Portugal squad for the 2022 World Cup: Cristiano and his comrades

Let's start representing the teams of group "H" of the World Cup in Qatar with the national team of Portugal - one of the teams that is not included among the favorites, but it is assumed that it is able to break into this galaxy.

Portugal

The extreme west of continental Europe, the outskirts of Ancient Rome, the county generated by the Reconquista, a powerful colonial and maritime power, the country of Salazar's dictatorship - all this is Portugal.

Mechanical engineering and the textile industry are developed here, wines and medicines are produced, and livestock is raised. Portuguese culture gave the world the playwright Luis de Camões.

But it is no exaggeration to say that Portugal has made the biggest contribution to the world heritage thanks to football. The great Eusebio, the phenomenal Cristiano Ronaldo, the special Jose Mourinho - they glorified both their country and the game.

Portugal national team

The Portuguese played their first match in 1921, but did not appear in major tournaments for a long time. But the debut at the 1966 World Cup in England turned out to be sensational. At the group stage, the red-greens defeated Hungary - 3:1, Bulgaria - 3:0 and suddenly Brazil - 3:1, in the quarterfinals, thanks to Eusebio's poker, they tamed the daring upstarts from the DPRK - 5:3. In the semi-finals, the Portuguese lost to England - 2:1, and in the match for bronze they defeated the USSR national team - 2:1. José Torres scored the winning goal in the 89th minute.

The next time the Portuguese team was twenty years later and in Mexico-86 did not shine. But since 2002, she has been a constant participant in the final tournaments of the World Cup. World Cup 2006 in Germany, the Portuguese did not have one step to repeat the success of forty years ago. In the group they defeated Angola - 1:0, Iran - 2:0 and Mexico - 2:1, in the playoffs they won even more difficult victories over the Netherlands - 1:0 and England - 0:0, pen. 3:1. But in the semi-finals the French crossed the road - 0:1, and in the match for 3rd-4th places the Germans - 1:3.

At the 2018 World Cup, the Portuguese team performed clearly below capacity. In the group, she started with a bright draw with Spain - 3:3, a hat-trick scored by Ronaldo. Then he also brought a victory over Morocco - 1:0, and then there was a missed victory over Iran - 1:1. And in the 1/8 finals, the Portuguese fell on a tough opponent, the national team of Uruguay, and lost - 1:2.

At the same time, the Portuguese have won five European championships, including gold in 2016, and also a victory in the UEFA Nations League in 2019.

Stars of Portugal

We all know the main star. Apparently, for the 37-year-old Cristiano Ronaldo, this is the last World Cup and he clearly wants to make a salute. But despite the fact that Krish is the leader of the Portuguese, he is not the only leader. Goalkeeper Rui Patricio, defenders Pepe, Danilo Pereira, Rafael Guerreiro, Ruben Dias, Juan Cancelo, midfielders Bernardo Silva, Juan Mario, Bruno Fernandes, forwards Andre Silva, Juan Felix.

Opponents in Group "H"

Uruguay, South Korea, Ghana.

Forecast for the performance of the Portuguese national team

Failure to qualify for the quarter-finals would be bad luck for the Portuguese. This is one of the teams that can finish the tournament with a wide range of results. You can lose to the Uruguayans, lose points with the Koreans and Ghanaians - and fly out. And if the red-greens are harmonious and self-confident, they can reach the semi-finals.