Portugal Football History :
Portugal’s national football team also known in Portuguese as “Seleccao Nacional de Futebol de Portugal” is governed by the Portugal Football Federation and represents the country in international football competitions.
The team is also known by its nickname ‘The Navigators’. Its participation in World Football Cup started in the year 1966 and the team has appeared five times in the mega tournament so far. In the UEFA European Championship, the participation of the national soccer team began in 1984 and up until now it has played six times in the tournament. Estadio Nacional is the home stadium of the Portugal national football team. Located in the Jamor sports complex in Oeiras near Lisbon, the national stadium is also known as Estadio do Jamor.
Currently the team stands at 5th position at World Soccer Rankings and the highest position earned ever was 3rd in May-June 2010 and October 2012. Similarly in World Football Elo Ratings the team currently stands at 8th position while the highest rank in this category it earned was 2nd position in June 2006. The team was invited to play in the Summer Olympics Football Tournament of 1928, 1996, and 2004. Besides this, the Portugal national football team was also invited to play at the SkyDome Cup held in Toronto and won the trophy which is considered as their only win at the senior level.
Portugal’s Success Story :
Portugal’s national football team hasn’t earned any significant achievement in the World Football Cup. The only notable achievement was finishing at 3rd place in 1966 and at 4th place in 2006. In the 1966 World Football Cup, they lost 2-1 to hosts England. Their UEFA European Championship record is decent where the team finished as runners-up once in 2004, entered the semi-finals thrice in 1984, 2000 and 2012 and also entered quarter finals twice in 1996 and 2008 respectively. The team was also bestowed with the honor of World Football Cup Most Entertaining Team in the year 2006. Besides this, there are several occasions when Portugal football players have scored hat-tricks in the World Football Cup. Despite holding an average record in the game, Portugal has managed to enter the next World Football Cup of 2014 which will be held in Brazil.
Portugal squad |
|||
| Goalkeepers: | Anthony Lopes (Lyon/FRA) Beto (Sevilla/ESP) Eduardo (Braga) Rui Patr’cio (Sporting Lisbon) |
Defenders: | AndreG Almeida (Benfica) Antunes (Malaga/ESP) Bruno Alves (Fenerbahce/TUR) Fabio Coentrao (Real Madrid/ESP) Joao Pereira (Valencia/ESP) Neto (Zenit St. Petersburg/RUS) Pepe (Real Madrid/ESP) Ricardo Costa (Valencia/ESP) Rolando (Inter Milan/ITA) |
| Midfielders: | Andre Gomes (Benfica) Joao Mario (Vitoria Setubal) Joao Moutinho (Monaco/FRA) Miguel Veloso (Dynamo Kiev/UKR) Raul Meireles (Fenerbahce/TUR) Ruben Amorim (Benfica) William Carvalho (Sporting Lisbon) |
Forwards: | Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid/ESP) Eder (Braga), Helder Postiga (Lazio/ITA) Hugo Almeida (Besiktas/TUR) Ivan Cavaleiro (Benfica) Nani (Manchester United/ENG) Rafa (Braga) Ricardo Quaresma Silvestre Varela (both Porto) Vieirinha (Wolfsburg/GER) |
Portugal’s performance in all World Football Cups :
| World Football Cup Year | World Football Cup Hosting Nation | World Football Cup Qualification | Quarter Final Birth | Semi Final Birth | Third Place Secured | Reached Final | Title Won |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2010 | South Africa | Yes | No | – | – | – | – |
| 2006 | Germany | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | No | – |
| 2002 | South Korea | Yes | No | – | – | – | – |
| 1998 | France | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1994 | United States | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1990 | Italy | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1986 | Mexico | Yes | No | – | – | – | – |
| 1982 | Spain | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1978 | Argentina | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1974 | West Germany | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1970 | Mexico | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1966 | England | Yes | Yes | Yes | Yes | No | – |
| 1962 | Chile | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1958 | Sweden | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1954 | Switzerland | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1950 | Brazil | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1938 | France | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1934 | Italy | No | – | – | – | – | – |
| 1930 | Uruguay | Did Not Enter | – | – | – | – | – |
| Total | 19 World Football Cup | 5 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 |
