wWhen it comes to Portugal, Cristiano Ronaldo dominates the conversation. There has been so much attention paid to the 41-year-old, who is appearing in his sixth World Cup, that you would be forgiven for not appreciating the talent of his teammates. But they are serious contenders to win their first World Cup. The Opta supercomputer gives only Spain (16.0%), France (12.9%), England (10.8%) and Argentina (10.0%) a higher chance of winning the tournament than Portugal. (7.1%).
This will be their ninth World Cup appearance and seventh consecutive since the 2002 tournament, their first appearance since 1986. You have to go back to 1966 for his best performance. Under Eusébio’s leadership they reached the semi-finals, where they lost to eventual winners England, before defeating the Soviet Union to finish third.
In recent editions, he has disappointed. For example, their Euro 2016 victory was overshadowed by group stage exits at the 2014 World Cup and a last-16 exit in 2018. So, will his performance be better now?
Portugal may have the best group of midfielders in the tournament in the form of Bruno Fernandes, Vitinha, Joao Neves, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Neves and Samu Costa. Fernandes is fresh off his most productive Premier League campaign for Manchester United (nine goals, 21 assists), leading the top flight for chances created (136) and breaking the Premier League record for most assists in a single campaign, overtaking Thierry Henry (20 in 2002–03) and Kevin De Bruyne (20 in 2019–20).
Fernandes has struggled at times to carry that form onto the international stage, but he has gone from strength to strength for his country in recent years. In Portugal’s final World Cup qualifying match, a 9–1 defeat of Armenia, he performed brilliantly, scoring a hat-trick and creating eight chances. In Portugal’s last two friendlies – a 2–0 win over the US in April and a 2–1 win against Chile – he was involved in three goals, making two assists against the US before scoring the winning goal against Chile. He created 21 chances while leading Portugal in World Cup qualifying, 10 more than any other player.
Working behind Fernandes in the midfield is another world-class talent. Vitinha is the heart of perennial European champions Paris Saint-Germain, and he finished third in the most recent Ballon d’Or rankings behind Ousmane Dembélé and Lamine Yamal. The 26-year-old impacts the game with and without the ball. He can dictate the pace and rhythm of the game, slowing it down or speeding it up when required – a skill that could prove vital in this tournament given the heat and humidity.
Vitinha provided 11 assists in all competitions this season, with only Khvitcha Kvaratskheliya and Dembele providing more assists for PSG (12). He was named player of the match in the Champions League final after his excellent performance against Arsenal. He completed the most passes (141), made the most passes into the opposition half (75) and had the most touches (162). Those numbers were consistent with the rest of his season: he completed more passes (5,234) and more passes in the opposition half (3,001) than any other player in Europe’s top five leagues.
The appointment of Roberto Martínez as head coach in 2023 raised some eyebrows given his tremendous achievements with Belgium’s golden generation of players. But Portugal clearly wanted to move away from the style of his predecessor Fernando Santos, who won the Euro 2016 title with painstaking and predictable tactics. The aim is to become a more fluid, free-flowing team that can better utilize its offensive talent and be able to out-match opponents.
Fast forward to today, Portugal has scored 100 goals in 39 matches under Martínez (2.6 goals per game). In his only other major tournament under his leadership, Euro 2024, Portugal lost to France on penalties after a goalless draw in the quarter-finals. Since then, they have performed brilliantly, winning the Nations League for the second time. Their run to that trophy included a 2–1 win over Germany in the semi-finals and a penalty win after a 2–2 draw against Spain in the final.
In World Cup qualifying, Portugal attempted 25 shots per match, the most of any European country. They had 8.3 shots on target per match – a number bettered only by Spain (9.6) and Croatia (8.5). Portugal scored the most goals as a result of high turnovers per match (0.5) and only Belgium (2.5) scored more goals than them as a result of high turnovers per match (2.3).
Ronaldo scored five goals in qualifying, two more than any other Portugal player, and he had more shots (31), shots on target (12) and xG (5.73) than any other player in the team. But if they want to perform well in the tournament, the supporting cast in attack will have to come forward and contribute. Martínez has also called up Joao Felix, Trincao, Francisco Conceição, Pedro Neto, Rafael Leao, Gonsalo Guedes and Gonsalo Ramos into the attack.
In Joao Felix, they have something of a wildcard who can make a difference in the final third. After several years of turmoil, which included moving twice to Chelsea, going on loan to Barcelona and going on loan to Milan, he is finally full of confidence after a move to Al Nassr in the Saudi Pro League and has been performing consistently.
The 26-year-old was recently awarded the Player of the Season award and overtook Ronaldo thanks to his 20 goals and 13 assists in 33 league games. If he can continue his good form, he can make a big impact. Portugal has the quality to go far. The question is whether Martínez can utilize it.
This is an article from Opta Analyst
<a href=