Early World Cup attempts Portugal were not invited to the
1930 World Cup, which only featured a finals stage and no
qualification round. The team took part in the
1934 FIFA World Cup qualification, but failed to eliminate their Spanish opponents, aggregating two defeats in the two-legged round, with a 9–0 loss in
Madrid and 2–1 loss in
Lisbon for an aggregate score of 11–1. In the
1938 FIFA World Cup qualification, the
Seleção played one game against Switzerland held in neutral ground in
Milan. They lost 2–1 and failed to qualify for the finals. The
Second World War delayed the World Cup until
1950 and subsequently, the national team rarely played. A 10–0 home friendly loss against
England, two years after the war, still stands as their biggest ever defeat.
1950s and early 1960s Similar to 1934, Portugal
were to play a two-legged round against
Spain. After a 5–1 defeat in Madrid, they managed to draw the second game 2–2. With a 7–3 aggregate score, they did not qualify on the pitch, however they would later be invited to replace
Turkey, which had withdrawn from participating. Portugal refused to participate. In
1954 FIFA World Cup qualification, the team would play
Austria; the Austrians won the first game with a 9–1 result. The best the Portuguese could do was hold the Austrians to a goalless draw in Lisbon, resulting in a 9–1 aggregate defeat.
Four years later, Portugal won a qualifying match for the first time, a 3–0 home victory over
Italy. Nevertheless, they finished last in a group that also featured
Northern Ireland; only the first-placed team, Northern Ireland, would qualify. 1960 was the year that UEFA created the
European Championship. The
first edition was a knock-out tournament with the last four teams participating in the finals stage that only featured one leg while the earlier stages had two legs. In the first round, the
Seleção das Quinas won 2–0 at
East Germany and then 3–2 in
Porto, advancing with a 5–2 two-legged win. Portugal faced Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals, losing 6–3 on aggregate. Portugal faced England and
Luxembourg in
1962 FIFA World Cup qualification and ended up second in the group, behind England, who would be the only team in Group 6 to qualify. In the
1964 European Championship, Portugal played against
Bulgaria in the
qualifying rounds. The Portuguese lost in
Sofia and won in Lisbon. With the round tied 4–4, a replay was needed in a neutral country. In the
Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Portugal lost 1–0 thanks to a late strike from
Georgi Asparuhov. They topped the group with only one draw and one defeat in six games and finally qualified for a FIFA World Cup, with a 1–0 away win against Czechoslovakia and Turkey and a 5–1 home win against the Turks being notable results. Bulgaria 3–0, and two-time defending champions
Brazil 3–1. Secondly, they beat quarter-finalists
North Korea 5–3, with
Eusébio getting four markers to overturn a 3–0 deficit. Later, they reached the semi-finals where they were beaten by hosts England 2–1; in this game, Portugal would have played in
Liverpool, but as England were the hosts, FIFA decided that the game would be played in London. Portugal then defeated the
Soviet Union 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. Portugal would not qualify for another World Cup for 20 years.
1980s Portugal won their
Euro 1984 qualifying group that contained
Finland, Poland and the Soviet Union with a win over the latter, allowing them to qualify and be placed in Group B alongside Spain,
West Germany and Romania in the finals. In the first two matches, they drew 0–0 and 1–1 against West Germany and Spain, respectively. Needing a win in the last game against West Germany in
Stuttgart, Portugal won the game to become the first team to beat West Germany at their home ground in an official match. The team exited early in the group stages after a win and two losses. They started with a 1–0 win against England, but later were beaten by Poland and
Morocco 1–0 and 3–1 respectively. Their staying in Mexico was marked by the
Saltillo Affair, where players refused to train in order to win more prizes from the
Portuguese Football Federation. Mexico marked their last World Cup appearance until 2002.
1995–2006: The golden generation At
UEFA Euro 1996, Portugal finished first in Group D, and in the
quarter-finals, they lost 1–0 to the
Czech Republic. 0–1 to Greece with a header from
Angelos Charisteas (pictured). Portugal failed to
qualify for the
1998 FIFA World Cup. In
Euro 2000 qualifying, Portugal finished second in their group, one point short of first-placed Romania. However, after finishing as the top runner-up nation in qualifying, Portugal nonetheless secured a spot in the finals. They then defeated England 3–2, Romania 1–0 and Germany 3–0 to finish first in
Group A, then defeated Turkey in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals against France, Portugal were eliminated in extra time when
Zinedine Zidane converted a
penalty. Referee
Günter Benkö awarded the spot kick for a handball after
Abel Xavier blocked a shot. Xavier,
Nuno Gomes and
Paulo Bento were all given lengthy suspensions for subsequently shoving the referee. The final eventually finished 2–1. During
2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Portugal won the group. Several problems and poor judgement decisions occurred during the preparation and tournament itself and were widely reported in the Portuguese press, Portugal underachieved and ended third in its group stage, subsequently eliminated. Manager
António Oliveira was fired after the World Cup. at
Euro 2012, assumed the captaincy in the wake of Euro 2008. The next major competition, the
UEFA Euro 2004, was held in Portugal. For preparation, the Football Federation made a contract with
Luiz Felipe Scolari to manage the team until the tournament ended. The host nation lost the first game against Greece 1–2. They achieved their first win against
Russia 2–0 and also beat Spain 1–0. They went on to play against England, in a 2–2 draw that went into penalties, with Portugal winning. Portugal beat the Netherlands 2–1 in the semi-finals, and suffered a second defeat from Greece, 1–0, in the final. After the tournament ended, many players belonging to the
Geração de Ouro (Golden Generation), abandoned their international footballing careers, with only
Luís Figo remaining in the team, despite a temporary retirement. The silver lining for Portugal was the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was selected in the UEFA Euro All-Star team. While Portugal were playing in the competition, Scolari agreed in a new two-year deal with the Federation. Portugal finished first in the
qualifying round for the 2006 World Cup, and topped Group D in the World Cup, with victories over
Angola (1–0),
Iran (2–0) and
Mexico (2–1). Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in the Round of 16 in an infamous matched that has come to be known as the
Battle of Nuremberg, marked by violent fouls and many players
cautioned or
sent off by referee
Valentin Ivanov. Portugal drew 0–0 after extra time with England in the quarter-final, but won 3–1 on
penalties to reach their first World Cup semi-final since 1966. Portugal lost the semi-final 1–0 against France, and were then defeated 3–1 by the tournament hosts, Germany, in the third-place play-off match.
2006–2014: Post-golden generation and mixed results For
Euro 2008 Portugal finished second in
qualification behind Poland, and won their first two group games against Turkey and the Czech Republic, although a loss to co-hosts Switzerland set up a quarter-final matchup with Germany which the team lost 3–2. After the tournament, Scolari left to take over at
Chelsea. Afterwards,
Carlos Queiroz was appointed as the head coach of the Portugal national team. Portugal
came second in the qualifying stages for the
2010 FIFA World Cup under Queiroz, then beat
Bosnia and Herzegovina in a
play-off, thereby reaching every tournament in the decade. A 19-match undefeated streak, in which the team conceded only three goals, ended with a loss to eventual champions Spain in the round of 16, 1–0. Queiroz was later criticised for setting up his team in an overly cautious way. After the World Cup, squad regulars
Simão,
Paulo Ferreira,
Miguel and
Tiago all retired from international football. Queiroz was banned from coaching the national team for one month after he tried to block a doping test to the team while preparing for the World Cup, as well as directing insulting words to the testers. In consequence, he received a further six-month suspension. Several media outbursts from Queiroz against the heads of the Portuguese Football Federation followed, which partly prompted his dismissal. Paulo Bento was appointed as his replacement at head coach. Bento's team qualified for Euro 2012; they were drawn with Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands in a widely speculated "
group of death". They lost their first game 0–1 to Germany, then beat Denmark 3–2. The final group stage match was against the Netherlands. After
Van der Vaart had given the Dutch a 1–0 lead, Ronaldo netted twice to ensure a 2–1 victory. Portugal finished second in the group and qualified for the knockout phase. Portugal defeated the Czech Republic 1–0 in the quarter-finals with a header from Ronaldo. The semi-final match was against Spain, who defeated Portugal 4–2 on penalties after a goalless draw. In
2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Portugal won 4–2 on aggregate in a play-off against Sweden with all four goals being scored by Ronaldo, and were drawn into
Group G with the United States, Germany and
Ghana. Their first match against the Germans was their worst-ever defeat in a World Cup, a 4–0 loss. They went on to draw 2–2 against the United States and won 2–1 against Ghana. However, the team were eliminated due to inferior goal difference to the Americans.
2016–2022: Fernando Santos era and first international glories In
UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, Bento was dismissed following a defeat to Albania and was replaced by
Fernando Santos in September 2014. After qualifying for the finals, Portugal finished third in Group F but advanced to the knockout stages as the third-best third place team following three straight draws. Portugal beat Croatia 1–0 after extra time in the round of 16 and then defeated Poland 5–3 on penalties to reach the semi-finals, where they defeated
Wales 2–0. In the
final against the hosts, France, Ronaldo went off injured. In extra time, substitute
Eder scored the winning goal for Portugal in the 109th minute with a strike from 25 yards past
Hugo Lloris. Following their
Euro 2016 victory, Portugal participated in the
2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. They finished top of their group, but lost to
Chile on penalties after a goalless draw in the
semi-finals, but rebounded in the
third place game, defeating Mexico 2–1 after extra time. At the
2018 FIFA World Cup, Portugal opened their campaign with a 3–3 draw with Spain, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a
hat-trick. After a 1–0 victory against Morocco, Portugal drew 1–1 with Iran to progress to the knockout round as group runners-up. Portugal were eliminated following a 2–1 defeat to
Uruguay in the
round of 16. Following the World Cup, Portugal won the inaugural
UEFA Nations League beating the Netherlands at the
Estádio do Dragão in Porto, with the only goal scored by
Gonçalo Guedes in the 60th minute. At
UEFA Euro 2020, Portugal were drawn into a group containing
France,
Germany and
Hungary which was widely speculated as being the "group of death". Portugal advanced to the
next round by defeating Hungary, drawing with France and losing to Germany. There, they faced
Belgium but lost 1–0. For the
2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Portugal were required to qualify for the finals via the
play-offs after finishing second in their group. Nevertheless, Portugal managed to beat
Turkey and
North Macedonia to qualify for the final tournament. At the 2022 World Cup, Portugal defeated
Ghana 3–2 in their first group game and then beat Uruguay 2–0. to qualify for the knockout stages. The Portuguese would demolish
Switzerland 6–1 in the next round, their highest tally in a World Cup knockout game since the
1966 World Cup, with
Gonçalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick. However, they were eliminated by tournament in the quarter-finals by
Morocco, 1–0. Following a disappointing World Cup campaign, Fernando Santos was dismissed on 15 December.
2023–present: Martinez era and Second Nations League title On 9 January 2023,
Roberto Martinez was announced as the new head coach of Portugal. On 11 September, Martinez led Portugal to their biggest victory in international history by defeating
Luxembourg 9–0 at home. Martinez's Portuguese side were one of the first European sides to advance from qualifying into the
UEFA Euro 2024 after their 3–2 win over
Slovakia, making it their quickest qualification to a major tournament in their history. Following a 2–0 home over Iceland, Martinez led Portugal to a perfect qualification campaign, overtaking the record for most scored and least scored against in a qualifying campaign in the country's history, with a record of 36 goals scored and only two goals conceded, keeping nine clean sheets in the process. Portugal also became one of the few European national teams to win all of their matches for the qualifiers of the
UEFA European Championship, with ten wins from ten matches, the first time in Portugal's international history. In their European Championship group, Portugal were paired with
Georgia,
Turkey and
Czechia. With wins against Czechia and Turkey and a loss to Georgia, Portugal qualified for the Round of 16 as group winners, where they played against
Slovenia. The game finished 0–0 and was decided on penalties, with Portuguese goalkeeper
Diogo Costa saving each of Slovenia's penalties, while Portugal scored all of theirs. Facing
France in the Quarter finals, the game again finished 0–0 and was decided on penalties; a miss by
João Felix meant France won 5–3, and Portugal were eliminated. On 9 June 2025, Roberto Martinez guided Portugal to their second
UEFA Nations League title after defeating the reigning European champions Spain 5–3 on penalties. ==Team image==