Estádio do Dragão a lucky charm for the national team | OneFootball

Three years after the celebration against North Macedonia, which secured a spot in the 2022 World Cup, Portugal once again secured a place in a World Championship at the Dragão, with goals from Renato Veiga, Gonçalo Ramos, João Neves (three), Bruno Fernandes (three), and Francisco Conceição.

With the Spanish coach at the helm, it was at the Dragão, in October 2023, that the Portuguese national team sealed qualification for Euro2024, by defeating Slovakia 3-2, in a match marked by a brace from Cristiano Ronaldo and a goal from Gonçalo Ramos.

Portugal went on to complete this qualification entirely victorious, something unprecedented in the history of the national team.

A year later, in November 2024, another celebration took place at the Porto venue, this time for reaching the quarter-finals of the Nations League, a competition that the Portuguese team eventually won this year.

On that day, Portugal thrashed Poland 5-1, with Ronaldo scoring two goals and Rafael Leão, Bruno Fernandes, and Pedro Neto also among the scorers.

Previously, under the command of Fernando Santos, Portugal defeated North Macedonia at the Dragão 2-0, with a brace from Bruno Fernandes, confirming the trip to Qatar for the 2022 World Cup, albeit through the play-offs.

To reach the 2018 World Cup in Russia, the qualification celebration took place at the Estádio da Luz, also with Fernando Santos as coach, who led Portugal to nine consecutive victories in the qualifiers, culminating in a 2-0 win over Switzerland in Lisbon. Djourou, with an own goal, and André Silva scored the goals.

We have to go back to 2005 to find another 'stamp' in the passport for a World Championship – the one in Germany – celebrated on national soil, this time in Aveiro, during the 'era' of Scolari, with a 2-1 win over Liechtenstein, thanks to precise shots from Pauleta and Nuno Gomes.

In the trajectory of Portuguese qualifications, two historical venues that have since been demolished appear: the old versions of the Estádio da Luz and the Antas.

A thrashing of Estonia (5-0), with 70,000 in the stands of the first version of Luz, secured a place in the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan, under the command of António Oliveira.

For the absolute debut in World Championships, heading to England 1966 – which ended up being Portugal's best campaign, with third place – the celebration took place at the Antas, where a goalless draw (0-0) against Czechoslovakia was enough.

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