The 2022 World Cup was Portugal's 8th appearance at the World Cup, adding to appearances in 1966, 1986, 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014 and 2018.

Portugal's best performance at the World Cup to date is finishing third in 1966.

At their second appearance at the World Cup in 1986, the Portuguese went home after the first round despite a win against England. In 2002, its third appearance, Portugal was eliminated in the first round, after an unexpected 1-0 loss to Korea Republic in its final group game.

Portugal has qualified for all World Cup tournaments since 2002.

Portugal will co-host the 2030 World Cup.

1966

  • Portugal had an impressive outing at the 1966 World Cup as they made it to the semi-finals of the tournament.
  • Portugal won all its group matches against Hungary, Brazil, and Bulgaria to finish top of Group 3 with 6 points.
  • Portugal won Korea DPR 5-3 in the quarter-finals and proceeded to the semi-finals of the competition.
  • Portugal lost 2-1 to England in the semi-finals of the competition. The team played the third-place final match and won 2-1 against the USSR.

1986

  • Portugal didn't make it out of the group stage at the 1986 World Cup. The team won one match and lost two matches, finishing at the bottom of the group with 3 points.

2002

  • Portugal didn't make it out of Group D at the 2002 World Cup. The team lost 3-2 to the USA in its first group game. Next, Portugal won 4-0 against Poland, and eventually lost 1-0 to South Korea in the final group game.

2006

  • Portugal had an impressive performance at the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The team made it out of Group D with 9 points, ahead of Mexico, Angola, and Iran.
  • Portugal played against the Netherlands in the Round of 16 and won the match by one goal to nil.
  • Portugal and England played a 0-0 draw in the Quarter-final match of the competition. The Portuguese team eventually won 3-1 on penalties and proceeded to the next stage.
  • Portugal lost 0-1 to France in the Semi-final of the 2006 World Cup. The team also lost 3-1 to Germany in the Third-Place match of the competition.

2010

  • Portugal made it out of Group G with 5 points, but lost to Spain in the Round of 16. The team won one match and drew two matches in the group stage.
  • Portugal's Round of 16 match against Spain ended 0-1 in full-time.

2014

  • Portugal didn't make it out of Group G at the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. The team lost its first match against Germany, drew its second group match against the USA, and won its final group match against Ghana.

2018

  • Portugal finished second in Group B with 5 points and moved on to the next stage of the competition.
  • Portugal lost 1-2 against Uruguay in the Round of 16 at the 2018 World Cup in Russia.

2022

  • Portugal made it out of Group H with 6 points, ahead of South Korea, Uruguay, and Ghana. The team won against Ghana and Uruguay, and lost its final match against South Korea.
  • Portugal beat Switzerland 6-1 in the Round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup to proceed to the next stage of the competition.
  • Portugal lost 0-1 to Morocco in the Quarter-final match of the 2022 World Cup.

2026

  • Portugal has qualified for the 2026 World Cup.

Trivia

  • The Portuguese National Football team has the nickname Selecção das Quinas. In Portuguese, the word "QUINAS" is a 5-sided Polyhedron, representing the "Forts" (Castles) Conquered from the Moors, in the "Foundation" of Portugal in 1143.
  • Portugal qualified for their first FIFA World Cup finals in 1966 and caused something of a stir on their debut appearance. Trailing 3-0 to Korea DPR in the quarter-finals, the Portuguese recovered to win 5-3, thanks in large part to four goals from Eusebio. In the semi-final, Portugal fell 2-1 to the eventual world champions, England. In the play-off for third place, they beat the USSR by the same score. Eusebio was the top goalscorer of the tournament with nine goals to his name.
  • Cristiano Ronaldo scored a goal for Portugal in 2022, aged 37 years and 292 days, and thereby becoming the oldest player to score for Portugal at the World Cup. He also holds the record for being the youngest player that scored at the 2006 World Cup at 21 years and 132 days old.
  • Portugal qualified for the women's FIFA World Cup for the first time in 2023.