Roberto Martínez is hoping to follow up on a perfect qualification campaign by guiding his Portugal side to EURO2024 glory.
The 50-year-old is taking charge of his first major tournament with Portugal, and his third overall, having helped Belgium reach the semi-final stage in the 2018 FIFA World Cup and the quarter-finals at Euro 2020. Despite being eliminated in the group stage at the 2022 FIFA World Cup, it was believed that he was set to depart the squad regardless. He took over the reins of Portugal from Fernando Santos in January 2023.
Portugal have won 14 of their 15 contests so far under Martinez, including a perfect qualification record. That gives him an impressive 93.3% win rate.
A Seleção began their road to Euro 2024 with a 4-0 outing against Liechtenstein. A Cristiano Ronaldo brace was the highlight of a historic night in which he became the most capped male footballer of all time. Fairly comfortable wins against Luxembourg and Bosnia and Herzegovina followed, winning 6-0 and 3-0 respectively, before 1-0 victories over Iceland and Slovakia.
In matchday 6 they dealt Luxembourg a crushing 9-0 defeat, in which six different Portuguese members got on the scoresheet. It was their biggest victory in international history.
Os Navegadores would concede their first and only goals of qualification in a narrow 3-2 victory over Slovakia in matchday 7, a Ronaldo goal in the 72nd minute proving to be the winner. They cemented their undefeated run by scoring nine goals over their next three fixtures, including a 5-0 demolition of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Portugal opted to play three pre-tournament warm-up games, starting off with a 4-2 win over Finland, which saw Bruno Fernandes’ brace seal the deal. However, their second outing was a much tougher affair. Against Croatia, Luka Modrić’s conversion from the spot in the eighth minute put Portugal behind. Diogo Jota levelled, but it was cancelled out by Ante Budimir’s 56th minute goal, handing Portugal their first and only defeat under Martínez.
They would bounce back in their final friendly, though, picking up a 3-0 win over the Republic of Ireland – thanks to yet another Ronaldo brace.
Portugal’s road to the EURO2024 knockout stages looks to be a relatively simple one, at least on paper. They are in Group F with Czechia, Türkiye, and Georgia, who have a combined 54.3 percent chance of reaching the quarter-finals. For context, Portugal have a 55.2 percent chance, according to Opta.
Opening their tournament in Leipzig on June 18th, Roberto Martínez’s men will face Czechia, who progressed to EURO2024 after finishing second behind Albania on goal difference in qualifying Group E.
Just four days later, on June 22nd, they head to Dortmund, where they’ll meet their toughest opponent in Türkiye. Vincenzo Montella’s side hold a fighting chance of progressing deep into the tournament after a strong qualifying campaign where they topped a group including Croatia and Wales.
Portugal’s final group game will take place on June 26th at the Arena AufSchalke, where they will face off against the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, Georgia. These ultimate underdogs finished fourth in their qualification group after winning only two of their eight matches, but somehow beat Greece on penalties in the playoff final to reach their first ever major tournament.
The BBC will broadcast Portugal’s first group stage fixture, with ITV broadcasting the following two matches. We’ll also be providing detailed coverage of Os Navegadores right here at FromTheSpot.
This will be Portugal’s ninth appearance in in the UEFA European Championships, where they have always advanced past the group stage, reaching the semi-final stage on five occasions. They reached the final as hosts on 2-4, but fell to underdogs Greece. A57th minute header from Angelos Charisteas to seal his country’s first, and only, major trophy. That marked the second time in the tournament in which they lost to Greece after a 2-1 defeat in their Group A opener.
They would not reach another European final for 12 years. In 2016, they finally got over the hurdle of the semi-finals, brushing off Wales with a 2-0 victory. Goals from former Manchester United wingers Ronaldo and Nani set up a thrilling finale at the Stade de France against the host nation.
Having lost in their own backyard in 2004, Portugal inflicted the same fate on opponents France this time around. It took until the second half of extra time before a rare strike from Éder broke the deadlock and made Portugal champions. Ronaldo was forced off injured in the first-half, though he is perhaps most infamously known (in this tournament) for essentially coaching on the sidelines throughout.
At the very next edition of the tournament, though, their elimination by Martínez’s former side Belgium in the round of 16 marked their worst outing ever in the European Championships. Portugal will look to bounce back in Germany by adding a second European title to their collection. There’s an added weight to this particular campaign as it looks increasingly likely that this will be 39-year-old CR7’s final Euros – perhaps even the final major tournament of his career. 41-year-old Pepe is still a mainstay, though, so you never know.
Turning to squad selection, Ronaldo is set to participate in his sixth Euro’s and 11th total major tournament. His international record is already lengthy, boasting with 206 appearances, 128 goals, and counting. It will also be Pepe’s fifth appearance at the Euros.
The Premier League sees nine representatives split among five clubs, with Wolves the most represented club through José Sá, Nélson Semedo and Pedro Neto. Manchester United and Manchester City each have two with Diogo Dalot, Bruno Fernandes, Rúben Dias and Bernardo Silva. João Palhinha represents Fulham, and Diogo Jota, Liverpool.
Only six of the 26-man squad play domestically, with representatives from Porto, Sporting Lisbon and Benfica. Three have come over from the Saudi Pro League, and Paris Saint-Germain also boast three representatives.
Predicted XI: Costa; Cancelo, Pepe, Dias, Mendes; Palhinha, Vitinha, Fernandes; Leão, Silva, Ronaldo.
Aside from the obvious, with CR7 expected to occupy all the headlines for Portugal, there is one young name on the squad list who could be a game changer in the tournament – João Neves of Benfica.
Despite being only 19 years old, he was a staple of Benfica’s midfield on their way to finishing second in the Primeira Liga. He won the Midfielder of the Month on six occasions, and established himself as one of the top young talents in the country.
Neves also played every single minute of Benfica’s run to the Europa League quarter-finals, where they were eliminated in the harshest of ways – on penalties – by Marseille.
Already believed to be worth in the region of £80m, minutes in the middle of the park in Germany could well see his transfer stock rise even higher – especially if he helps Portugal go on on a deep run in the tournament.
Don’t forget that FromTheSpot will keep you up-to-date on all of the latest EURO2024 action as it happens via our website and our X account.