Mini football figure - Portugal

Portugal

The Portuguese men's national football team is a selection of Portuguese football players that represents the Portuguese Football Federation at international level in friendly matches and international tournaments.

Their biggest success is winning the 2016 European Championship, while other top finishes include winning the 2018/19 Nations League, a third-place finish at the 1966 World Cup, a fourth-place finish at the 2006 World Cup and a second-place finish at the 2004 European Championship on home soil.

1965-1982: First World Cup participation, top scorer Eusébio and subsequent stagnation

In the qualifiers for the 1966 World Cup, Portugal played in Group 4 against the runners-up of the 1962 World Cup, Czechoslovakia, Romania and Turkey. Although Benfica Lisbon had won the European Champion Clubs' Cup in 1961 and 1962 and had reached the final again in 1965, the Portuguese, coached by the Brazilian Otto Glória, were only considered outsiders. After four wins in a row, a 0-0 draw against Czechoslovakia on the penultimate day of group play was enough to qualify for the World Cup for the first time. At the finals Portugal faced Hungary, Brazil and Bulgaria in Group C. Led by captain Mário Coluna, Portugal won all three matches and qualified for the quarter-finals in commanding fashion as group winners. With a 3:1 victory in the last group match against the reigning world champions Brazil, they also made sure of their sensational exit from the preliminary round. In the quarter-finals, North Korea was another surprise team. After a disastrous start to the game, Portugal were already 3-0 down after 25 minutes. However, the Portuguese attacking block then managed to resume the bold attacking football of the group stage and Eusébio almost single-handedly turned the game around with four goals before José Augusto made it 5-3. In the semi-final against hosts England, Portugal were on level terms for much of the game, but England made better use of their moves and also successfully manhandled Eusébio in the person of Nobby Stiles. The Black Panther only managed to score the final 1:2 with a penalty in the 82nd minute, which meant that Portugal missed out on the final. The Seleção won the match for third place 2-1 against the Soviet Union. This was Portugal's best World Cup finish to date in their tournament debut. Eusébio scored his ninth goal of the tournament in this match and became the World Cup top scorer.

After their successful performance at the World Cup, it was 18 years before the Portuguese qualified for another finals. In the qualifiers for the 1968 European Championship, they met Bulgaria, Norway and Sweden and, as runners-up in their group, narrowly missed out on a ticket to the European Championship. In the qualifiers for the 1970 World Cup, Portugal was drawn against Romania, Greece and Switzerland and finished bottom of the group with only one win. They narrowly missed out on qualification for the 1972 European Championship, finishing second in their group behind Belgium and ahead of Scotland and Denmark. In the qualification for the 1974 World Cup, Portugal also failed to qualify for the finals, finishing second in their group behind Bulgaria and ahead of Northern Ireland and Cyprus. In the qualifiers for the 1976 European Championship, Portugal finished third in a group of four with England, Czechoslovakia and Cyprus. They missed out on the 1978 World Cup in qualifying, finishing second in their group behind Poland and ahead of Denmark and Cyprus. Portugal qualified for the 1980 European Championship in a group of five with Belgium, Austria, Scotland and Norway and finished third. And in the 1982 World Cup qualifiers, Portugal finished fourth in a group with Scotland, Northern Ireland, Sweden and Israel.

1983-1994: First European Championship participation, Saltillo affair and renewed stagnation

The European Championship debut in 1984 was similarly successful to the World Cup debut: In the first group match, the Portuguese fought for a 0-0 draw against the reigning European champions Germany. The second group match against Spain ended 1-1, with António Sousa scoring Portugal's first European Championship goal. In the final group match against Romania, Nené scored the 1-0 winner in the 81st minute to send Portugal past Germany and into the semi-finals as group runners-up. In the final round, Portugal let the superior hosts France run at them and lurked on the counter-attack. Rui Jordão's goal in the 74th minute to equalise 1-1 forced extra time. France pressed Manuel Bento's goal almost constantly but ran into a counter-attack in the 98th minute, which Rui Jordão scored again to give Portugal a 2-1 lead. Portugal were then unable to withstand the intensity of the French attack and equalised in the 114th minute before Michel Platini sealed a 3-2 defeat with one minute of extra time remaining.

After the surprisingly successful performance at the European Championship, José Torres took over the national team. In the qualifiers for the 1986 World Cup, Portugal finished second in a group of five with Germany, Sweden, Czechoslovakia and Malta. The tournament itself did not augur well: First, just hours before the team's scheduled departure for Mexico, António Veloso tested positive for the anabolic steroid Primobolan - a finding that later turned out to be false - and was dropped from the World Cup squad. Later, the team - incensed by the handling of Veloso, their accommodation in Saltillo, meagre victory bonuses and after a dispute with the Portuguese Football Federation over missing bonus payments - threatened a World Cup boycott (Saltillo affair). However, due to public pressure from home and abroad, the players relented early on. Thanks to a goal by Carlos Manuel, Portugal even started the tournament with a 1-0 opening victory over England. Afterwards, however, regular goalkeeper Manuel Bento broke his leg in training and Portugal had to go home after the group stage following defeats against Poland and Morocco.

As a consequence of the Saltillo affair, national coach Torres was sacked after the World Cup and the players involved in the boycott were excluded from the qualifying matches for the 1988 European Championship. As a result, the results deteriorated significantly and Portugal only finished third in a group of five with Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and Malta. They also missed the next three major tournaments: In qualifying for the 1990 World Cup, Portugal again failed to go beyond third place in a group with Belgium, Czechoslovakia, Switzerland and Luxembourg. They narrowly missed out on qualifying for the 1992 European Championship in a group with the Netherlands, Greece, Finland and Malta, finishing second in their group. And in qualifying for the 1994 World Cup, the Seleção once again finished third in a group with Italy, Switzerland, Scotland, Malta and Estonia.

1995-2006: The titleless Golden Generation

In the qualifiers for the 1996 European Championship, Portugal's so-called "Golden Generation" - a series of particularly promising talents born between 1969 and 1974, such as Luís Figo, Rui Costa, João Pinto or Fernando Couto, who had won the Junior World Cup twice in a row in 1989 and 1991 - celebrated a commanding group victory under national coach António Oliveira. Despite a good group phase, in which they qualified for the knockout round as group winners with a draw against Denmark and two wins against Turkey and Croatia, the Seleção's second participation in the European Championship ended in the quarter-finals with a 1-0 defeat against the eventual finalists Czech Republic.

In the qualification for the 1998 World Cup, Portugal was coached by Artur Jorge. In a group with Germany, Ukraine, Armenia, Northern Ireland and Albania, Portugal only achieved a disappointing third place, missing out on the World Cup finals once again. To this day, the 1998 World Cup is the last tournament for which Portugal failed to qualify.

Qualification for the European Championship 2000 was achieved under national coach Humberto Coelho. Although Portugal only came second in Group 7 behind Romania, as the best group runner-up in the qualifiers, the Seleção were spared the relegation matches. At the finals, Portugal played thrilling football. The Seleção won their opening Group A match against England 3-2 with goals from Figo, Rui Costa and Nuno Gomes, despite being 2-0 down. In the second group match against Romania, Costinha scored the winning goal in injury time to qualify early for the knockout rounds. Although Coelho only fielded a B team in the final group match against Germany, Portugal won this match 3-0 with a hat-trick from Sérgio Conceição. In the quarter-finals, Portugal beat Turkey 2-0 with a brace from Nuno Gomes and reached the semi-finals for the second time since 1984. As in 1984, their opponents were France. Although Portugal took the lead through Nuno Gomes and created the better chances in the course of the game, the match was lost 2-1 in extra time through a golden goal from Zinédine Zidane's hand penalty. Abel Xavier, Paulo Bento and Nuno Gomes were given month-long bans for their behaviour towards the referee after the game.

After Humberto Coelho decided against renewing his contract, António Oliveira became national coach for the second time in August 2000. As winners of their World Cup qualifying group, the Portuguese secured their participation in a World Cup finals for the first time in 16 years. Thanks to their good performance at the last European Championship, the Seleção were among the secret favourites. However, Portugal only managed a convincing 4-0 victory in Group D against Poland, with Pauleta contributing three goals. The other group games against the USA and hosts South Korea were surprisingly lost, after which the team was eliminated after the preliminary round and António Oliveira was dismissed.

In preparation for the 2004 European Championship at home, for which Portugal automatically qualified as hosts, the Portuguese Football Association hired the Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari as national coach. Scolari largely retained the now very experienced "golden generation", but also integrated young talents such as Cristiano Ronaldo into the team. Despite a surprising 2-1 defeat in the opening match against Greece, the Portuguese went on to win against Russia, Spain, England (on penalties) and the Netherlands to reach the European Championship final for the first time. In the rematch of the opening match against Greece, Portugal were the clear favourites and created a clear advantage in terms of chances. However, the only goal of the match was scored by the Greeks from a standard situation.

After losing the European Championship final, the aging "golden generation" had their last chance to win a major title at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The qualifying campaign went off without a hitch. In the group stage of the finals, Portugal advanced to the round of 16 against the Netherlands without losing a point. In a game that was subsequently dubbed the Battle of Nuremberg due to hard fouls and a multitude of yellow and red cards, a goal by Maniche was enough for a 1-0 victory. The goalless quarter-final against England had to be decided in a penalty shoot-out. Ricardo was the first goalkeeper ever to save three penalties at a World Cup, giving Portugal their second semi-final appearance since 1966. In the final round, the Seleção met France and lost, as at the 2000 European Championship, through a penalty converted by Zidane. In the match for third place, Portugal lost 3-1 to hosts Germany. Fourth place is the second-best World Cup finish to date.

2007 to date: European champions and Nations League winners

After the World Cup, the last two great players of the "Golden Generation", Luís Figo and Pauleta, announced their retirement from the national team, as expected, and coach Scolari was forced to initiate a change. Portugal qualified for the 2008 European Championship - led by Nuno Gomes, Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo - as runners-up in qualifying Group A behind Poland. At the finals, Portugal advanced to the final round by winning their first two group matches against Turkey and the Czech Republic. Scolari then rested a number of regulars for the final group game, a 2-0 defeat to Switzerland. As group winners, Portugal met Germany in the quarter-finals and were eliminated after an unfortunate 3-2 defeat. Scolari subsequently resigned and was replaced by Carlos Queiroz.

After a mixed qualifying campaign, Portugal finished second in their group, behind Poland and just ahead of Sweden, and only secured their place in the 2010 World Cup after two 1-0 wins over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the relegation play-offs. Nevertheless, Portugal were seen as joint favourites, but failed to progress beyond a 0-0 draw with Côte d'Ivoire in their first World Cup group match. In the second group match, the outsiders North Korea were outclassed 7:0. Due to the very good goal difference, the second place in the group was almost certain. The last group match against Brazil ended goalless again after an even and not very spectacular game, which meant that both teams entered the round of 16. Here Portugal lost 1-0 to the eventual tournament winners Spain.

After Queiroz was banned for six months by the Portuguese Anti-Doping Agency in August 2010 for insulting officials during doping controls before the World Cup and Portugal had only picked up one point in the first two qualifying matches for Euro 2012 against Cyprus and Norway, the Portuguese Football Association replaced him with Paulo Bento in September 2010. As group runners-up behind Denmark, the Seleção again beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in the relegation matches. At the finals, Portugal somewhat surprisingly prevailed in the "group of death" of Germany, the Netherlands and Denmark. A brace from Cristiano Ronaldo to win 2-1 in the final group match against the Elftal secured their place in the quarter-finals. Again it was Ronaldo who made the difference with a header to win 1-0 against the Czech Republic. In the semi-final against the reigning world and European champions Spain, the Seleção lost on penalties.

To reach the final round of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, Portugal, second in qualifying Group F behind Russia, had to take a diversion via the relegation matches for the third time in a row. Two narrow victories against Sweden, courtesy of Cristiano Ronaldo's goals, finally secured Portugal's participation. However, the tournament ended in disappointment. With an ailing Ronaldo, Portugal lost 4-0 to Germany in their opening match. A 2-2 draw with the USA and a 2-1 win over Ghana were not enough to secure a place in the last 16 due to poor goal difference.

A home defeat against Albania in the opening match of the 2016 European Championship qualifiers led to the dismissal of Paulo Bento. Under the new national coach Fernando Santos, Portugal won all their other qualifying matches and finished top of their group, qualifying directly for a major tournament for the first time since 2008 without having to go through relegation. The European Championship finals got off to a sobering start: As Group F favourites, Portugal only managed a 1-1 draw in their first group match against tournament debutants Iceland, despite their superiority and Nani's opening goal. The second group match against Austria ended goalless despite a number of clear chances. In the last group match against Hungary, Portugal was under great pressure to win, but fell behind three times. A goal by Nani and a brace by Cristiano Ronaldo led to the third draw in a row. Although only third in the group, the Seleção qualified for the final round thanks to the new tournament mode. In the knockout rounds, Santos used an unspectacular and much-criticised defensive tactic, but it proved successful: Portugal won the round of 16 against Croatia 1-0 after extra time thanks to a Ricardo Quaresma counter-attack goal, and the quarter-finals against Poland 5-3 on penalties. In the semi-finals, the Portuguese met Wales and, after goals from Ronaldo and Nani, advanced to the final for the second time since 2004 with a 2-0 win. There, Portugal beat hosts France 1-0 after extra time on 10 July 2016 with a goal from Éder to win their first major international title.

As a result of winning the European Championship, Portugal took part in the FIFA Confederations Cup for the first time in 2017 and qualified for the final round by finishing top of Group A with a draw against Mexico and wins over Russia and New Zealand. After losing in the semi-finals to South American champions Chile (0-3 on penalties), Portugal finished the tournament in third place with a subsequent 2-1 win after extra time against Mexico.

Portugal started the 2018 World Cup qualifiers with a defeat against Switzerland. However, the Portuguese then secured group victory without losing any more points and thus direct qualification for the finals in Russia. Portugal were drawn in Group B and, with a win against Morocco and two draws against Spain and Iran, entered the last 16 as group runners-up, level on points with their Iberian neighbours. There, the Portuguese were eliminated after a 2-1 loss to Uruguay.

In autumn 2018, the Portuguese took part in the first staging of the UEFA Nations League in the highest division (Liga A) and qualified for the final round ("Final Four") in June 2019 in two games each against Poland and Italy, where the Seleção won their second international title on home soil after a 3-1 victory over Switzerland in the semi-finals and a 1-0 win over the Netherlands in the final.

Portugal qualified for the 2021 European Championship as runners-up in Qualifying Group B behind Ukraine. At the finals, Portugal was drawn into a difficult group. After winning the opening match against Hungary 3-0, a 4-2 defeat against Germany and a 2-2 draw against France followed. Qualifying for the round of 16 as the best third-placed team in the group, Portugal lost 1-0 to Belgium and were eliminated.

In the qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup, Portugal lost 2-1 to Serbia on the last matchday after conceding a goal in the final minute and thus missed out on direct participation in the finals. Qualification was ultimately achieved through wins in the play-offs against Turkey and Northern Macedonia.

World Championships

The Portuguese national team has reached a World Cup final seven times so far. The country's best result came in its first appearance, when it finished 3rd at the 1966 World Cup. At the 2006 World Cup, Portugal reached the semi-finals for the second time, but lost this to France and the 3rd place match to hosts Germany. In 2010 and 2018, the team reached the last 16, where they were eliminated by eventual world champions Spain and Uruguay respectively. At the 1986, 2002 and 2014 World Cups, however, Portugal was eliminated at the group stage.

After missing out on qualification for the 1934 and 1938 World Cups and missing out on the 1942 and 1946 tournaments due to the war, the Portuguese were given the opportunity to take part in the 1950 World Cup in the former colony of Brazil. However, the place offered as a replacement for Turkey, which had withdrawn, was not accepted. The country missed the next three World Cups before participating in the finals for the first time in 1966. Portugal then missed the next four World Cups and did not reach the finals for the second time until 20 years later at the 1986 World Cup. Portugal missed the 1990, 1994 and 1998 World Cups again and did not reach the group stage until 2002. Portugal successfully qualified for the following five World Cups, but only in the play-offs in 2010 and 2014 and 2022.

Portugal once had the top scorer in a World Cup with Eusébio (1966).

European Championships

Portugal participated in all European Championships and reached the finals seven times. The biggest successes were winning the 2016 European Championship and finishing second at the 2004 European Championship on home soil. Portugal reached the semi-finals of the 1984, 2000 and 2012 European Championships, but lost to eventual European champions France (in extra time) and Spain (on penalties) respectively. In 1996 and 2008, Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the eventual European runners-up, the Czech Republic and Germany respectively.

Portugal missed the first six European Championships after failing to qualify. In 1960, the Portuguese were defeated by Yugoslavia, who later became European runners-up. In 1964 and 1968, they lost to Bulgaria. In 1972 and 1980, Portugal lost to Belgium, the eventual runners-up in the 1980 European Championships. Their first appearance in the final was in France in 1984. The Portuguese missed out on the Euro 1988 and 1992. Since Euro 1996, Portugal has always reached the finals. However, they only qualified for the Euro 2012 in the play-offs against Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Portugal is the only team that has always made it through the group stage and into the knockout rounds after successfully qualifying for the finals. Cristiano Ronaldo has twice (2012, 2021) been Portugal's top scorer at a European Championship. Ronaldo is also the record goal scorer in the European Championship with 14 goals.

Jersey

The jersey of the Portuguese national football team is in the colour wine red. The red and green that was current at the 2004 European Championship, for example, has not been used since the 2006 World Cup; a dark red jersey is now used. Yellow piping running along the chest seams and trouser legs is reminiscent of a rope, a ship's rope, and thus of Portugal's great past as a seafaring nation. Portugal's away jersey is traditionally white. At the 2006 World Cup, however, the team played in black.