Portugal vs. Algeria: Time, Live Stream and TV Schedule

Portugal face Algeria in their final warm-up friendly on Thursday before heading to Russia for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, and the European champions are in dire need of a win after failing to taste victory in their last three outings.

Manager Fernando Santos' side have drawn their last two games against Tunisia and Belgium, which was preceded by a 3-0 defeat to the Netherlands in Geneva, Switzerland.

Cristiano Ronaldo has rejoined the national team after helping Real Madrid clinch their third successive UEFA Champions League crown in May, and he's likely to have a positive effect on his comrades.

Algeria, meanwhile, travel to the Estadio da Luz in Lisbon having won only two of their last 10 games and losing their last three, with no pressure of an appearance at the World Cup finals to motivate them.

Read on for a preview of Thursday's friendly as Portugal look to inject some pace into their last World Cup practice.

Date: Thursday, June 7

Time: 8:15 p.m. BST/3:15 p.m. ET

Venue: Estadio da Luz, Lisbon, Portugal

Live Stream: fuboTV (U.S.)

TV Info: RTP Internacional (U.S., Portugal)

Preview

The importance of proper preparations before a major tournament can't be understated, and poor results going into a competition can impact morale, placing some need on Portugal to impress against Algeria come Thursday.

That seems a lot more likely now that five-time Champions League winner Ronaldo is back among Santos' squad, and Joao Moutinho suggested as much when he reacted to his compatriot's return, via Goal:

Algeria have conceded seven goals in their last three matches (all defeats) and are yet to keep a clean sheet in their four fixtures thus far in 2018, leading to manager Rabah Madjer coming under increased fire of late.

The 1986-87 Champions League winner with Porto is in his fourth spell as manager of Algeria's national team, but the nation's football association, the FAF, recently released a statement defending their coach, per Goal's Michael Madyira:

“Unauthorised voices have risen to demand changes in the technical management of the national team in the aftermath of the defeat in a friendly match against Cape Verde.

"The President of the Algerian Football Federation and his Federal Bureau, while respecting the opinions of the others, reminds the public that all the decisions involving the future of national football and the national team are the sole sovereignty of the Faf Federal Office as stipulated in article 36 of the Algerian Football Federation's statutes."

Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez and Porto attacker Yacine Brahimi are two of the team's standout stars, while Ed Malyon of The Independent took note of the talents Portugal were able to omit from their World Cup squad:

Santos has at his disposal a talented crew that's struggled to find their groove of late, and even Ronaldo was unable to have an impact when they lost 3-0 to the Dutch at the end of March.

But for all the talk that Portugal rely so heavily on the Real Madrid maestro, Santos has said there is no over-reliance on Ronaldo for his team, via Omnisport:

The recent draws against Tunisia and, to a lesser extent, Belgium, don't quite back up that insistence, with the likes of Andre Silva and Gelson Martins largely failing to inspire in his absence.

Portugal open their World Cup Group B campaign against Spain on Friday, June 15, and Thursday's meeting with Algeria will send a message, one way or another, of what it is they're bringing to Russia.