Top 10 reasons why Portugal can win the 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

Portugal are on their way to Florida where they will make their final preparations for the 2026 World Cup. There has never been so much expectation for a talented Seleção squad led by Cristiano Ronaldo who will be making his sixth appearance on the grandest stage in football.

Here are ten reasons why Roberto Martínez’s side can break through and win their first World Cup.

1) Diogo Costa

Diogo Costa is an elite goalkeeper with above average shot stopping ability and distribution. He saved all three penalties in the shootout as Portugal got past Slovenia in the 2024 European Championship Round of 16.

The 26-year-old couldn’t repeat the feat against France in the quarter-finals, but he came up with a crucial save to deny Álvaro Morata as Portugal got past Spain in a shootout to win the 2025 UEFA Nations League final.

2) Full-backs

Nuno Mendes and João Cancelo are two of the best full-backs in football, both lethal in attack and possessing the ability to drift into midfield positions which has been a big part of the tactics employed by Roberto Martínez.

Diogo Dalot and Nélson Semedo started against Nigeria and are more than capable of stepping in when required. Matheus Nunes has been transformed into a right-back by Pep Guardiola and offers another option due to Cancelo and Dalot being the back up options on the left side of defence.

3) Midfield maestros

Vitinha and João Neves are among the world’s elite midfielders, playing a key role in Paris Saint-Germain winning back-to-back Champions League titles and dominating football in France.

Both players effortlessly glide out of tight spaces and are able to dictate play. Vitinha’s passing is close to flawless and Neves is an elite disruptor, a perfect combination in the centre of the pitch.

4) Bruno Fernandes

Bruno Fernandes sets the benchmark as an attacking midfielder. He continually instigates attacks, creates chances and scores goals.

His hunger, desire, leadership and ability to direct the team around the park are unmatched. Add all of that to an incredible durability that allows him to play almost every minute of every match, it’s clear that he is absolutely indispensable.

Portugal don’t have a replacement for Fernandes, and to be fair, what team would? If the Seleção go on to win the 2026 World Cup, you can be sure that he will play a big role and probably win the Golden Ball award.

5) PSG connection

In addition to Vitinha and João Neves, Nuno Mendes and Gonçalo Ramos complete the quartet of PSG players that recently beat Arsenal in the Champions League final. Their familiarity and winning mentality can only be a positive for Portugal.

Nuno Mendes and Vitinha were recently voted in the 2025 FIFPRO World 11, a team selected by more than 20,000 professional footballers from 68 countries.

Club connections are always important in international football and played a crucial role in Portugal’s 2016 European Championship success with Sporting Clube de Portugal’s William Carvalho, Adrien Silva and João Mário all featuring prominently in Fernando Santos’ side.

6) Versatility

Portugal’s squad is very versatile which could play a role in the longest World Cup we have ever seen. Many players have hardly had any rest due to the FIFA Club World Cup, gruelling seasons with their clubs in addition to internationals, so expect injuries.

João Cancelo and Diogo Dalot will spend time at left-back. Matheus Nunes may have been converted into a right-back but let’s not forget how impactful he was as a midfielder for Sporting CP.

Rúben Neves has featured in central defence for Portugal and has been occupying that position at Al Hilal. Bernardo Silva can operate on the right wing, central midfield and is the primary option to replace Bruno Fernandes in the playmaker role.

Pedro Neto, João Félix, Francisco Trincão and Gonçalo Guedes can play anywhere in attack, giving Martínez a multitude of options up front.

7) Wingers

Portugal have traditional wingers who are in their element in 1 on 1 situations, using their dribbling ability, trickery and speed to get past defenders. Pedro Neto, Francisco Conceição, Rafael Leão and Gonçalo Guedes tick all those boxes.

João Félix has no issue beating opponents but often utilises passes to unlock defences, alongside Francisco Trincão and Bernardo Silva who can be classified as technicians.

Whatever tactics Portugal’s opponents use, Martínez can call on wingers with a range of styles to suit the situation.

8) Diogo Jota

Diogo Jota came off the bench in Portugal’s victory against Spain in the UEFA Nations League final on 8 June, 2025. Less than a month later he was gone, killed in a car accident alongside his brother André Silva.

It was a tragedy on so many levels, most of all for his wife and three children.

Roberto Martínez commented before Portugal’s first game without Jota, the World Cup qualifier in Armenia, saying: “We won the Nations League and Diogo Jota was part of that success.”

“He’s a strength for us, a source of motivation because he wanted to win the World Cup. We have a responsibility to fight for the Portuguese people, as always, but we have a responsibility for Diogo, and that’s very special.”

Diogo Dalot recently featured on the Players Tribune, in which he said: “When his casket was carried out of the church, and I saw how his wife was suffering, my heart broke into a thousand pieces.

“On the Portugal bus, Diogo would always sit next to Rúben Neves, his best friend on the team, but at the next camp his seat was empty. Rúben was sitting there alone, and you could see that he didn’t know how to handle it. None of us did.”

“I think all we can do is to chase his dream. He wanted so badly to see Portugal become world champions. We won’t just be fighting for our country. We’ll be fighting for Diogo.”

9) Roberto Martínez

Martínez has managed over 500 matches with 80 of those in charge of Belgium. His side beat England and Brazil on their way to the 2018 World Cup semi-finals where they suffered a narrow 1-0 defeat to champions France.

The Red Devils went out to Italy in the 2021 European Championship quarter-finals before a meltdown at the 2022 World Cup saw Belgium knocked out in the group stage.

Martínez couldn’t have asked for a better start as manager of Portugal, winning all ten 2024 European Championship qualifiers including a record breaking 9-0 victory against Luxembourg.

Early victories over the Czech Republic and Turkey were followed by a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Georgia, the start of a 330-minute spell without a goal. Portugal were fortunate not to exit against Slovenia in the Round of 16 before a penalty shootout exit to France in the quarter-finals.

The manager got some redemption by guiding Portugal to the 2025 UEFA Nations League title, beating Germany on home soil and defeating Spain in the final.

Martínez is clearly a very intelligent man and intelligent men are usually able to learn from the past. We are all hoping that his experience can culminate in a historic victory for Portugal in New Jersey on 19 July.

10) Cristiano Ronaldo

Ronaldo’s impact on Portugal and Portuguese football is immeasurable. The boy from Madeira is the all-time leading goalscorer and most-capped player in history, a global superstar who divides opinion like no other.

Entering his sixth World Cup at 41-years-old, it would be a fairytale of epic proportions if Ronaldo could lead Portugal to glory at the 2026 World Cup.

Concerns

There has to be some ying with the yang, some dark with the light, so here are some of the concerns regarding Portugal’s ability to win the tournament.

Central defence

World Cup winning teams usually contain a dominant and aggressive centre-back. Marcel Desailly, Lúcio, Fabio Cannavaro, Carles Puyol and Nicolás Otamendi are some of the recent examples.

Pepe was such an influential figure for Portugal due to his physicality. He had the potential to boil over, most notably the incident with Getafe’s Javier Casquero that resulted in a 10-match suspension and a dumb red card against Germany in the opening match at the 2014 World Cup.

On the whole however, those types of personalities play a vital role in winning international tournaments. I am not sure Portugal have enough physicality and aggression in central defence.

Set piece vulnerability

Portugal’s weakness defending set pieces was exposed by Hungary in the World Cup qualifier at Estádio José Alvalade. Dominik Szoboszlai delivered a corner to the back post where the 1,73m tall Bernardo Silva was marking the 1,92m giant Attila Szalai who headed the ball into the net.

It was a familiar story in the next match against the Republic of Ireland. Jack Taylor’s deep corner resulted in Liam Scales heading the ball to Troy Parrott who opened the scoring.

Targeting Portugal’s weakness at the back post was clearly one of Ireland’s primary tactics at Aviva Stadium, something manager Heimir Hallgrímsson confirmed after the match.

It’s not just set pieces where Portugal have a weakness at the back post. Mexico should have taken the lead late on in the recent friendly at Estadio Azteca, Julián Quiñones’ deep cross picking out Armando González who missed a glorious opportunity.

A Martínez meltdown

Roberto Martínez started João Neves at right-back in the Nations League semi-finals and final, a decision that highlighted his tendency to think outside the box.

Neves is a smart and versatile player who briefly occupied that position for PSG, but his inclusion in an unfamiliar position justifiably baffled many due to Diogo Dalot and Nélson Semedo starting on the bench.

Martínez clearly had a plan to utilise Neves in an inverted role, but looking at it with a simplistic lens and anticipating that he would struggle against a winger like Nico Williams was ultimately proved correct. Neves was hooked at half-time with Portugal 2-1 down against Spain in the final.

The Seleção managed to turn it around and win the penalty shootout, but you can be sure the decision to start Neves at right-back would have attracted much more criticism had the result gone a different way.

Let’s not forget that under Martínez, Portugal couldn’t score in more than 360 consecutive minutes at the 2024 European Championship, an incredible statistic that highlights the Seleção’s struggles at their last major tournament.

Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo’s World Cup record stands in stark contrast to the records he has amassed in club football, scoring seven goals in 22 appearances.

He has managed more than one goal only once in five World Cups. That came in 2018 when he hit a hat-trick in Portugal’s opening game against Spain, ending the tournament in Russia with four goals.

There is no doubt he deserves to continue starting for Portugal. But if things are not going his way, how he reacts and how he is managed by Martínez will be closely scrutinised and could have a big impact on the Seleção’s chances of winning in 2026.