Portugal

180 entrants predicted Portugal to win the World Cup

241 entrants are supporting Portugal

Top 10 Portugal supporters

Pos	Name	Po
1	portugese2envy australia	113
2	Xico Costa caparica	109
3	Endafio   Tregaron	101
4	TIAGO UNITED STATES	98
5	McBear  Merstham	97
5	Hennie  New Zealand	97
7	Darren711  The Port	94
7	Yokomo  Finland	94
9	Carloto United States	93
10	Robert Moslet Norway	92

Group matches

Team profile

• Coach: Luiz Felipe Scolari (2003-)
• World Cup appearances: 4
• First World Cup: 1966
• Best performance at World Cup: Third place, 1966

The Portugal national football team is the national football team of Portugal and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation. Portugal has never won any major competition at senior level, but they usually play very attractive football and can produce some great performances, playing head-to-head with the world's best national sides. They reached their first major final at Euro 2004 (which they hosted) losing to Greece. Portugal's best performance yet was in the 1966 World Cup, in their very first World Cup appearance, when they reached the semifinals and lost only to eventual world champions England. Led by their legendary player Eusébio, they put up amazing performances, knocking out previous World Cup champions Brazil and fighting back from a 3-0 result in the quarterfinals against North Korea, winning by 5-3. Portugal eventually finished in third place and Eusébio was considered the best player of the tournament. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup saw results that to Portugal's supporters were appalling. In 1986 Portugal arrived in Mexico as semi-finalists of Euro 84, but a player uprising in Saltillo (later named Saltillo Affair) against poor conditions, followed by harsh punishment against key players involved in the uprising, undermined player confidence. Although they did beat group favourites England in the first game, they lost the remaining games to Poland and Morocco (which turned to be Morocco's first win ever in the World Cup). Months before the start of the 2002 World Cup, Portugal lost in the Estádio do Bessa against Finland 1-4. This proved to be a preview of things to come, when Portugal (for some the dark horse in the competition) failed miserably to get through the group stage, after losing to the United States in the opening match 3-2, beating Poland 4-0 but losing 1-0 against South Korea, in a game where João Vieira Pinto punched referee Angel Sanchez after being sent off early in the game. Weeks later, it was revealed that before the final match the players argued with federation representatives about prizes. Before the competition, midfielder Daniel Kenedy was removed from the squad after failing to pass a doping test and replaced with Hugo Viana, who did not play in the competition. This decision, along with leaving qualifying phase goalkeeper Ricardo Pereira on the bench in favour of Vítor Baía, led to much questioning about then-coach António Oliveira's choices. Few national teams have had to live up to greater expectations than the Portugal team from roughly 1994 to 2004. The Portugal under-20 national team won two successive FIFA World Youth Championships in 1989 and 1991 with a virtual galaxy of stars, among them midfielders Luís Figo and Rui Costa and forward João Vieira Pinto; these stars were dubbed the golden generation. However, they were never able to transfer their success at youth level to ultimate victory at senior level. The remaining members of the "golden generation", along with other players that appeared at the highest level after the 2002 World Cup (such as Maniche, the brazilian-born Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, Miguel and Paulo Ferreira) and younger talent such as Cristiano Ronaldo, finally led Portugal to its first-ever senior-level final at Euro 2004. Portugal lost 1-0 to Greece in the final. Their only win in any international competition at senior level remains the 1995 SkyDome Cup in Canada. The team has proven itself equally capable of mediocre performances against inferior teams. On October 9, 2004, Portugal suffered a humiliating 2-2 draw against Liechtenstein in a 2006 World Cup qualifier. The Liechtenstein team, playing at home, had never earned a point in its previous 20 World Cup qualifiers, and Portugal blew a 2-0 halftime lead. The Portuguese media savaged the team after the draw; one Lisbon paper called the team "Europe's Laughingstock." The team took out its frustrations four days later with a 7-1 demolition of Russia, the largest defeat ever for the Russian side since the demise of the Soviet Union. On October 8, 2005, Portugal secured its place in the 2006 World Cup with a closer-than-expected 2-1 home win in Aveiro against the same Liechtenstein team. This time, Portugal fell behind 1-0 at halftime, but came back to avoid an even greater embarrassment.

World Cup record

• 1930 - Did not enter
• 1934 to 1962 - Did not qualify
• 1966 - Third place
• 1970 to 1982 - Did not qualify
• 1986 - Round 1
• 1990 to 1998 - Did not qualify
• 2002 - Round 1
• 2006 - Qualified

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