In this blog we will be taking a comprehensive look at the Portugal national football team and their chances at the FIFA World Cup. Are you a supporter of the Portugal football team? Check out betting tips and odds at LV BET Sportsbook and place your bets on your favourite team.
Portugal has appeared in the finals of the FIFA World Cup on seven occasions, the first being in 1966 when they came third. The record for the Portugal National team in the World Cup has been competitive but not the best as they are yet to lift the trophy. The first match was played against Hungary in 1966 when Portugal won 3-1. The biggest win recorded was in South Africa in 2010 when they beat North Korea 7-0, and the most significant defeat came against Germany in 2014 when they lost 4-0.
Read on to learn more about:
- Portugal’s football team FIFA World Cup history
- Portugal’s road to Qatar
- Portugal squad
- LV BET betting tips on Portugal
Portugal at the FIFA World Cup
Portugal had enjoyed some great campaigns in the FIFA World Cup most notably the first appearance in 1966 and 2006 when they managed to reach the semi-final. Portugal national football team managed to get into the semi-final in their first appearance at the FIFA World Cup as they lost out to the eventual winners and hosts, England.
The World Cup in 1966 will forever be remembered as the World Cup of Eusebio as he scored an outstanding tally of nine goals in one tournament. Putting Eusebio’s performance at the World Cup into perspective, Cristiano Ronaldo has scored seven goals in four different contests.
Portugal again reached the semi-final in 2006 when they managed to top the group with three wins and just one goal conceded in the process. In the round of 16, Maniche’s strike against the Netherlands was enough to see them through to the quarter-finals against England. The match had great drama, mostly remembered for the incident between Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney after the Englishman fouled and stepped on a Portuguese player, his then Manchester United teammate Ronaldo went over suggesting to the referee that he should be sent off. Needless to say, Rooney wasn’t all too pleased with this. The Englishman was dismissed, and Ronaldo followed up with a wink toward the crowd.
You can see the full game highlights here.
The semi-final was a tough match as France dominated the game and limited Portugal’s efforts. The match ended 1-0 in favour of France, and in the third-place playoff match, Portugal was beaten 3-1 by Germany.
The focus will be on Portugal as it might be the last chance for Portugal to boost themselves to glory with the help of Cristiano Ronaldo as it could be his last time competing for a World Cup.
Portugal successes and failures at the previous FIFA World Cup
Portugal are yet to reach the final of a World Cup, although they have come close on two separate occasions. The standout performance from the Portugal national football team will surely be their first appearance in England. They managed to win all three opening games of the group stage and avoid a disappointing result against North Korea when they went 3-0 behind. Eusebio had other plans and scored four goals and set up the fifth to complete one of the best comebacks in World Cup football history.
The worst performance for the Portugal national football team would be the 2002 and 2014, as they did not manage to make it out of the group stages. Another disappointing campaign was the one in 2010 when they only managed to score in one game out of the four games. The first game was a 0-0 against the Ivory Coast, followed by a flurry of goals against North Korea as Portugal netted seven times, but then again against Brazil, which was a 0-0 result and against Spain, they lost 1-0.
The campaign in 2014 was incredibly disappointing as the Portugal squad had a lot of promise with world-class talent that had won many trophies with their clubs but did not deliver on the World Cup stage. In the opening game, Portugal lost to Germany 4-0, followed by a 2-2 draw against the USA. The only win for the Portuguese game against Ghana as Ronaldo netted for the first time in the tournament.
Portugal’s road to the Qatar 2022 World Cup
The Portugal national football team competed in Group A in the European World Cup qualifiers. On the last day of the qualifying round, they lost to Serbia, meaning that Portugal had to go through the play-off route to secure their passage to Qatar.
In that playoff route, Portugal’s national team saw off Turkey 3-1, which set up a Final against North Macedonia, where Bruno Fernandes scored both goals to send his nation to the World Cup.
Portugal managed to get the results when they needed them the most, as with the incredible talent within their squad, and it would have been a great disappointment to not compete in the World Cup.
Who will Portugal play against at the Qatar 2022 World Cup?
Portugal will compete in the last group, Group H, with Ghana, Uruguay and South Korea. In the Group, Portugal are the outright favourites to top it after their three games. Uruguay are the most likely to follow Portugal out of the group as Ghana and South Korea are more likely to occupy the bottom two places.
The fixtures for the Portugal national football team are as follows:
- Portugal vs Ghana 24 November 2022 17:00 Stadium 974
- Portugal vs Uruguay 28 November 2022 20:00 Lusail Stadium
- South Korea vs Portugal 2 December 2022 16:00 Education City Stadium
Portugal squad for the World Cup in Qatar
Portugal are one of the teams that might take the Qatar World Cup by storm having an abundance of great players and their disposal and great experience in winning matches.
Fernando Santos is the Head Coach at the time of writing, following his successful campaign in the Euro, winning it for the first time for his nation. He will surely be the best man to lead his men to yet another successful World Cup campaign.
The team star will surely be the one and only Cristiano Ronaldo, the all-time leading goalscorer for his nation and a talisman for any team he plays in. He will be partnered with Manchester United teammate Bruno Fernandes and Real Madrid teammate Pepe, who will impose his dominant figure at the back. Bernardo Silva will provide the vision and that defence-splitting pass when needed in the middle of the park. Ruben Dias and Joao Cancelo will add to the defensive stability after another Premier League title win with Manchester City. The team has a great mix of players with up-and-coming talents, such as Rafael Leao, who had his breakthrough season with AC Milan, leading them to their first Serie A title in 12 years.
The Portugal national football team will surely be a team to watch as they have the talent to trouble any team they play against.
Where to see FIFA World Cup 2022 matches in Portugal?
All around Portugal, there will be places where you can enjoy a nice meal whilst watching the Portugal National team in action. Kick-off times will vary depending on the fixture, but all will be played in the late or early afternoon.
You will be able to watch all the action unfold in all FIFA World Cup license holders and bars and restaurants that own the rights to show the matches.
For more information, please visit the official FIFA website here.
Qatar FIFA World Cup 2022 tickets — prices, sale dates and tournament stages.
For more information regarding ticket sales and accessibility tickets, please visit the official website here.
All tickets are sold in Qatari riyal (QAR) to both residents of Qatar and International fans.
| FIFA World Cup round | Category I | Category II | Category III |
| Opening match | 2,250 | 1,600 | 1,100 |
| Group phase | 800 | 600 | 250 |
| 1/8 final | 1,000 | 750 | 350 |
| Quarterfinal | 1,550 | 1,050 | 750 |
| Semifinal | 3,480 | 2,400 | 1,300 |
| Match for 3rd place | 1,550 | 1,100 | 750 |
| Final | 5,850 | 3,650 | 2,200 |
Betting tips and odds on Portugal National team
In Group H, we have Portugal who are priced at 13/20 (1.65) to win the group and make it into the knockout stages for the fifth time whilst Uruguay are at 2/1 (3.00), and Ghana and South Korea at 11/1 (12.00).
Portugal are also at 9/10 (1.90) to reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup, and Cristiano Ronaldo at 12/1 (13.00) to be the top goalscorer of the competition with his trademark SUI celebration.
Bets on Portugal National Football team at LV BET
The first game of the tournament for the Portugal national football team will be up against Ghana, and we are pricing the European side at 13/25 (1.52) to win whilst Ghana are at 6/1 (7.00) to cause an upset.
We are pricing Fernando Santos men to reach the Final at 5/1 (6.00), with a disappointing appearance being knocked out of the group stage is at 7/2 (4.50)
We hope that you have enjoyed reading a detailed overview of the Portugal national team as well as their chances going into the Qatar FIFA World Cup. Thank you for your support.