Portugal has one of the most exciting squads of the tournament. 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?
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Mood
The best Portugal squad to ever go to a World Cup’ is a line that’s been repeated ad nauseum by pundits and press alike over recent months.
Fans of the scintillating golden generation of the early 2000s, led by Luis Figo and Rui Costa, would argue otherwise, but the current Selecao setup has a depth of squad the nation has never seen before. Two Nations League titles (2019 and 2025) and Euro 2016 in the past decade certainly makes it the most successful.
The midfield options exemplify the embarrassment of riches. At least one of Paris Saint-Germain pair Joao Neves and Vitinha, or Manchester-based duo Bruno Fernandes and Bernardo Silva, will likely start on the bench. All four belong in any list of the top 10 midfielders worldwide.
Throw in reliable Porto goalkeeper Diogo Costa, flying Milan winger Rafael Leao and dazzling PSG left-back Nuno Mendes, and you can understand such excitement. This is even before considering a favourable draw, which in the absence of upsets should result in a quarter-final with defending champions Argentina, and a first Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi meeting at a major international tournament.
However, Portugal has been here before. Great expectations ahead of the 2002, 2014 and 2018 World Cups were quickly deflated with disastrous or mediocre campaigns.
The ‘Ronaldo question’ gets more pressing with each passing tournament. Is the team stronger with or without the country’s greatest ever player, now 41? To some extent it is a moot point, as coach Roberto Martinez is in no doubt about the answer. “In his last 30 games for Portugal, Cristiano’s scored 25 goals,” he said in February. “The numbers don’t lie.” Only they do a bit – 21 of those goals came against teams ranked outside FIFA’s top 30. And he scored none in five games at Euro 2024.
CR7, as he has for the past two decades, holds the key to Portugal’s World Cup success, but not as the main man. If the captain accepts a supporting role, Portugal undoubtedly has the talent, experience and sheer quality to go the distance. If not, he’ll be crying again.
Squad
Portugal World Cup 2026 squad
- GK: Diogo Costa (Porto)
- GK: Jose Sa (Wolverhampton Wanderers)
- GK: Rui Silva (Sporting CP)
- 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
- June 17, 2026: Portugal vs DR Congo, NRG Stadium , Texas, United States
- 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
- June 6, 2026: Portugal 2-1 Chile , Estádio Nacional do Jamor in Oeiras, Lisbon, Portugal
- March 31, 2026: United States 0-2 Portugal , Mercedes-Benz Stadium , Atlanta, United States
- March 28, 2026: Mexico 0-0 Portugal , Estadio Azteca , Mexico City, Mexico
- 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.
On the eve of the tournament reports emerged that he would be stepping down as Portugal Head Coach after the World Cup.
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.
