Doha: Portugal are eager to have a strong presence in the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 despite their poor performance and late qualification through the European playoff.
Cristiano Ronaldo-led Portugal will play in the first World Cup in the Middle East in Group H, along with Uruguay, Ghana and South Korea.
Portugal will open their campaign in the World Cup against Ghana at Stadium 974 on November 24 and then will meet Uruguay at Lusail Stadium on November 28 before concluding their campaign in the group stage by meeting South Korea at Education City Stadium on December 2.
The Portuguese Federation chose Al Samriya Hotel as the headquarters of the team during the tournament period and set up their training camp at Al Shahania Sports Club.
Portugal played in Group A of the European qualifiers for the World Cup 2022, along with Serbia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Qatar. Portugal’s defeat 1-2 on their home soil to Serbia came as a shock, to clinch automatic qualification for World Cup in Qatar.
Portugal have been forced into the European playoff to which the 10 teams that ranked second in their groups qualified for the European qualifiers. The 10 runners-up from the UEFA first round groups participated in the playoffs, along with two group winners from the UEFA National League. The teams were divided into three paths, each containing four teams, with each play-off path featuring two single-leg semifinals and one single-leg final.
Portugal beat Turkey 31 in the playoff semifinal and then defeated North Macedonia 20 in the playoff final to secure a berth in the FIFA World Cup 2022.
Portugal are in the ninth place in the world and seventh in Europe in the latest FIFA Rankings. The team has qualified for the World Cup seven times, in 1966, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and finally 2018. Their best-ever finish was in 1966 in England when they finished third and the second-best finish came in 2006 in Germany when they managed the fourth position.
Portugal will meet South Korea for the second time in the World Cup after their first match in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Korea/Japan. In their final group game, host nation South Korea stunned Portugal 1-0 to finish at the top of the Group D standings and eliminate Portugal out of the competition. Portugal finished third in the standings with three points.
Portugal were knocked out of the 2014 World Cup held in Brazil despite defeating Ghana 2-1 in the final Group G. But they could not find more goals they needed to prevent the United States advancing on goal difference.
In the last edition of the FIFA World Cup held in Russia in 2018, Portugal could not go far in the tournament. In the pre-quarterfinals, they lost 1-2 to Uruguay to get eliminated from the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
In the total of Portugal’s qualification in the World Cup, they played 30 matches, won 14, drew in 6, lost 10, scored 45 goals and conceded 27 goals.
Portugal were crowned as Euro 2016 Championship winners after they beat France 1-0. The only goal was scored by Eder in second-half extra time.
They also won the inaugural Nations League final in 2019 by beating the Netherlands 1-0 with a goal by Goncalo Guedes, achieving their second continental title in three years.
Portugal’s stint in the European Nations Finals includes 38 matches. They won 19 matches, drew in 10, lost 9, scored 56 goals and conceded 37 goals.
Portugal include stars who play in major European clubs, led by the legend Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the best football players, in addition to Bruno Fernandes, Joao Felix, Rafael Leao, Diogo Jota, Ruben Dias, Francisco Trincao, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Pedro Neto and Goncalo Guedes.
Portugal have also produced some of the world’s prominent footballers in history, including Eusebio, Rui Costa, Luis Figo, Nuno Gomes, Pedro Pauleta, Fernando Couto and Deco.
Source: QNA
