Sweden and Portugal will face off in the World Cup playoffs on Friday.

The biggest story of the match features the battle between Cristiano Ronaldo and Zlatan Ibrahimovic. The stars are arguably the top two players in the world at the moment, but only one of them will go to Brazil next summer.

Ronaldo has been relatively quiet in the days leading up to the game, but Ibrahimovic has not shied away from speaking his mind.

"With the squad and the individuals they have, Portugal are naturally the favourites," Ibrahimovic said, according to BBC. "But we finished second in a group with Germany, who I consider the strongest squad in Europe, while they finished second in a group they should have won.

"So I think we deserve to go to Brazil more than they do."

Portugal was second in its group behind Russia; the team accrued 21 points in 10 matches including a 1-0 win over Russia at home. Surprisingly, Ronaldo only scored four goals in the group stage and only managed to score those goals over two games.

Ibrahimovic and Sweden finished second in Group C behind Germany with 20 points in 10 games. The team managed six wins, two draws and two losses; its most impressive result was a 4-4 draw against Germany in October 2012. Sweden trailed 4-0 late in the second half of that game, but mounted a historic comeback to earn a point.

Prediction: Portugal wins 1-0.

Start Time: Kick-off starts at 2:45 a.m. EST.

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