Portugal World Cup Preview

Manager: Fernando Santos

Key Player: Cristiano Ronaldo

Best Finish: England 1966 (3rd place)

2022 World Cup group: Portugal, Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana

Portugal is heading to Qatar coming off the back of an unimpressive Euro 2020 campaign where they ended up crashing out in the round of 16 having won the tournament the previous time around.

Alongside this their road to Qatar hasn’t been simple, with them having to navigate their way through the playoffs to qualify for the World Cup after failing to top their group.

Having made their way through the playoffs they are starting the tournament off the back of the world-famous and heavily controversial interview by their star player Cristiano Ronaldo who spoke in his 90-minute special publicly slated Manchester United demanding change and progression.

You have to ask the question of how will this affect the relationship with their captain and his United counterparts Bruno Fernandez and Diogo Dalot?

With all this controversy leading up to the tournament, you still can’t look past this undoubtedly talented Portuguese squad. Players like Joao Felix, Joao Cancelo, Bernardo Silva and Ruben Dias are all top-quality players.

If Santos’ could benefit this squad going through a turbulent time and help them perform in Qatar.

Ronaldo has publicly announced that Qatar 2022 will be his last ever World Cup, it will notch up an incredible 5 World Cups that he has played in, and he will be fired up to challenge for the trophy.

We watched what he can do for his team in Euro 2016 where he lead Seleção das Quinas to victory limping around the technical area, and we all know he will bring this same passion to Qatar.