A look at the country’s demographics, football history and its squad status prior to the Qatar World Cup 2022.
Number of inhabitants: approx. 10 million.
Continent: Europe
Confederation: UEFA
National Football Association: FPF
Number of members: approx. 177,000 (1.77% of total population)
International trophies won: 1x European Championship, 1x UEFA Nations League
Best World Cup result: 3rd place in 1966.
Key Players
In the past: Eusebio, Figo, Rui Costa, Nani, Couto, Pauleta, Carvalho.
Key current players: Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva, Ruben Dias, Rafael Leao.
Coach, formation and possible lineup
Coach: Fernando Santos. (since 2014)
Typical formation: 4-2-3-1 or 4-3-3
Possible lineup:
- GK: Diogo Costa (Porto)
- LB: Nuno Mendes (PSG)
- RB: Joao Cancelo (Man City)
- LCB: Ruben Dias (Man City)
- RCB: Danilo Pereira (PSG)
- CM: William Carvalho (Betis Sevilla)
- CM: Ruben Neves (Wolverhampton)
- LW: Rafael Leao (Milan)
- RW: Bernardo Silva (Man City)
- ACM: Bruno Fernandes (Man Utd)
- ST: Cristiano Ronaldo (Man Utd)
Age Report
Players aged 25 or under in the current lineup: 5
Players aged 32 or over in the current lineup: 1
There is 1 player in this lineup that will (most likely) be playing their last World Cup this year: Cristiano Ronaldo.
There are 5 players in this lineup that can play at least two more: Mendes, Costa, Dias, Neves, Leao.
The remaining 5 players could play in one or two more World Cups.
Youngest player: Nuno Mendes, born 19 June 2002 (20)
Oldest player: Cristiano Ronaldo, born 5 February 1985 (37)
Average squad age: 27.1
World Cup Qatar – Group H
Fixtures:
Thursday 24 November Portugal vs Ghana
Monday 28 November Portugal vs Uruguay
Friday 2 December Korea Rep. vs Portugal
Our view:
Portugal has an incredibly talented group of players, led by a Cristiano Ronaldo who will undoubtedly be focused on going as far as possible in what could be his last major international tournament. His teammates won’t need any extra motivation, that’s for sure. Their group for the World Cup in Qatar looks to be very open, although Portugal and Uruguay will always be the favorites to progress to the next round..
