Portugal World Cup Information

The Portugal national football team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), finishing 4th at the last World Cup. The first appearance in the 1966 FIFA World cup saw them reach the semi final, losing 2-1 at Wembley to the eventual world champions England. Portugal finished in third place and Eusébio was considered the best player of the tournament. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times. In the 1986 tournament, players went on strike over prize-money and refused to train between their first and second games.

In 2003, the Portuguese Football Federation decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian who had led the Brazil national football team to win the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Scolari led Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, where they lost to Greece, and to their second World Cup semifinal in 2006. Scolari has now joined premier league team Chelsea and former Manchester United coach, Carlos Queiroz, is now the Portugal National team manager.

Portugal at the FIFA World Cup

1966 FIFA World Cup

The team started out with three wins in the group stage where they were in Group C when they beat Hungary, Bulgaria and two-time defending champions Brazil. Secondly they beat surprise quarter-finalist Korea DPR 5-3, with Eusébio getting four markers to overturn a 0-3 deficit. Later, they reached the semifinals where they were beaten by hosts England 2-1. Portugal then defeated USSR 2-1 in the third place match for their best World Cup finish to date. Eusébio was the top scorer of the World Cup with nine goals. He also played in the 1970 and 1974 World Cup qualifiers but Portugal failed to make the tournament Finals.

1986 FIFA World Cup

In qualification round, Portugal had to beat West Germany in Stuttgart in the last qualifying game to be able to go through to the final round. Portugal won 0-1 and become the first team to beat West Germany at their home ground in an official match. Portugal was a fan favourite to make a good campaign because of their 1984 Euro Cup. The team exited early in the group stages after a win and two losses. They started with a 1-0 win to England. Later they were beaten by Poland and Morocco, 1-0 and 3-1 respectively.

1998 FIFA World Cup

The team almost qualified for the tournament that was to be hosted by France. However, during a qualifier in Germany, Rui Costa was controversially sent off for taking too long to walk off the field. Germany drew the crucial game and was thus able to qualify. This incident is regarded as one of the darkest in Portugal's football history, with FIFA being accused of favouritism in support of Germany, who were the defending Euro 96 champions.

2002 FIFA World Cup

Portugal entered the tournament as favourites to win Group D. However, they were upset 3-2 by the United States, at one point being three goals down in the match. They then rebounded with a 4-0 thrashing of Poland, with Pauleta getting a hat-trick.

Needing a draw to advance, they lost the final group game to hosts South Korea. Argentinian referee Ángel Sánchez sent off João Vieira Pinto for a tackle on Park Ji-Sung. Beto was ejected for his second yellow card of the match, reducing Portugal to nine men, and Park scored the winner to allow the Koreans to advance.

2006 FIFA World Cup

The Portuguese squad qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany under the leadership of manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. In the qualification, Portugal defeated Russia 7-1, and finished first place in Group D of the WC finals, with victories over Angola (1-0, goal from Pauleta, the leading goalscorer in the World Cup qualifiers), Iran (2-0, scored by Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo) and Mexico (2-1, goals from Maniche and Simão). Only Mexico's Francisco Fonseca was able to score against Portugal.

Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the Round of 16 on June 25 in Nuremberg. The only goal came courtesy of a Maniche strike in an acrimonious match marked by 16 yellow cards, with 4 players (Khalid Boulahrouz, Costinha, Deco and Giovanni van Bronckhorst) being sent off (see the Battle of Nuremberg).

On Saturday, July 1 at Gelsenkirchen, Portugal drew 0-0 after extra-time with England, but won 3-1 on penalties to reach their first World Cup semi-final since 1966. The game was marred by a violent challenge on Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho by England's Wayne Rooney, which resulted in him being sent off. Rooney later denied that it was intentional.

Portugal lost 1-0 against France in the semi-finals on Wednesday, July 5 at Munich. Two players had been forced to sit out due to accumulated bookings from the round of 16 and quarter-finals. It did not help that the team faced a hostile crowd of English and French fans; they relentlessly booed Ronaldo for his perceived unsportsmanlike behaviour in the previous round. As in the semi-finals of Euro 2000, Portugal were narrowly defeated by France, with the decisive goal being a penalty scored by Zinédine Zidane after Thierry Henry was awarded a penalty from a foul committed by Carvalho.

Portugal faced Germany in the third place play-off match on July 8 in Stuttgart. The match was notable for being captain Luís Figo's last before retirement from international football though, surprisingly, he was not selected to start the game, coming on as a substitute near the end and setting up Portugal's goal in a 3-1 defeat. All three German goals had the direct participation of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who scored twice and had another shot turned into an own goal by Portugal's Petit. Ultimately, the team won the Most Entertaining Team award for their play during the World Cup, in an award always organized through public participation in a poll.