Portugal may be considered one of the world’s top soccer nations today, but their World Cup history was relatively limited before this century. The 2026 edition is only their ninth appearance, as they had qualified for just two tournaments before 2002. Since then, however, they have reached each of the last seven World Cups.
Their best-ever finish came in 1966, when Portugal placed third in their first World Cup appearance. Led by Eusébio, they reached the semifinals before losing 2-1 to England, then defeated the Soviet Union in the third-place match to secure the bronze medal. Eusébio finished as the tournament’s top scorer with nine goals.
That remarkable debut remained unmatched for four decades, largely because Portugal were not regular participants in the competition. They returned to the World Cup in 1986 but were eliminated in the group stage after finishing fourth behind Morocco, England, and Poland despite winning one match. They then failed to qualify again until 2002.
Other performances
Even if they have never matched their best finish, Portugal came close in 2006. With a young Cristiano Ronaldo alongside experienced stars such as Luís Figo and Rui Costa, they reached the semifinals before losing 1-0 to France.
Figo was the team captain (Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)
Their campaign ended on a disappointing note after a 3-1 defeat to host nation Germany in the third-place match. Earlier in that tournament, Portugal had survived the infamous Round of 16 clash against the Netherlands, later nicknamed the “Battle of Nuremberg” because it produced a record four red cards and 16 yellow cards.
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Their next deepest run came at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, where they were among the favorites to challenge for the title. However, their campaign ended in the quarterfinals with a surprising 1-0 defeat to Morocco.
Their 2026 campaign
The main objective for every team is to advance from the group stage, while the seeded nations are generally expected to do so as group winners. That was not the case for Portugal, who opened the tournament with a draw against DR Congo. Even after defeating Uzbekistan, they still needed to beat Colombia to finish first in the group but were unable to do so.
