The Portugal national football team (Portuguese: Seleção Portuguesa de Futebol) has represented Portugal in men's international football competition since 1921. The national team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), the governing body for football in Portugal. Portugal's home stadium is the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, located next to its primary training ground and the FPF headquarters (Cidade do Futebol), but the team usually plays its home matches in more modern stadiums throughout the country, such as the Estádio da Luz, Estádio José Alvalade and the Estádio do Dragão. The head coach is Jorge Jesus, and the captain is Cristiano Ronaldo, who holds the team records for most caps and most goals.
Portugal's first participation in a major tournament finals was at the 1966 FIFA World Cup, which saw a team featuring Ballon d'Or winner Eusébio finish in third place. Since the 2000s, Portugal started an uninterrupted streak of qualification for every European Championship and World Cup finals, including a runners-up finish at Euro 2004 on home soil. They experienced much of their success in the late 2010s to mid 2020s, during the captaincy of Ballon d'Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, where they won their first-ever major trophy Euro 2016 and the UEFA Nations League in 2019, hosting the first finals, and a record second time in 2025.
Portugal is colloquially referred to as the Seleção das Quinas (a synecdoche based on the flag of the country) and has several notable rivalries with other national teams. These include Spain, due to their historical rivalry as Iberian neighbours; as well as France due to several high-stake meetings against them at the Euro and World Cup.
Contents
History
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.
Third place at the 1966 World Cup
Portugal were drawn with Czechoslovakia, Romania and Turkey for 1966 World Cup qualification. 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.
At the World Cup, the team started out with three wins in the group stage after they beat Hungary 3–1, 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. A 1–0 win over Romania resulted in a second-place finish in group play. Portugal were paired against hosts France in the semi-finals. After a draw in regular time, Portugal initially led 2–1 in extra time, but the hosts scored in the 114th and 119th minutes to eliminate the Portuguese 3–2 and go through to the final.
For 1986 World Cup qualification, the Seleção played against Czechoslovakia, Malta, Sweden and West Germany for the two spots that would guarantee them a ticket to Mexico. 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.
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, including questionable managing choices and some amateurism, as well as lack of agreement on prizes. Portugal entered the tournament as favourites to win Group D. However, they were upset 3–2 by the United States. They then rebounded with a 4–0 victory over Poland. Needing a draw to advance, they lost the last group game to hosts South Korea. Portugal underachieved and ended third in its group stage, subsequently eliminated. Manager António Oliveira was fired after the World Cup.
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.
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: Further international titles
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.
In the 2026 World Cup, Portugal were drawn into Group K with Colombia, DR Congo, and Uzbekistan. On June 17, they tied their opener against DR Congo 1–1 despite completing 724 passes, their most in a World Cup match. After a disappointing group stage where they finished second place in their group, Martinez let Portugal to an underwhelming round of 16 finish, after a 1–0 defeat to Spain. Following the match, he announced his resignation with immediate effect. The team was heavily criticized for their performance, including former Euro 2016 winner Ricardo Quaresma, who harshly criticized Portugal's exit, questioning the narrative of Portugal's the best generation in national history, their passive playing style, and expressed deep frustration with the team's overall lack of ambition.
Team image
Kits
Portugal's traditional home kit is mainly red with a green trim, reflecting the colours of the nation's flag. Over the years, the particular shade of red has alternated between a darker burgundy and a lighter scarlet, the latter matching the flag. Both green and red shorts have been used to complete the strip.
The team's away kits, on the other hand, have varied more considerably. White has typically been preferred as a dominant colour, either with blue shorts, or red and green highlights. In recent times, all-black has been utilised, as has a turquoise-teal colour, the latter of which was prominently featured during the title winning Euro 2016 campaign.
Results and fixtures
The following is a list of match results in the last 12 months, as well as any future matches that have been scheduled.
Win
Draw
Loss
Fixture
Players
Current squad
The following 26 players were called up to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
Caps and goals correct as of 6 July 2026, after the match against Spain.
Recent call-ups
The following players have also been called up to the Portugal squad within the last twelve months.
Individual statistics
As of match played 6 July 2026.
Players in bold are still active.
Goal records
Most goals scored in World Cup
11 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026)
Most goals scored in one World Cup
9 – Eusébio (1966)
Most goals scored in one European Championship
5 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2020)
Most goals scored in European Championship
14 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016 and 2020)
Oldest goalscorer
41 years, 4 months and 27 days – Cristiano Ronaldo (2–1 against Croatia on 2 July 2026)
Youngest goalscorer
17 years, 9 months and 25 days – Fernando Chalana (2–1 against Cyprus on 5 December 1976)
Most hat-tricks
10 – Cristiano Ronaldo (includes four goals against Andorra on 7 October 2016 and Lithuania on 10 September 2019)
Most pokers
2 – Cristiano Ronaldo
Youngest player to score a hat-trick
20 years, 11 months and 4 days – André Silva (6–0 against Faroe Islands on 10 October 2016)
Other records
Most matches played in World Cup
27 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2006, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2022 and 2026)
Most matches played in European Championship
30 – Cristiano Ronaldo (2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020 and 2024)
Oldest player (outfield or goalkeeper)
41 years, 5 months and 1 day – Cristiano Ronaldo (0–1 against Spain on 6 July 2026)
Longest national career (outfield or goalkeeper)
22 years, 10 months and 16 days – Cristiano Ronaldo (from 20 August 2003 to 6 July 2026)
Youngest debutant
17 years, 6 months and 24 days – Paulo Futre (5–0 against Finland on 21 September 1983)
Youngest player to reach 100 caps
27 years, 8 months and 11 days – Cristiano Ronaldo (1–1 against Northern Ireland on 16 October 2012)
Youngest player to reach 200 caps
38 years, 4 months and 15 days – Cristiano Ronaldo (1–0 against Iceland on 20 June 2023)
Competitive record
Champions Runners-up Third place Hosts
FIFA World Cup
* Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. Red border colour indicates that the tournament was held on home soil.
UEFA European Championship
* Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. Red border colour indicates that the tournament was held on home soil.
UEFA Nations League
* Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. Red border colour indicates that the tournament was held on home soil.
* League phase is played home and away. Flag shown represents hosts nations for the finals.
FIFA Confederations Cup
* Draws include knockout matches decided via penalty shoot-out. Red border colour indicates that the tournament was held on home soil.
All-time results
The following table shows Portugal's all-time international record, correct as of 23 June 2026.
Source: Portugal - Historical results
Honours
Global
FIFA World Cup
Third place: 1966
FIFA Confederations Cup
Third place: 2017
Continental
UEFA European Championship
Champions: 2016
Runners-up: 2004
UEFA Nations League
Champions: 2019, 2025
Awards
FIFA World Cup Most Entertaining Team: 2006
Globe Soccer Awards Best National Football Team: 2025
Rivalries
Portugal–Spain football rivalry