Portugal World Cup 2018

Portugal World Cup 2018

Euro 2016 winners Portugal come into this World Cup hoping to emulate neighbours Spain by becoming World and European champions at the same time.

History at the World Cup

Portugal didn’t qualify for a World Cup finals until 1966, and then announced their arrival on the world stage by finishing third. The great Eusebio top-scored as they made it all the way to the last four before being knocked out by eventual champions, and hosts, England. It was a false dawn for Portuguese football though, as they failed to qualify for the next four tournaments. A group stage exit in 1986 was in fact the only time they would qualify between that third place finish and the 2002 finals in Japan and South Korea.

That return to the World Cup ended in another group stage exit, but they were back in the Semi Finals four years later in Germany. They topped the group with ease at that 2006 finals, then beat Netherlands and England before a Zinedine Zidane penalty was the only goal of the Semi Final against France to send Portugal into the 3rd/4th place play-off instead of the final. That play-off ended in another defeat, this time to Germany, as they finished the tournament in fourth place.

Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo / Source: Shutterstock.com / Foto by: Rui Alexandre

They then reached the last 16 in 2010, before suffering a surprise group stage exit in Brazil in 2014. An opening 4-0 defeat to Germany being the main reason they dropped out of the tournament on goal difference to the United States.

  • World Cup Finals Appearances – 6
  • Previous Best Performance – Third Place

How they qualified

An opening 2-0 defeat away to Switzerland almost came back to haunt the European champions, as Portugal finished level with the Swiss on points at the end of the UEFA qualifying campaign.

After a qualifying campaign that had seen them win eight and draw one, they went into their final match against Switzerland three points behind their opposition.

Portugal did have a far superior goal difference though, so a win by any score line was enough to secure qualification. Win was just what they did, as they broke Swiss hearts with a 2-0 victory.

It was much closer than they would have hoped, but the thirty-four goals netted during the campaign proved to be the difference between first and second place.

Cristiano Ronaldo top scored, with fifteen, and he was given ample support by Andre Silva, who netted nine.

Coach/Manager

Fernando Santos will be in his fourth year as Portugal head coach when the tournament kicks off in Russia, and his tenure has been a successful one so far.

Having taken over in September 2014, just a few months after guiding Greece to the knock-out stages of a World Cup for the first time, he led Portugal to the 2016 European Championships as winners of their qualifying group.

At the actual European championships, Portugal required a bit of fortune and the new format enabled them to advance to the knock-out stages despite finishing third in their group.

The rest, as they say, is history and Santos celebrated turning Portugal into European champions in the space of two years.

He then qualified them for this World Cup, to continue his successful reign.

Star Players

When it comes to star players, Portugal have one of the biggest in the entire world.

That man is five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who captains Portugal and holds the record for most ever caps and most ever goals for his country.

The world’s highest paid athlete is currently considered to be the best player in the world, and for good reason.

He has scored more goals for Real Madrid than he’s made appearances, and has scored seventy-nine times for his country (at the time of writing).

At club level, Ronaldo is a three-time Premier League winner, two-time La Liga winner, four-time Champions League winner, and four-time Club World Cup winner, among other honours.

Individually, he has won every honour there is to win several times.

The European Championships winners medal he received in 2016 means that the World Cup is the only medal missing from his vast collection.

Portugal World Cup 2018: Assessing Their Chances & Odds

Portugal are the European champions, so they must be considered as a possible World Cup winner in Russia.

They have been drawn in a group with neighbours Spain, as well as Morocco and Iran, and should advance to the knock-out stage without much of a problem.

Ladbrokes have them priced at 2/1 to win the group and 1/6 to qualify in the top two, so we are all in agreement that the last 16 is pretty much a foregone conclusion for them.

In the last 16, they will face either the winners or runners-up from Group A, Russia, Uruguay, Egypt, or Saudi Arabia. This will be more than winnable, regardless of the opposition, although Uruguay would fancy their chances of picking up a win.

If they win the group, it’s likely Argentina would be their Quarter Final opponents. This could set up a mouth watering tie featuring the two best players in the world facing off against each other.

Finishing runners-up to Spain could lead to a repeat of the Euro 2016 final in the last eight against France.

Our Portugal World Cup Prediction

Portugal have the quality to make it through to the latter stages of this tournament, but we think the Quarter Finals is the best they will do. They should ease into the last 16, and will be a betting favourite in that regardless of opposition. Our prediction is that they will face France if they reach the last eight, and the French will gain revenge for that defeat in the European Championships.