One other team besides Argentina, who has the utmost pressure of giving their legendary captain a proper fair well by clinching the World Cup title, is Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal.
Portugal is mostly taken as the class B favorite behind traditional heavyweights like Brazil, Germany, Argentina, France, and Italy.
Portugal’s main man Cristiano is currently at one of the lowest points of his club football career and now the ex-Real Madrid star could use some World Cup trophy to not only just make up for that but prove to his doubters that, in fact, this is one of his best career moments as a professional footballer. Not to mention this very well may be his last world cup.
So what players is Portugal bringing in their 26-man squad for the tournament in Qatar?
Portugal Squad Announced – Their 26-Men Roster For Their Campaign In the 2022 World Cup
| Position | Player | Club | Age | Caps |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Goalkeeper | Rui Patricio | Roma (ITA) | 34 | 104 |
| Goalkeeper | Jose Sa | Wolves (ENG) | 29 | 0 |
| Goalkeeper | Diogo Costa | Porto (POR) | 23 | 7 |
| Defender | Pepe | Porto (POR) | 39 | 128 |
| Defender | Raphael Guerreiro | Borussia Dortmund (GER) | 28 | 56 |
| Defender | Diogo Dalot | Manchester United (ENG) | 23 | 6 |
| Defender | Andre Silva | Benfica (POR) | 19 | 0 |
| Defender | Ruben Dias | Manchester City (ENG) | 25 | 39 |
| Defender | Nuno Mendes | PSG (FRA) | 20 | 16 |
| Defender | Danilo Pereira | PSG (FRA) | 31 | 63 |
| Defender | Joao Cancelo | Manchester City (ENG) | 28 | 37 |
| Midfielder | Otavio | Porto (POR) | 27 | 7 |
| Midfielder | Joao Palhinha | Fulham (ENG) | 27 | 15 |
| Midfielder | Bruno Fernandes | Manchester United (ENG) | 28 | 48 |
| Midfielder | Bernardo Silva | Manchester City (ENG) | 28 | 72 |
| Midfielder | Matheus Nunes | Wolves (ENG) | 24 | 9 |
| Midfielder | William Carvalho | Real Betis (ESP) | 30 | 75 |
| Midfielder | Vitinha | PSG (FRA) | 22 | 4 |
| Midfielder | Joao Mario | Benfica (POR) | 29 | 52 |
| Midfielder | Ruben Neves | Wolves (ENG) | 25 | 32 |
| Forward | Cristiano Ronaldo | Manchester United (ENG) | 37 | 191 |
| Forward | Ricardo Horta | Braga (POR) | 28 | 5 |
| Forward | Rafael Leao | AC Milan (ITA) | 23 | 11 |
| Forward | Joao Felix | Atletico Madrid (ESP) | 22 | 23 |
| Forward | Goncalo Ramos | Benfica (POR) | 21 | 0 |
| Forward | Andre Silva | RB Leipzig (GER) | 26 | 51 |
What Other Teams Are In The Portugal Group?
At the group stage, Portugal will be facing the South American big name, Uruguay. The match will be a repeat of the 2018 World Cup round of 16 when La Celeste knocked Portugal out by a score of 2-1. The next opponent Portugal will be facing is Ghana. The two have also met before at the 2014 edition of the competition where Cristiano’s side was victorious by 2-1. The other team the Iberian side will compete against is South Korea.
Portugal Fixtures
| Date | Match | Time (ET) | Stadium |
| Thurs, Nov. 24 | Portugal vs. Ghana | 11 a.m. | Stadium 974 |
| Mon, Nov. 28 | Portugal vs. Uruguay | 2 p.m. | Lusail Stadium |
| Fri, Dec. 2 | South Korea vs. Portugal | 10 a.m. | Education City Stadium |
Portugal Strengths
Three players playing in the top-level league, the EPL, namely, Bruno Fernandes, Jao Cancelo, and Bernardo Silva will increase the chances of giving more efficient passes to their talisman, Cristiano Ronaldo. The five-time Ballondr winner absolutely thrives when surrounded by elite-level and creative midfielders.
They also have the quality side-backs in the form of Man City’s Cancelo and PSG’s Nuno Mendes. Each of their paces won’t just track back the ball from the opponent’s forwards but also have an outrageous knack to provide promising assist or pre-assist in the penalty box.
As for the back, they have one of the best of the modern times, Ruben Dias likely to be accompanied by veteran and UCL winner, Pepe.
Portugal Weaknesses
The injury absence of Liverpool’s forward Diego Jota is very likely to make Ronaldo alone in the attacking front especially when the team is facing their equals or above.
The defense often finds it difficult to respond quickly, especially against teams that like to go directly from back to forward. Veteran shot-stopper Rui Patricio has also come across the one who is becoming more prone to errors in recent times.
Experts furthermore have projected that Ronaldo might become dull at times due to his lesser game time at Manchester United this season.
They also barely made it to this world cup group stage. The European Seleccao finished behind Serbia in their European qualifiers table. Following their final position, they had to play two more matches (but knockout) to secure a place in Qatar 2022.
On top of all this, their long-time coach, Santos has often failed to come up with new game plans when his team is set against bigger competitors.
