Portugal National Football Team, World Cup 2018

Synopsis

The Portugal National Football Team, Portuguesa de Futebol has been representing Portugal since 1921. The team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation. FIFA has ranked the country in 3^rd position, as of November 2017.

Portugal has recently won the 2016 UEFA European Championship. The team made a 1-0 victory over France in the final played at the Stade de France. They have made many other UEFA appearances in the past.

Here's a short video of the team celebrating their victory, Euro 2016.

Fernando Santos, The Coach

The team is currently managed by the coach, Fernando Santos. Appointed on September 23, 2014, Santos made the history leading the team to the successful win at the Euro 2016.

 

The Lisbon born coach, and a retired Portuguese footballer, Santos has coached many other teams like C.F. Estrela da Amadora, FC Porto, AEK Athens F.C., Benfica, PAOK, and Greece national team in the past.

Santos is currently coaching the Portugal national team, leading the team towards the success. Following the successful victory in the Euro 2016, he will show up his best in the 2018 World Cup as well.

André Silva

Portuguese professional footballer, André Silva currently plays as a striker for Italian Club A.C. Milan and the Portugal national team. He has represented Portugal at the 2014 European U-19 Championship.

Silva made his senior international debut at the 2017 Confederations Cup finishing third with his team. He made his appearances in Taça de Portugal, Taça da Liga, Coppa Italia, and UEFA Europa League.

Silva scored his first goal with the main squad on 7 October 2016, featuring the entire 6–0 defeat of Andorra for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.

Cristiano Ronaldo, The Star

Cristiano Ronaldo, the captain of the team, is one of the greatest footballers in history. He is the all-time leading scorer for both Portugal and Real Madrid. He has been honored as The Best FIFA Men’s Player for the last two years.

Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of all time by the Portuguese Football Federation in 2015. Made his senior international debut at the age of 18, he is Portugal’s most capped player and top goal scorer of all time.

Ronaldo has received the Silver Boot as the second—highest goal-scorer of the tournament, Euro 2016. He ranked the world’s highest paid athlete by Forbes in 2016 and 2017. Also, he was named as the world’s famous athlete by ESPN in 2016 and 2017.

Records

Portugal has made several records in the history of football. Here the list of the records made by the country:

• Most goals scored in one World Cup

        9 – Eusébio (1966)

• Most goals scored in World Cup finals

        9 – Eusébio (1966)

• Most matches played in World Cup

        13 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2006, 2010 & 2014)

• Most goals scored in one European Championship

        4 – Nuno Gomes (2000)

• Most goals scored in European Championship finals

        9 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2004, 2008, 2012 & 2016)

• Most matches played in European Championship finals

        21 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2004, 2008, 2012 & 2016)

• Oldest player

         38 years, 8 months and 3 days – Vítor Damas (1–3 against Morocco on 11 June 1986)

• Oldest outfield player

        38 years, 1 month and 4 days – Ricardo Carvalho (3–3 against Hungary on 22 June 2016)

• Oldest goalscorer

        36 years, 10 months and 11 days – Ricardo Carvalho (2–1 against Serbia on 29 March 2015)

• Youngest debutant

         17 years, 6 months and 24 days – Paulo Futre (5–0 against Finland on 21 September 1983)

• Youngest goalscorer

         17 years, 9 months and 25 days – Fernando Chalana (2–1 against Cyprus on 5 December 1976)

• Longest national career

        17 years, 3 months and 5 days – Vítor Damas (From 6 April 1969 to 11 July 1986)

• Longest national career for an outfield player

       15 years, 9 months and 18 days – Nuno Gomes (From 24 January 1996 to 11 October 2011)

• Youngest player to reach 100 caps

         27 years, 8 months and 11 days – Cristiano Ronaldo (1–1 against Northern Ireland on 16 October                     2012)

• Most hat-tricks

        5 – Cristiano Ronaldo (includes four goals against Andorra on 7 October 2016)

• Youngest player to score a hat-trick

        20 years, 11 months and 4 days – André Silva (6–0 against the Faroe Islands on                        10 October 2016)

List of Most capped players

#	Name	Caps	Goals	First cap	Latest cap
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	152	85	20 August 2003	20 June 2018
2	Luís Figo	127	32	12 October 1991	8 July 2006
3	Nani	112	24	1 September 2006	2 July 2017
4	João Moutinho	112	7	17 August 2005	20 June 2018
5	Fernando Couto	110	8	19 December 1990	30 June 2004
6   7	Pepe	97	5	21 November 2007	20 June 2018
	Rui Costa	94	26	31 March 1993	4 July 2004
7	Bruno Alves	94	11	5 June 2007	3 September 2017
9	Ricardo Carvalho	89	5	11 October 2003	22 June 2016
10	Pauleta	88	47	20 August 1997	8 July 2006

 

List of Top goalscorers

#	Name	Goals	Caps	Average	First cap	Latest cap
1	Cristiano Ronaldo	79	147	0.53	20 August 2003	10 October 2017
2	Pauleta	47	88	0.53	20 August 1997	8 July 2006
3	Eusébio	41	64	0.64	8 October 1961	13 October 1973
4	Luís Figo	32	127	0.25	12 October 1991	8 July 2006
5	Nuno Gomes	29	79	0.37	24 January 1996	11 October 2011
6	Hélder Postiga	27	71	0.38	13 June 2003	14 November 2014
7	Rui Costa	26	94	0.28	31 March 1993	4 July 2004
8	Nani	24	112	0.21	1 September 2006	2 July 2017
9	João Pinto	23	81	0.30	12 October 1991	14 June 2002
10	Nené	22	66	0.33	21 April 1971	23 June 1984
	Simão	22	85	0.26	18 October 1998	29 June 2010

Here's the list of Portugal's 23-man squad heading to Russia.

Goalkeepers	Defenders	Midfielders	Forwards
Anthony Lopes (Lyon), Beto (Goztepe), Rui Patricio (Sporting Lisbon)	Bruno Alves (Rangers), Cedric Soares (Southampton), Jose Fonte (Dalian Yifang), Mario Rui (Napoli), Pepe (Besiktas), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Ricardo Pereira (Porto), Ruben Dias (Benfica)	Adrien Silva (Leicester), Bruno Fernandes (Sporting Lisbon), Joao Mario (West Ham), Joao Moutinho (AS Monaco), Manuel Fernandes (Lokomotiv Moscow), William Carvalho (Sporting)	Andre Silva (AC Milan), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Gelson Martins (Sporting Lisbon), Goncalo Guedes (Valencia), Ricardo Quaresma (Besiktas)

FIFA World Cup 2018

European champions Portugal booked their place in the World Cup 2018 after narrowly topping Europe's Group B on goal difference, edging out Switzerland on the final day to avoid the playoffs.

Portugal has made six World Cup appearances to date. Portugal will be playing against Spain, Morocco, and IR Iran in the second edition of the tournament, World Cup 2018.

Portugal made their World Cup debut in 1966, finishing third in the finals. They stood the fourth place in the 2006 FIFA World Cup.

For more details regarding the matches have a look at this World Cup schedule.