World Cup 2006

Portugal

Nickname(s)

Selecção das Quinas^[1]

Association

Federação Portuguesa de Futebol

Confederation

UEFA (Europe)

Head coach

Carlos Queiroz^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]

Captain

Cristiano Ronaldo^[6]

Most caps

Luís Figo (127)

Top scorer

Pauleta (47)

FIFA code

POR

FIFA ranking

Highest FIFA ranking

4 (March 2001)

Lowest FIFA ranking

43 (August 1998)

Elo ranking

Highest Elo ranking

2 (June 2006)

Lowest Elo ranking

45 (November 1962)




Home colours




Away colours

First international

Spain 3 - 1 Portugal

(Madrid, Spain; 18 December 1921)

Biggest win

Portugal 8 - 0 Liechtenstein

(Lisbon, Portugal; 18 November 1994)

Portugal 8 - 0 Liechtenstein

(Coimbra, Portugal; 9 June 1999)

Portugal 8 - 0 Kuwait

(Leiria, Portugal; 19 November 2003)

Biggest defeat

Portugal 0 - 10 England

(Lisbon, Portugal; 25 May 1947)

World Cup

Appearances

4 (First in 1966)

Best result

Third place, 1966

European Championship

Appearances

5 (First in 1984)

Best result

Runners-up (2nd Place), 2004

The Portugal national football team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), finishing 4th at the last World Cup. The first appearance in the 1966 FIFA World cup saw them reach the semi final, losing 2-1 at Wembley to the eventual world champions England. Portugal finished in third place and Eusébio was considered the best player of the tournament. The next two times Portugal qualified for the World Cup were 1986 and 2002, with Portugal going out in the first round both times. In the 1986 tournament, players went on strike over prize-money and refused to train between their first and second games.

In 2003, the Portuguese Football Federation decided to hire Luiz Felipe Scolari, the Brazilian who had led the Brazil national football team to win the 2002 FIFA World Cup. Scolari led Portugal to the final of Euro 2004, where they lost to Greece, and to their second World Cup semifinal in 2006.

[edit] FIFA World Cup

[edit] 1966 FIFA World Cup

The team started out with three wins in the group stage where they were in Group C when they beat Hungary, Bulgaria and two-time defending champions Brazil. Secondly they beat surprise quarter-finalist Korea DPR 5-3, with Eusébio getting four markers to overturn a 0-3 deficit. Later, they reached the semifinals where they were beaten by hosts England 2-1. Portugal then defeated USSR 2-1 in the third place match for their best World Cup finish to date. Eusébio was the top scorer of the World Cup with nine goals. He also played in the 1970 and 1974 World Cup qualifiers but Portugal failed to make the tournament Finals.

[edit] 1986 FIFA World Cup

In qualification round, Portugal had to beat West Germany in Stuttgart in the last qualifying game to be able to go through to the final round. Portugal won 0-1 and become the first team to beat West Germany at their home ground in an official match. Portugal was a fan favourite to make a good campaign because of their 1984 Euro Cup. The team exited early in the group stages after a win and two losses. They started with a 1-0 win to England. Later they were beaten by Poland and Morocco, 1-0 and 3-1 respectively.

[edit] 2002 FIFA World Cup

Portugal entered the tournament as favourites to win Group D. However, they were upset 3-2 by the United States, at one point being three goals down in the match. They then rebounded with a 4-0 thrashing of Poland, with Pauleta getting a hat-trick.

Needing a draw to advance, they lost the final group game to hosts South Korea. Argentinian referee Ángel Sánchez sent off João Vieira Pinto for a tackle on Park Ji-Sung. Beto was ejected for his second yellow card of the match, reducing Portugal to nine men, and Park scored the winner to allow the Koreans to advance.^[7]

[edit] 2006 FIFA World Cup

The Portuguese squad qualified for the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany under the leadership of manager Luiz Felipe Scolari. In the qualification, Portugal defeated Russia 7-1, and finished first place in Group D of the WC finals, with victories over Angola (1-0, goal from Pauleta, the leading goalscorer in the World Cup qualifiers), Iran (2-0, scored by Deco and Cristiano Ronaldo) and Mexico (2-1, goals from Maniche and Simão). Only Mexico’s Francisco Fonseca was able to score against Portugal.

Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1-0 in the Round of 16 on June 25 in Nuremberg. The only goal came courtesy of a Maniche strike in an acrimonious match marked by 16 yellow cards, with 4 players (Khalid Boulahrouz, Costinha, Deco and Giovanni van Bronckhorst) being sent off (see the Battle of Nuremberg).

On Saturday, July 1 at Gelsenkirchen, Portugal drew 0-0 after extra-time with England, but won 3-1 on penalties to reach their first World Cup semi-final since 1966. The game was marred by an allegedly violent challenge on Portuguese defender Ricardo Carvalho by England’s Wayne Rooney, which resulted in him being sent off. Rooney later denied that it was intentional.

Portugal lost 1-0 against France in the semi-finals on Wednesday, July 5 at Munich. Two players had been forced to sit out due to accumulated bookings from the round of 16 and quarter-finals. It did not help that the team faced a hostile crowd of English and French fans; they relentlessly booed Ronaldo for his perceived unsportsmanlike behaviour in the previous round. As in the semi-finals of Euro 2000, Portugal were narrowly defeated by France, with the decisive goal being a penalty scored by Zinédine Zidane after Thierry Henry was awarded a penalty from a foul committed by Carvalho.

Portugal faced Germany in the third place play-off match on July 8 in Stuttgart. The match was notable for being captain Luís Figo’s last before retirement from international football — though, surprisingly, he was not selected to start the game, coming on as a substitute near the end and setting up Portugal’s goal in a 3-1 defeat. All three German goals had the direct participation of Bastian Schweinsteiger, who scored twice and had another shot turned into an own goal by Portugal’s Petit. Ultimately, the team won the Most Entertaining Team award for their play during the World Cup, in an award always organized through public participation in a poll.

[edit] 2010 FIFA World Cup

Portugal are currently participating in the qualifying stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup which is due to take place in South Africa.

[edit] World Cup record

Year	Round	Position	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1930	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1934	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1938	Did Not Enter	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1950	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1954	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1958	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1962	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1966	Third place	3	6	5	0	1	17	8
1970	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1974	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1978	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1982	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1986	Round 1	17	3	1	0	2	2	4
1990	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1994	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
1998	Did Not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-	-
2002	Round 1	21	3	1	0	2	6	4
2006	Fourth place	4	7	4	1	2	7	5
2010
Total	4/18	1 third place	19	11	1	7	32	21

*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.

[edit] FIFA World Cup qualification (Group 1)

Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts
Denmark	3	2	1	0	6	2	+4	7
Hungary	4	2	1	1	4	2	+2	7
Portugal	4	1	2	1	6	3	+3	5
Albania	4	1	2	1	3	2	+1	5
Sweden	3	1	2	0	2	1	+1	5
Malta	4	0	0	4	0	11	−11	0


Albania	–	9 Sep	28 Mar	3 – 0	6 Jun	0 – 0
Denmark	1 Apr	–	14 Oct	3 – 0	5 Sep	10 Oct
Hungary	2 – 0	0 – 0	–	1 Apr	9 Sep	5 Sep
Malta	11 Feb	28 Mar	0 – 1	–	0 – 4	9 Sep
Portugal	0 – 0	2 – 3	10 Oct	14 Oct	–	28 Mar
Sweden	14 Oct	6 Jun	2 – 1	10 Jun	0 – 0	–

[edit] European Championships

[edit] 1984 European Championship

This was the first time that Portugal had ever qualified for the European Championship. In fact, the team almost didn’t qualify, but a 1-0 victory over USSR in the last game made it possible. Portugal ended in group B, alongside Spain, West Germany and Romania. In the first two games, they tied 0-0 and 1-1 against West Germany and Spain, respectively. A 1-0 win over Romania gave them second place in the group, which was enough to go through to the knockout stage. S.L. Benfica’s Tamagnini Nené scored the winner.

They played against the hosts, France, and eventual champions, in one of the most exciting matches in European Championship history. France scored first, but Portugal equalised almost an hour later. The game was tied after 90 minutes and went into extra time. Portugal made 2-1 in the first fifteen minutes and both teams could have scored more goals. In the second half of extra time France scored in the 114th and 119th minutes to eliminate Portugal and go through to the final.

[edit] 1996 European Championship

In the final tournament, Portugal drew 1-1 with European Champions Denmark, won 1-0 to Turkey and 3-0 against Croatia, finishing first in their group. In the quarter-finals they lost 1-0 to eventual runners-up, Czech Republic, due to a marvellous Karel Poborský second-half lob to goalkeeper Vítor Baía.

[edit] 2000 European Championship

This tournament was the inaugural success of the so-called Geração Dourada(Golden Generation), captained by Fernando Couto. They defeated England (3-2, recovering from a 2-0 disadvantage), Romania (1-0), and Germany (3-0, from a Conceição hat-trick) to finish atop their group and then defeated Turkey in the quarter-finals.

In the semi-final meeting with World Cup holders France, Portugal scored first. However, France equalized and Portugal were eliminated in extra time by a golden goal when Zidane converted a penalty. Austrian referee Gunter Benko awarded the spot kick for a handball after Abel Xavier blocked a shot from Sylvain Wiltord (Benko initially gave France a corner but changed his mind after consulting with Slovak linesman Igor Sramka). Xavier, Nuno Gomes (one of the top scorers in the tournament with four goals) and Paulo Bento were all given lengthy suspensions for shoving the referee.^[8]

[edit] 2004 European Championship

Portuguese fans during Euro 2004

This tournament was held in Portugal. The host nation lost the first game against Greece, 1-2. They got their first win against Russia, 2-0, and also beat a strong Spain side (1-0), with the latter eventually knocked out in the group stages. They went through and went on to play against England, in an entertaining 2-2 draw that went into penalties, where Ricardo proved decisive, saving a penalty and scoring the winner himself. Portugal beat Holland 2-1 in the semi-final with a Maniche strike from outside the box. They were eventually beaten by rank outsiders Greece 1-0, credited to striker Angelos Charisteas, marking the first time in the history of the competition that the final featured the same two teams as the opening match.

[edit] 2008 European Championship

The Portuguese team was a featured part of TV network ESPNs ad campaign promoting their coverage of the Euro 2008 tournament.^[9]With the national side as one of the favorites to win the trophy, the first game was against Turkey and it was won 2-0, with first-ever scoring achievements for internationals Pepe and Raul Meireles. Their second game was against the Czech Republic, a 3-1 success. With assured qualification to the knockout stage, as first in group A, they played with the reserve team against Switzerland, and lost 2-0, with two Hakan Yakın goals.

On 19 June 2008, Portugal played against Germany, and were beaten 2-3 after falling behind 0-2 within the first half an hour. Portugal proceeded to score, followed by another German goal, a Michael Ballack header. Portugal scored a consolation goal in the final minutes of normal time, courtesy of Hélder Postiga, but was eventually knocked out of Euro 2008 at the quarterfinal stage.

[edit] European Championship Record

Year	Round	GP	W	D*	L	GS	GA
1960	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1964	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1968	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1972	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1976	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1980	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1984	Semi-finals	4	1	2	1	4	4
1988	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1992	Did not Qualify	-	-	-	-	-	-
1996	Quarter-finals	4	2	1	1	5	2
2000	Semi-finals	5	4	0	1	10	4
2004	Final	6	3	1	2	8	6
2008	Quarter-finals	4	2	0	2	7	6
2012		-	-	-	-	-	-
Total	5/13	23	12	4	7	34	22