From Eusebio to Cristiano Ronaldo, some of the finest footballers of all time have been Portuguese.
Here, FourFourTwo counts down the very best players from the Iberian nation, taking in stars all over the pitch.
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Capped 53 times by Portugal, playing a pivotal part in their run to the final of Euro 2004 on home soil, Costinha brought steel, stamina and tactical intelligence to the midfield battle.
He had to settle for a runners-up medal at that tournament, but he had recently won the 2003/04 Champions League as a key member of Jose Mourinho’s Porto side – having helped them to UEFA Cup victory the previous season.
A versatile member of Benfica’s legendary two-time European Cup-winning team of the 60s, Domiciano Cavem earned 18 caps for his country – scoring five goals.
Adept on either flank, Cavem featured in four of the five European Cup finals Benfica reached between 1961 and 1968, finding the net as they retained the trophy by beating Real Madrid 5-3 in 1962.
Purveyor of one of the most magnificent moustaches in football, Fernando Chalana was one of Portugal’s premier wingers of the late 70s and early 80s.
Despite being plagued by injuries, the 1976 and 1984 Portuguese Footballer of the Year – who helped his nation to the semi-finals of Euro 1984, making the Team of the Tournament – won six league titles across two spells with Benfica, where he spent the majority of his career.
Uncompromising and tactically proficient in the defensive midfield role, Paulo Sousa won major trophies with clubs in Portugal, Italy and Germany – including the Champions League with Juventus in 1995/96 then Borussia Dortmund the very next season.
A strong leader on the pitch, Sousa represented his country on 51 occasions, helping them to third place at Euro 2000.
The greatest Portuguese goalkeeper of all time, Vitor Baia made 525 appearances for local club Porto during two spells, as well as earning 80 international caps.
Portugal skipper from 1990 to 2002 – wearing the armband at Euro 96, the 1998 World Cup, Euro 2000 and the 2002 World Cup – Baia – who also spent one season as Barcelona’s number one – was named UEFA’s Best European Goalkeeper after playing a key role in Porto’s 2003/04 Champions League triumph.
Among the most enduring international players of the modern era, former Wolves, Monaco, Porto and Sporting Lisbon midfield maestro Joao Moutinho amassed 146 caps over the course of his 17-year Portugal career, appearing at three World Cups and four Euros – winning the 2016 edition of the latter.
At one point, around one in six of Moutinho’s overall appearances had been for his country – an impressive achievement.
The archetypal mercurial talent, Ricardo Quaresma was clearly capable of quite spectacular things on a football pitch (he especially loved a trivela, memorably scoring with one against Iran at the 2018 World Cup) – but he was just as temperamental as he was talented – frustrating though fantastic.
Quaresma did achieve great things in his career, though, playing an important role in Portugal’s Euro 2016 victory, the country’s first major triumph – scoring a late extra-time winner against Croatia in the last 16 – and winning the treble with Inter in 2009/10 under compatriot Jose Mourinho.
A devastating dribbler with devilish dead-ball ability, Simao was one of Portugal’s finest talents of the early 20th century, scoring 22 goals in 85 caps for his country, playing starring roles in their runs to the final of Euro 2004 and the semis of the 2006 World Cup.
Having started out at Sporting Lisbon, Simao notably turned out for Barcelona, Benfica, Atletico Madrid – with whom he won the 2009/10 Europa League.
Benfica legend Antonio Simoes holds the record for the youngest player to play in and win the European Cup final, lining up on the left for Benfica as they retained their continental crown by beating Real Madrid 5-3 in 1962.
Renowned for his crossing ability and general creativity, Simoes was also a mainstay of the great Portugal team which reached the last four of the 1966 World Cup – where he scored in their 3-1 group stage win over Brazil.
Among his nation’s most recognisable players during the 90s and 00s, Nuno Gomes helped Portugal to third place at Euro 2000 – where he scored the winner as they came from 2-0 down to beat England in their tournament opener – and to the final of Euro 2004 as hosts.
An excellent link-up player, the striker – who wore the captain’s armband at Euro 2008 – found the net more than 250 times for club and country – winning two Portuguese titles with Benfica and the Coppa Italia with Fiorentina.
Another prominent member of the iconic Benfica and Portugal sides of the 60s, winger Jose Augusto scored the best part of 200 career goals – averaging close to one every other game for Benfica.
Compared to legendary Brazilian wide man Garrincha, the 1960/61 and 1961/62 European Cup winner notched three goals – all headers – in helping his nation to third place at the 1966 World Cup.
Part of the Portuguese ‘golden generation’ which won back-to-back U-20 World Cups in 1989 and 1991, Joao Pinto was a gifted playmaker with a great eye for goal who struck 23 times in 81 senior caps.
A Euro 2000 semi-finalist, Pinto – who also had a hotheaded streak, earning a six-month ban for pushing a referee after being sent off at the 2002 World Cup – was a Primeira Liga champion with both Benfica and their arch-rivals Sporting Lisbon.
A prolific striker who scored 359 goals in 575 games for Benfica – his only club, with whom he won 10 top-flight titles – from 1968 to 1986, Nene was voted 1971 Portuguese Footballer of the Year and twice finished as leading marksman in the Primeira Liga.
Capped 66 times by Portugal, he found the net 22 times at international level, featuring in his country’s run to the last four of Euro 1984.
One of the best centre-backs of his generation, Ruben Dias became one of the most expensive Portuguese players of all time when he joined Manchester City from Benfica for £65m in 2020.
And he quickly showed he was worth his price tag, producing a stunning performance throughout the 2020/21 campaign to help his new club to the Premier League title and himself to the FWA (Football Writers’ Association) Footballer of the Year award – which hadn’t been won by a defender for 32 years.
A 2022/23 treble winner with City, Dias began his international career by helping Portugal to 2018/19 Nations League victory.
Nicknamed ‘O Bom Gigante’ (‘The Kind Giant’), towering centre-forward Jose Torres amassed 226 goals in 259 outings for Benfica, putting himself among the club’s all-time leading scorers.
A three-time European Cup finalist with the Lisbon giants, Torres netted three times as Portugal finished third at the 1966 World Cup – bagging the winner in the third place play-off against the Soviet Union – and went on to coach his country at the 1986 World Cup.
With 47 goals in 88 caps, Pauleta remains among Portugal’s all-time leading marksmen and one of their most prolific.
A complete striker who was up there with the best around in his prime, the man from the Portuguese archipelago of the Azores scored 279 club goals, enjoying his best years in France – where he finished as Ligue 1 top scorer on three occasions, once with Bordeaux and twice with PSG.
Among the top playmakers in world football at his best, Bruno Fernandes burst onto the scene at Sporting Lisbon, prompting Manchester United to pay almost £50m for his services in January 2020.
Despite arriving midway through the campaign, he won the club’s player of the season award – then retained it in 2020/21 after racking up 28 goals in competitions.
One of Portugal’s main men in recent years, Fernandes was named United skipper ahead of the 2023/24 season – which he rounded off by leading the Red Devils to FA Cup glory.
Ricardo Carvalho lacked the physical strength of many centre-halves – and that was about all he lacked, really; the 89-cap Portugal international was one of the world’s best defenders during the latter half of the 00s.
Having won the 2003/04 Champions League with Jose Mourinho’s Porto, Carvalho followed his compatriot to Chelsea – and duly helped them to their first two Premier League titles, starring in the backline which conceded a record low 15 goals in the 2004/05 campaign.
On the international stage, he made the team of the tournament at both Euro 2004 and the 2006 World Cup.
Teammate of Ruben Dias at Manchester City, Bernardo Silva was described by manager Pep Guardiola as simply “one of the best players I have ever seen”.
Shortlisted for the 2021 Ballon d’Or, the supremely classy and creative playmaker got his hands on 13 major trophies in his first six seasons with City – who signed him from Monaco in 2017 – and, in a 2021 clash against PSG, became the first player in Champions League history to register a 100% passing rate in a game.
A tricky and creative winger with a knack for scoring stunning goals, Nani in full flow was absolutely wonderful to watch.
Capped 112 times by Portugal – who he helped to Euro 2016 glory – he regularly turned on the style throughout his trophy-laden seven-year spell at Manchester United – where he was voted 2010/11 Players’ Player of the Year, having fired Sir Alex Ferguson’s side to the title with a Premier League-leading 17 assists.
Nani won four Premier League titles with United in all, as well as the 2007/08 Champions League.
One of the top strikers of the 80s, Fernando Gomes’ goals fired Porto to 1986/87 European Cup glory – in between winning his fourth and fifth domestic titles with his hometown club.
Across two spells at Porto, he racked up 355 goals in 451 appearances, and his total of 319 goals in the Primeira Liga – 31 of which came for Sporting Lisbon at the end of his career – makes him the third-highest scorer in the history of the Portuguese top flight.
European Golden Shoe winner in 1983 and 1985, Gomes was named 1983 Portuguese Footballer of the Year and earned 48 for his country, helping them to the Euro 1984 semi-finals.
Benfica’s second-highest scorer of all time, Jose Aguas averaged just over a goal a game across 377 appearances for the club where he spent almost his entire career and won back-to-back European Cups – opening the scoring against Barcelona in the 1961 final and against Real Madrid the following year.
Dubbed ‘Cabeca de Ouro’ (‘Golden Ball’) for his devastating aerial ability, Aguas – who was born in the then Portuguese colony of Angola – finished as Primeira Liga top scorer on five occasions and struck 11 times in 25 international outings.
Born in Mozambique, Mario Coluna moved to Portugal as a teenager to sign for Benfica – and he went on to gain legendary status with the Lisbon giants and the Portuguese national team, marking himself out as one of the finest midfielders of the 60s.
‘O Monstro Sagrado’ (‘The Sacred Monster’), as he was nicknamed, was an immensely composed operator with a ferocious long-range shot in his locker.
Included in FIFA’s All-Star Team as Portugal claimed third place at the 1966 World Cup, Coluna was an integral member of Benfica’s 1960/61 and 1961/62 European Cup-winning team.
Chances are you haven’t heard of Fernando Peyroteo – he was active between 1937 and 1949, after all – but there’s no denying his place among the very best players Portugal has ever produced.
Top scorer in the Portuguese top flight on no fewer than six occasions, Peyroteo played exclusively for Sporting Lisbon, making 334 appearances – and scoring a whopping 544 goals.
A five-time domestic champion with Sporting, he wasn’t quite as prolific at international level – although a return of 14 goals in 20 caps was hardly too shabby!
Runner-up behind Andriy Shevchenko for the 2004 Ballon d’Or, Deco was one of the most technically gifted and versatile attacking midfielders of the 00s.
Hugely influential to Porto’s 2003/04 Champions League triumph – being named man of the match in the final – he went on to win it again with Barcelona in 2005/06 – before helping Chelsea to a domestic four years later.
Capped 75 times by Portugal, with whom he reached the Euro 2004 final and 2006 World Cup semi-finals, the Brazilian-born Deco wound down his career at Fluminense.
In 1987, Paulo Futre finished as runner-up behind Dutch superstar Ruud Gullit for the Ballon d’Or, a mark of the esteem in which he was held at his peak – and justifiably so.
A key component of Porto’s maiden European Cup triumph in 1986/87, Futre was a masterful left-footed winger whose style drew comparisons with Diego Maradona.
Repeated injuries forced him to retire aged only 32, but he had more than cemented his status as an all-time great of the Portuguese game by then.
Notorious for his, er, antics on the pitch, Real Madrid, Porto and Portugal icon Pepe will also go down as one of the best centre-backs of all time.
Born and raised in Brazil, he opted to represent Portugal at international level, accumulating well over 100 caps and playing on into his early 40s – a rare feat indeed for an outfield player in this day and age.
A tough-tackling defender with the ability to utterly dominate opponents, Pepe’s silverware highlights include three Champions League victories with Real and Euro 2016 with his adopted nation.
Playmaker Rui Costa is widely regarded as one of the best ever exponents of the role, performing it with class and distinction for club and country either side of the turn of the 21st century.
A traditional number 10, Costa earned 94 caps for Portugal and scored more than 100 career goals overall.
Included in Pele’s ‘FIFA 100’ list of the world’s greatest living players to celebrate the centenary of world football’s governing body in 2004, he won league titles with Benfica and AC Milan – and the 2002/03 Champions League with the latter.
One of the most iconic players of the 21st century, Luis Figo kicked off the new millennium by inspiring Portugal to the semi-finals of Euro 2000 and winning that year’s Ballon d’Or.
Hugely successful on both sides of the El Clasico divide – causing palpable outrage when he left Barcelona for Real Madrid – Figo was an extraordinarily gifted winger who could be nigh-on impossible to stop in one-on-one situations, before transitioning to the role of playmaker later in his career.
Capped 127 times by his country, he won league titles with Barca, Real and Inter – as well as starring in Real’s 2001/02 Champions League triumph as one of their foremost Galacticos.
Truly one of the greatest footballers who ever lived, Eusebio tore many an opponent to shreds throughout his hugely decorate career, scoring 733 goals in 745 professional games – including a club-record 473 in 440 for Benfica, and 41 in 66 for Portugal.
Variously dubbed the ‘Black Panther’, the ‘Black Pearl’ and ‘O Rei’ (‘The King’), Eusebio was born in Mozambique and went on to become an absolute superstar in Europe.
He starred prominently in Benfica’s 1961/62 European Cup success, before winning the 1965 Ballon d’Or then captaining Portugal to the semi-finals of the 1966 World Cup – where the sight of him leaving the pitch in tears following defeat to England became one of the game’s most famous images.
Some still say he’s the best player of all time full stop; he’s certainly the best Portuguese player of all time.
Ballon d’Or winner on just the five occasions, Cristiano Ronaldo enjoys legendary status at Sporting Lisbon, Manchester United – where he won three Premier League titles and the Champions League – Real Madrid – where he won two LaLiga titles, four Champions Leagues and became the club’s record scorer with 450 goals in 438 games – and Juventus.
Of course, he’s even more revered among the Portuguese public, having captained the national team to victory at Euro 2016 – and consistently exhibited his inimitable goalscoring prowess by finding the net well over 100 times in more than 200 caps, setting new men’s international records in both categories.
