Overview
- Sporting beat Celtic 4-1 at the Estádio Algarve, with Camilo Duran levelling shortly after coming on before Sporting struck three late goals to finish the win.
- Duran had missed a training session with a reported sickness bug but came off the bench to win the ball from Eduardo Quaresma and score his first goal for the club.
- Celtic fielded a depleted side because several senior players remained on World Cup breaks, which limited O'Neill's ability to test his preferred starting XI.
- The friendly was not picked up by UK broadcasters and was shown only on Celtic's rebranded streaming service, CelticPlayer, illustrating the club's control of pre-season coverage.
- Supporter and media frustration over recruitment grew after the heavy defeat, and Celtic return to Glasgow to face Middlesbrough on July 18 and AC Milan on July 25 while needing reinforcements ahead of Champions League qualifiers.