How many World Cups has Portugal won? Documenting their performances over the years!

Portugal will be making their eighth appearance in the upcoming FIFA World Cup in Qatar which is set to kick off on November 21, 2022. Portugal missed the chance to qualify directly for the marquee event after they were beaten 2-1 by Serbia in the final match of the qualification group.

How many World Cups has Portugal won?

Portugal has never won the World Cup so far. Their best result was a third-place finish in 1966.

How did Portugal qualify for the 2022 World Cup?

But Cristiano Ronaldo and co. secured their tickets to the World Cup by overcoming Turkey and North Macedonia in the qualifying playoffs. They have drawn in Group H along with Uruguay, Ghana, and South Korea.

When did Portugal make their World Cup debut?

The Navigators made their World Cup debut in the 1966 edition. They had a phenomenal run in their debut campaign as they ended up in third place. Although they were placed in a complicated group that comprised of teams like Hungary, Brazil, and Bulgaria, Eusebio and co. came out on top. They won all the three matches convincingly and even put three past Brazil.

In the quarterfinals, they beat North Korea 5-3 with Eusebio scoring four of the five goals. However, they were beaten in the last four by eventual winners in England, courtesy of a brace by Bobby Charlton. They finished with the bronze medal as they beat Soviet Union in the third-place play-off. Eusebio was in blistering form during the competition and scored nine goals which is still a record for Portugal.

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After a brilliant show in 1966, Portugal had to wait for 36 years to again qualify for the World Cup. But they failed to produce the goods in 2002 and were ousted in the group stage after losing two out of the three matches.

They bounced back strongly in 2006 and made it to the semifinals. This was Cristiano Ronaldo's first World Cup and the forward did not disappoint. Although he scored just one goal, his overall performance on the pitch was pretty impressive. Against Iran, he found the net and became the youngest Portuguese to score in a World Cup at just 21 years and 132 days.

But he found himself in the eye of controversy in the Round of 16 match against England when he was seen urging the referee to show a red card to Manchester United teammate Wayne Rooney after the English international stamped on Ricardo Carvalho. Following the send-off, he winked at the Portugal bench which drew immense criticism. Portugal lost the final two matches to France and Germany to finish fourth in the World Cup.

In 2010, Portugal crashed out in the Round of 16 after falling to Spain. They qualified for the knockouts after finishing with five points from three matches. Ronaldo was in brilliant form in the group stages and was named man of the match against Ivory Coast, North Korea, and Brazil. He scored and assisted once against North Korea while putting in impressive shifts in the other two matches.

Portugal once again crashed out of the group stage in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. They were defeated by Germany 4-0 and went on to draw against United States. Whereas in the final match, Ronaldo scored a late winner to overcome Ghana. That was his 50th international goal but that did not prevent Portugal from crashing out of the group stages on goal difference.

In the 2018 World Cup, they were knocked out in the Round of 16 by Uruguay with Edinson Cavani scoring a brace. However, they had a bright start to the campaign as Ronaldo single-handedly snatched two points from Spain with a brilliant hat-trick. With his three goals, he became the oldest player in World Cup history to score thrice in a match. In the next match, he scored once again to bag the three points against Morocco to become the highest European goalscorer of all time, overtaking Ferenc Puskas' record.

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Portugal's performance in World Cup

Notable Records of Portugal in FIFA World Cup

Top Goalscorers