There is less and less left for the start of the Qatar 2022 World Cup and in 90min we continue with our in-depth analysis of each and every one of the teams that will participate in the Qatari event.
Today we go with the five best participations of Portugal in World Cups:
Both in Mexico in 1986 and in Korea 2002 and in Brazil 2014, the Portuguese did not advance from the group stage. The big surprise came in 2014 when they did not have the favorites to win the title but they did have a team that aspired to be a contender.
In the World Cup in South Africa they could not get past the round of 16. They gave the stature in the group stage and met in the round of 16 with the one that would end up being champion of the tournament: Spain. A great match for the red team ended up sending home the Portuguese who perhaps deserved something more.
They also did not advance from the round of 16 in the tournament held in Russia in 2018. They finished second in a group led by the Spanish team and in the round of 16 they could not overcome a Uruguayan team that would end up losing in the quarterfinals against the champion: France .
They led their group with three wins from three games, then beat England and the Netherlands to reach a semi-final where they couldn’t beat the French. Germany beat them in the match for third place.
Their best classification came in 1966. At that time, the World Cups lacked round of 16 and the Portuguese had managed to win all their group matches, leaving Brazil out of the quarterfinals. They eliminated North Korea in the first qualifying round but fell in the semi-finals against England. Eusebio scored nine goals.
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