Portugal 2-1 Chile - Seleção secure comfortable victory before the 2026 World Cup | OneFootball

Portugal’s preparations for the 2026 World Cup continued with a comfortable 2-1 win against Chile at Estádio Nacional.

The Seleção got on top early in Jamor, João Cancelo’s cross picking out Rúben Dias who forced a save from Lawrence Vigouroux.

Rafael Leão played a 1-2 with Cristiano Ronaldo who sent him clear with a clever backheel, Leão cutting inside Felipe Faúndez and firing against the post.

Ronaldo then ran onto Bruno Fernandes’ through ball and scored from an offside position before smashing a free kick into a wall.

A melee at the end of the first half resulted in Leão shoving Iván Román to the ground, the dust settling before referee Luca Zufferli showed both players straight red cards.

Roberto Martínez made six changes at half-time with Rui Silva, Gonçalo Inácio, Diogo Dalot, Rúben Neves, Pedro Neto and Gonçalo Guedes replacing José Sá, Renato Veiga, Nélson Semedo, Samú Costa, Bernardo Silva and Ronaldo.

Cancelo’s overhead kick was tipped over the bar by Vigouroux before the deadlock was broken in the 58th minute. Neves’ through ball picked out Guedes who took a touch and beat Vigouroux.

The one-way traffic continued with Bruno Fernandes sending a long ball over the top for Diogo Dalot who saw his shot saved from a tight angle.

Fernandes doubled Portugal’s advantage in the 75th minute. He started a move that involved Guedes and Francisco Conceição, the playmaker getting the ball back outside the box and steering it into the bottom corner.

Conceição immediately made way for João Félix before Neto missed the target. Tomás Araújo came on for Rúben Dias with time running out.

Lucas Cepeda scored a consolation goal in added time but it was too little too late for the South American side.

What did we learn?

Roberto Martínez has repeatedly said that results don’t matter in friendlies, what matters is working on combinations and keeping the whole squad involved.

With Vitinha and João Neves sitting out alongside their PSG teammates, Bernardo Silva played next to Samú Costa in midfield. Silva turns 32-years-old in August, and this might be the start of a transition from being stationed on the right wing to operating primarily in central midfield.

Rúben Dias came through 86 minutes with minimal fuss which is great news after the centre-back played just one of Manchester City’s final 12 matches of the season.

Gonçalo Guedes scored his first goal for four years for the Seleção (Photo: PortuGOAL/Arlindo Alves Homem ©)

Rúben Neves displayed his passing ability by splitting the lines for Gonçalo Guedes’ opening goal. His defending for Lucas Cepeda's goal is more of a reflection on the the way players are trained to defend in the modern game, standing off instead of attempting to make a challenge and win the ball.

Guedes justified his inclusion in the squad with a smart finish and could have a big role to play at the World Cup. Martínez spoke about Guedes after the match: “He has a different profile, a profile that today, with 10 players, shows what he can do, looking for spaces behind the defensive line, he also provides versatility because he can easily play on the left wing.

"I think his profile gives our dressing room more options, and I really liked his finishing. In training, he's a very, very clinical player inside the box. I think he's a player who arrives at the national team with a good foot, and I think today's goal will be a good sign for the World Cup."

I have exhausted all the ways to describe Bruno Fernandes’ ability and importance to the team. He scored his 29th international goal to draw level with Nuno Gomes and is closing in on Luís Figo who occupies fourth spot on Portugal’s top goalscorer list.

Rafael Leão didn’t do himself any favours with a moment of stupidity that resulted in a red card. Martínez commented on the incident, saying: “First, I need to say that I don’t think it was a red card, because the players’ attitude didn’t seem violent to me. But it’s an example of something that can’t happen; we have to control our emotions.”

Chile showed why they finished last in the South American qualifiers and are basically starting from scratch. For a nation of 20 million people, their decline puts Portugal’s consistency at international level into perspective.

Roberto Martínez quotes

“I think as a friendly match it allowed us to work on many aspects. In the first half, we lacked effectiveness and numerical superiority inside the area. I liked the set pieces. In the second half, there were many duels as expected. A goal can’t happen, and we have to know when we can move the ball forward.

“The competition and connection in the locker room is very positive. I think this game can help us understand what we need. Everyone knows the talent we have in the locker room and now we have to connect the dots. We also thank the fans who were present here.

“I liked many things. The first thing is what we’ve already talked about, in the World Cup we have to be prepared for the unexpected. The red card came and that meant we had to play 10 against 10, with more space and duels. I think it was a good game to prepare for Colombia. And individually it was very important that Rúben Dias was able to play the minutes he did.

“Individually, the only setback is the red card. We’ll adjust for the next game. Overall, there were very good aspects, others less good. Overall, what we did as a team, we are starting to connect, to win a game within the unexpected situation of playing with 10 men in the second half.

“We made many mistakes in possession; we need to make better decisions in that area. The goal we conceded is important; it’s a good sign that we need to play better in the creative zone. These are aspects that can happen in a friendly. The objective of the game before the World Cup.”

Line Ups

Portugal (4-2-3-1) José Sá (Rui Silva, 46’); Nélson Semedo (Diogo Dalot, 46’), Rúben Dias (Tomás Araújo, 86’), Renato Veiga (Gonçalo Inácio, 46’), João Cancelo; Bernardo Silva (Rúben Neves, 46’), Samú Costa (Pedro Neto, 46’); Francisco Conceição (João Félix, 76’), Bruno Fernandes, Rafael Leão;  Cristiano Ronaldo (Gonçalo Guedes, 46’)

Unused substitutes: Diogo Costa, Ricardo Velho, Francisco Trincão

Manager: Roberto Martínez

Chile: Lawrence Vigouroux, Guillermo Maripán, Iván Román, Felipe Faúndez, Gabriel Suazo, Felipe Loyola (Fabián Hormazabal, 79’), Vicente Pizarro (Víctor Méndez, 79’), Agustín Arce (Lucas Cepeda, 65’), Maximiliano Gutiérrez (Rodrigo Echeverrría, 65’), Darío Osorio (Nils Reichmuth, 79’), Gonzalo Tapia (Iván Morales, 79’)

Unused substitutes: Thomas Gillier, Diego Ulloa, Igor Lichnovsky, Matías Sepúlveda, Lautaro Millán, Clemente Montes

Manager: Nicolás Córdova