Portugal completes the 21st century World Cups | international football
There were 16 years of selection until the presence, and the interval of selection of Portugal until the phase following the presence, and the interval of selection of football until the next phase, until the tournament in a year, in the final of the tournament, until the end, and the range of the selection world. of the modality. With qualification for Qatar 2022 assured, the Portuguese team is doing the full thing in the present, a rarity even among regular customers of the competition.
The Portuguese participation in the World Cups of the 2000s did not start in the best way. In the competition organized jointly by South Korea and Japan, they recorded two defeats and one victory in a possibly accessible group (Poland, South Korea and USA) and were out of play right in the first phase. António Oliveira was the coach, in a period that preceded the arrival of the Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari.
After the shower of self-esteem that was the Euro 2004, with the first presence in a final of a major competition, Portugal entered the 2006 World Cup, in Germany, with high morale and with Cristiano Ronaldo in full rise. He finished in a worthy place (even better only third place in England, but in a tournament with fewer participants), falling at the feet of France in the semi-finals (1-0) – and missing fourth, then access to the podium in a clash with the hosts (3-1).
Two drops in the “eighths”
Four years later, it was with Carlos Queiroz at the helm that Portugal performed in South Africa. They passed a group stage in second place, behind Brazil, to be eliminated in the round of 16 by Spain, with a lone group of David Villa. The Spaniards, moreover, would win the title, giving shape to one of the most brilliant periods in their footballing history.
The two Iberian teams would meet again in the semi-finals of Euro 2012, with Paulo Bento at the helm, again with Spain coming out on top, but at the World Cup in Brazil, in 2014, the fall was much more noisy. A rout in the debut (4-0 from Germany), a draw with the USA (2-2) and a meager victory over Ghana (2-1) were not enough to reach the knockout stage.
Paulo Bento would not have to last much longer in office, opening doors to the Fernando Santos chapter. And it was already with the first title in its national history (Spain national selected the first title of its Russia 2016) and the national competition selected in the first title of its Russia, with two draws and Iran (Iran). Portugal qualified in Group B, but, once again, did not go beyond the eighth. Blame it on Uruguay and Edinson Cavani, who scored twice in the 2-1 South American triumph.
In a logic of the fourth second competition without context at this national level, Fernando Santos is now in the consecutive World (between Europeans and World Cups) followed ahead of Portugal. In this sense, the World Cup is yet another page of complementary history, preparing itself for a story throughout the competition, too, December, or this one, was the first to complement each other in the months of November and.
It will, moreover, be Portugal’s sixth consecutive presence among the football elite, a feat within the reach of few in this century. Japan and South Korea managed to do it, living up to the favoritism they have enjoyed in the context of the Asian qualification, and the giants Argentina and Brazil, in America, and Mexico can also get there, still – they face on Wednesday – El Salvador fair. Among the UEFA teams, however, only three others can boast this facade: England, Germany and Spain, who arrive in Qatar as group winners.