The Portugal World Cup 2026 squad has been practically confirmed.
Managers are permitted 26 players at World Cup 2026, but Roberto Martinez has named 27 Portuguese stars in one of the most exciting squads of the tournament, with four goalkeepers set to be trimmed down to three.
It's a side that features A-listers as you'd expect, too: FWA Player of the Year Bruno Fernandes, Paris Saint-Germain double-pivot Vitinha and Joao Neves, Manchester City stars Bernardo Silva, Matheus Nunes and Ruben Dias, and a stacked frontline featuring Rafael Leao, Pedro Neto and Joao Felix.
While there is obvious experience across the side, too, there are players who can dominate for the next decade or so: Nuno Mendes is 23, Goncalo Inacio 24, and Diogo Costa is still just 26 – which is practically an infant in goalkeeper terms.
Oh, and then there's the small matter of all-time record men's international goalscorer Cristiano Ronaldo, of course, with the five-time Ballon d'Or winner ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest players of all time and looking to cement his legacy to bring a first-ever World Cup back to Portugal, as he chases 1,000 career goals in the game.
It's hard not to look past Martinez's men as one of the favourites for the competition based on talent alone, with their list of discarded parts an impressive collection of players, too: destroyer Joao Palhinha misses out after a poor season, defensive prospect Antonio Silva is overlooked and Rodrigo Mora – who was profiled recently by FFT's Joe Donnohue in our The Boy's A Bit Special series – is left at home after a March call-up.
Ronaldo obviously has his sights set on a similar script to Lionel Messi in Qatar… but is the 41-year-old still influential enough to lead his nation to victory?
Squad
Portugal World Cup 2026 squad: The preliminary selection
- GK: Diogo Costa (Porto)
- GK: Jose Sa (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
- GK: Rui Silva (Sporting CP)
- GK: Ricardo Velho (Genclerbirligi)
- DF: Ruben Dias (Manchester City)
- DF: Joao Cancelo (Barcelona)
- DF: Nelson Semedo (Fenerbahce)
- DF: Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain)
- DF: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United)
- DF: Goncalo Inacio (Sporting CP)
- DF: Renato Veiga (Villarreal)
- DF: Tomas Araujo (Benfica)
- MF: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
- MF: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United)
- MF: Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal)
- MF: Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain)
- MF: Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain)
- MF: Matheus Nunes (Manchester City)
- MF: Francisco Trincao (Sporting CP)
- MF: Samu Costa (Mallorca)
- FW: Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr)
- FW: Joao Felix (Al-Nassr)
- FW: Rafael Leao (Milan)
- FW: Goncalo Guedes (Real Sociedad)
- FW: Goncalo Ramos (Paris Saint-Germain)
- FW: Pedro Neto (Chelsea)
- FW: Francisco Conceicao (Juventus)
Fixtures and results
Fixtures
- March 28, 2026: Mexico vs Portugal , Estadio Azteca , Mexico City, Mexico
- March 31, 2026: United States vs Portugal , Mercedes-Benz Stadium , Atlanta, United States
- June 6, 2026: Portugal vs Chile , Portugal
- June 23, 2026: Portugal vs Uzbekistan , NRG Stadium , Houston, United States
- June 27, 2026: Colombia vs Portugal , Hard Rock Stadium , Miami Gardens, United States
- September 24, 2026: Portugal vs Wales , Portugal
- September 27, 2026: Norway vs Portugal , Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway
- October 1, 2026: Denmark vs Portugal , Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark
- October 4, 2026: Portugal vs Norway , Portugal
- November 14, 2026: Portugal vs Denmark , Portugal
- November 17, 2026: Wales vs Portugal , Cardiff City Stadium, Cardiff, Wales
Recent results
- November 16, 2025: Portugal 9–1 Armenia , Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal
- November 13, 2025: Republic of Ireland 2–0 Portugal , Aviva Stadium, Dublin, Ireland
- October 14, 2025: Portugal 2–2 Hungary , Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal
- October 11, 2025: Portugal 1–0 Republic of Ireland , Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal
- September 9, 2025: Hungary 2–3 Portugal , Puskás Aréna, Budapest, Hungary
- September 6, 2025: Armenia 0–5 Portugal , Vazgen Sargsyan Republican Stadium, Yerevan, Armenia
- June 8, 2025: Portugal 2–2 Spain (a.e.t., 5–3 pens) , Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
- June 4, 2025: Germany 1–2 Portugal , Allianz Arena, Munich, Germany
- March 23, 2025: Portugal 5–2 Denmark (a.e.t., 5–3 agg.) , Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal
- March 20, 2025: Denmark 1–0 Portugal , Parken Stadium, Copenhagen, Denmark
Group K standings
Portugal are in Group K at World Cup 2026.
Manager
Who is Portugal's manager?
The Portuguese national team is Roberto Martinez's second foray into international management after a spell in charge of Belgium.
With the Red Devils, he reached the 2018 World Cup semi-final, eventually losing to champions France. His performances at the delayed 2020 Euros and 2022 World Cup were far below par, however.
In June 2025 he added the Nations League to his trophy cabinet, alongside the FA Cup which he won with Wigan, and the EFL League One trophy, which he won with Swansea in 2008.
Portugal's Star Player
Who is Portugal's star player?
Not much needs to be said about Cristiano Ronaldo. He is ranked at no.4 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest players of all time, no.2 in FourFourTwo's list of the greatest Real Madrid players of all time and is a five-time Ballon d'Or winner.
Ronaldo has won almost everything there is to win, with just the World Cup eluding him so far. This will be his sixth attempt at securing the ultimate gong in football, and will likely be his last chance to do so.
He's now 41 years old, and assuming he continues scoring at his current rate, he'll be edging closer to scoring 1000 professional goals.
