Interview: Paulo Duarte discusses FC Porto's struggles at the Club World Cup

In partnership with

Foot Africa

·27. Juni 2025

Interview: Paulo Duarte discusses FC Porto's struggles at the Club World Cup

Exclusive Interview

Paulo Duarte reflects on Porto's poor showing at the Club World Cup

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FC Porto/@FIFA

FC Porto was one of the major disappointments of the current edition of the Club World Cup, which is currently underway in the United States.

Eliminated as early as the group stage, the Portuguese club was forced to make an early exit, much to the dismay of its supporters.

To discuss the lackluster performance of the 'Dragão,' Foot Africa sought the opinion of Portuguese coach Paulo Duarte, the former head coach of Burkina Faso and Gabon.

Unfortunately, FC Porto has a lot of work to do internally to regain its status as one of the top clubs in Europe.The club no longer boasts the kind of talented players it had over the past two decades. The departure of several key players to other destinations has ultimately had a negative impact on its competitiveness.On top of that, Porto is experiencing an unprecedented financial crisis, which is preventing it from being active in the transfer market.In my opinion, everything at the club needs to change if it wants to recover its former glory, starting with the president, who is not competent, as well as the coach, who has failed in his mission, and finally the players, most of whom do not deserve to wear such a prestigious shirt as that of the Dragão.All these factors explain FC Porto's poor performance at the 2025 Club World Cup.

As a reminder, FC Porto finished third in its group, collecting only 2 points from draws against Palmeiras (0-0) and Al Ahly (4-4), while suffering a defeat to Inter Miami by a score of 1-2.