Eduardo: “Diogo Costa is one of the best goalkeepers in the world” | OneFootball

Diogo Costa enters the World Cup 2026 picture with elite credentials and the backing of someone who knows the loneliest position in the game well. Eduardo, a former Portugal international, placed the FC Porto goalkeeper among the best on the planet, framed the natural pressure of starting out in major competitions, and identified Portugal as one of the teams capable of challenging for the top. In the same breath, Helton reinforced the stature of Porto’s keeper and the depth of options in the Portuguese squad, as the national team prepares to face Uzbekistan.

After the draw against the Democratic Republic of the Congo in the opening matchday of Group K, the discussion moved between immediate demands and the broader perspective of a World Cup that has only just begun. Eduardo, former goalkeeper for the Portuguese national team and current goalkeeping coach at Sp. Braga, read the moment with the calm of someone who has already experienced this stage and left a key idea: the start can weigh heavily, but Portugal have the raw material to grow into the tournament.

Looking at the national team’s first steps in the competition, Eduardo focused on the emotional impact of entering a World Cup. Rather than dramatizing the opening draw, he described the atmosphere surrounding the first few days and how the competition gradually settles into the players’ bodies and minds.

“We’ve already been gathered there for a few days, watching the other matches, and that initial nervousness and anxiety are always there,” he explained. “Then the ball starts rolling, confidence begins to grow, and things fall into place. I believe Portugal will improve throughout this tournament.”

It is a reading that takes the weight off alarm and restores context to the moment. In Eduardo’s view, what matters most lies less in the early stumble and more in the team’s ability to adjust to the emotional and competitive rhythm of the tournament.

Within that context, the figure of Diogo Costa emerged as a point of stability. Eduardo did not hesitate to highlight the FC Porto goalkeeper’s status and the competitive toughness with which he handles this kind of spotlight.

“Diogo Costa is one of the best goalkeepers in the world, I have absolutely no doubt about that,” he stated. “We’re very happy to have him in our goal and defending our colors. But he, like others, is already used to dealing with that kind of pressure.”

The words place Diogo Costa at the center of the team’s collective confidence, not as a promise still taking shape, but as an established solution. At the same time, they help connect the individual case to the broader picture of a national team used to living with high expectations.

It was precisely that collective picture that Eduardo wanted to broaden when he spoke about the current generation. Without isolating it from the national team’s history, he placed it alongside other landmark generations and underlined the continuity of Portuguese talent at the highest level.

“We’ve always had great generations, ours, Figo’s, the ones before that...,” he said. “This one is hugely talented, and it shows that Portuguese football continues to produce talent at the highest level. We export to the best leagues, the best clubs, and that shows the work that has been done. Fortunately, our national teams have competed with the great powers. We are at least in the fight.”

In this view, Portugal do not appear merely as a competitive team, but as a national side legitimately established among the contenders. The argument is not driven by euphoria: it comes from accumulated quality, international experience, and the conviction that the level of the group allows them to dream without asking permission.

If Eduardo spoke with the authority of someone who experienced World Cups from Portugal’s goal, Helton approached the subject with the same clarity when the focus returned to Diogo Costa. The former FC Porto goalkeeper rejected the idea that this tournament serves to validate what the current starter has yet to prove.

“I don’t believe we’re talking about a breakthrough World Cup for Diogo Costa,” he explained. “I don’t go down that road because I think he has already established himself. Diogo Costa is a fantastic goalkeeper, and we’ve seen at FC Porto what he is capable of doing. His performance at the World Cup will not depend on him alone.”

Helton takes the debate away from the ground of individual validation and brings it back to the collective level. In doing so, he reinforces the idea that the goalkeeper arrives at this stage with his credentials firmly established and that a national team’s performance, especially in short tournaments, can never rest solely in one man’s gloves.

The former keeper of the Dragons also highlighted the wealth of options in the Portuguese team and, when speaking about Diogo Costa’s path, left room for a continuation he sees as natural, whatever the next step may be. The message was one of confidence in the road already traveled and in the player’s ability to decide.

“Not everyone had the same privilege I had, of staying at a big club like FC Porto for 11 years,” he acknowledged. “The decision to stay or not will have to be his, but I know him and I know he is very well advised to choose the best path for himself.”

Between praise for the present and caution about the future, Helton sketches a profile of maturity around Diogo Costa. And that trait fits into the wider portrait of a national team that, after the 1-1 draw with the Democratic Republic of the Congo, now heads into the clash with Uzbekistan with the usual pressure of the biggest stages — and with the conviction, repeated by two voices with goalkeeping pasts, that there is enough quality to keep growing in the World Cup.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.