The Portugal national team is one of the best teams in the world. It is ranked 9th in the FIFA rankings. The Portuguese team is notable for its enviable stability in participation in the World and European Championships. Since 2000, the Portuguese have participated in all championships. The head coach of the Portuguese national team is Fernando Santos. Santos’ football career began with the Portuguese youth club Benfica as a defender.
Portugal squad for the 2022 World Cup
Goalkeepers：
- Rui Patricio
- Diogo Costa
- Jose Sa
Defenders：
- Pepe
- Danilo Pereira
- Rafael Guerreiro
- Ruben Dias
- Joao Cancelo
- 5 Nuno Mendes
- Diogo Dalot
- Thiago Djalo
Midfielders：
- William Carvalho
- Bernardo Silva
- Juan Mario
- Bruno Fernandes
- Ruben Neves
- João Paligna
- Matheus Nunes
- Vitinya
forwards：
- Cristiano Ronaldo
- Diogo Jota
- Rafa Silva
- Juan Felix
- Raphael Lean
- Ricardo Horta
- Pedro Neto
The Portugal national team is one of the best teams in the world. It is ranked 9th in the FIFA rankings. The Portuguese team is notable for its enviable stability in participation in the World and European Championships. Since 2000, the Portuguese have participated in all championships.
The head coach of the Portuguese national team is Fernando Santos. Santos’ football career began with the Portuguese youth club Benfica as a defender. Started coaching in 1987. His track record includes such major clubs as Porto of Portugal, AEK of Greece and Panathinaikos. From 2010 to 2014, he managed the Greek national team quite successfully. Under his leadership, the Greeks reached the playoff stage twice: at Euro 2012 and the 2014 World Cup. In 2014, he led the Portuguese national team and led the team to the 2016 European Champions.
Portugal qualified for the World Cup in Qatar through play-offs. According to the results of the draw, Portugal will start their way to the 22nd World Cup from group H. Its rivals will be: the national team of Ghana, Uruguay and the Republic of Korea.
The 2022 World Cup will be the 8th for Portugal in which they will compete for the title.
The best achievements of the national team
The first World Cup, and by far the most successful, for the Portuguese national team was held in 1966 in England. The Portuguese then became the third, having beaten the USSR team. In 2006, they took 4th place in Germany, losing in the match for 3rd place to the hosts of the championship.
The European Championship was submitted to the Portuguese in 2016 in France. At the home championship in 2004, the team took 2nd place, losing in the final to the Greek team.
There was also a prize-winning place at the Confederations Cup, in 2017 the team became the third.
At the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League tournament, they became the winners.
Interesting facts about the national team
The first game of the Portuguese national team took place in 1921 in Madrid, against the Spanish national team. The match ended with the score 3:1 in favor of the Spaniards.
On account of the Portuguese national team three of the biggest victories. With a score of 0:8, the Portuguese won: twice the Liechtenstein team (1994, 1999) and the Kuwait team (2003).On account of the Portuguese national team three of the biggest victories. With a score of 0:8, the Portuguese won: twice the Liechtenstein team (1994, 1999) and the Kuwait team (2003).
Bets and predictions for Portugal
The Portuguese national team is a strong opponent, however, the team is not among the main contenders for the 2022 World Cup gold. As she was not listed at Euro 2016, she nevertheless won the championship.
Fernando Santos has gathered a lot of technical players for the team who can read the game well. Among them are:
- Cristiano Ronaldo is the captain and striker of the Portuguese national team. He plays for the English football club Manchester United. The main star not only in Portugal, but also in the world. Winner of numerous personal awards. IFFIIS recognized Ronaldo as the best striker in the history of football. He is the champion of the national team: in terms of the number of matches played – more than 189 and the number of goals scored – 117. He has been playing for the national team since 2003. He became the champion of Euro 2016, silver medalist of Euro 2004 and bronze at Euro 2012. Winner of the UEFA Nations League 2018/19. At the Confederations Cup 2017, as part of the national team, he took 3rd place. Cristiano Ronaldo is the first player to win the English, Spanish and Italian professional football leagues.
- Bruno Fernandes is a midfielder for Portugal and Manchester United. Significant progress in the national team. Participated in the 2016 Olympic Games and the 2018 World Cup. Winner of the UEFA Nations League 2018/19. He was named Portuguese Footballer of the Year in 2019.
- Bernando Silva is a midfielder for the English national team and Manchester City. As part of the national team, he won the 2018/19 UEFA Nations League and took 3rd place in the 2017 Confederations Cup. Together with the club he won the FA Cup and Super Cup 2018, 2019. Four-time champion of England.
How will Portugal perform in the playoffs?
The Portuguese national team is the leader of its quartet, only the national team of Uruguay can compete with it. The Portuguese were frankly lucky with the group, and they simply have to go to the playoff series. Bookmakers rate the odds at 1/8:
- Portugal – 1 to 1.13
- Uruguay – 1 to 1.42
- Ghana – 1 to 3.40
- Republic of Korea – 3.60.
Provided that the team of Portugal advance to the playoffs from the first place, their opponent could be the national team of Switzerland or Serbia. In this confrontation, the odds of passing in ¼ are on the side of Portugal, with odds of 1.90, Switzerland – 5.00 and Serbia – 7.00. Such an option would be a good opportunity for Portugal to advance to the quarter-finals.
The quarter-finals of the 2022 World Cup could push the Portuguese against the Belgians or the Germans. At this stage of the tournament, the opponent is already quite serious. Germany will try to rehabilitate itself after the last setback, while Belgium showed a good result at the last World Cup. Fonbet evaluates the semi-finals of these teams with coefficients: Portugal – 3.40, Germany – 3.00, Belgium – 3.40.
Will Portugal reach the World Cup final?
The Portuguese national team often produces unpredictable results. In Qatar, Cristiano Ronaldo’s team has a chance, if not to surpass, then at least repeat the success of 1966.
At the beginning of the 2022 World Cup, for the participation of Portugal in the World Cup final, Fonbet offers to bet with a coefficient of 7.00, and for a victory – 15.00.
