorge's Portugal won the return fixture 3-1, Domingos Paciência (23), Luís Figo (31) and Pedro Barbosa (53) all on target for the home side in Setubal, where Éric Assadourian (46) scored Armenia's goal.

• More recently, the teams were paired in UEFA EURO 2008 qualifying. Cristiano Ronaldo (37) cancelled out Robert Arzumanyan's 11th-minute opener as Ian Porterfield's Armenia held Luiz Felipe Scolari's Portugal 1-1 in Yerevan on 22 August 2007. Hugo Almeida then struck the winner (42) as Portugal – under Flávio Teixeira, who was covering for the suspended Scolari – beat Vardan Minasyan's Armenia 1-0 in the return fixture in Leiria on 17 November 2007.

Form guide
• Armenia are without a victory in five competitive internationals. Defeat in Albania on 29 March left them bottom of Group I and proved the last match in charge for former coach Bernard Challandes.

• Armenia's last competitive success came on 11 October 2013 in the final home game of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification. Aras Özbiliz (45+1) and Yura Movsisyan (87) secured a 2-1 triumph against Bulgaria.

• Since suffering a 1-0 home loss to Albania in their opening Group I game, Portugal have won their three most recent qualifiers by a one-goal margin to top the section.

• Portugal have won their last four competitive qualifiers away from home. The last time they failed to prevail on their travels came in 2014 World Cup qualifying, when they drew 3-3 with Israel in Ramat Gan on 22 March 2013. Fábio Coentrão's 93rd-minute equaliser earned a point for Paulo Bento's Portugal.

Trivia and links
• Only two UEFA club competition matches have been played between Armenian and Portuguese sides, CD Santa Clara beating FC Shirak 2-0 at home and then drawing 3-3 in Armenia in the 2002 UEFA Intertoto Cup first round.

• In the 21 UEFA matches between Portuguese and Armenian sides – including club games, youth games, women's matches and futsal – 17 have ended in Portuguese victories, with three draws. Armenia's only success against Portuguese opponents came on 16 October 1996, Ara Hakobyan (63) scoring the only goal in a 1-0 win for Armenia in a UEFA European Under-16 Championship qualifying round match in Budapest, Hungary.