Portugal

Early World Cup attempts

Portugal were not invited to the 1930 World Cup, which only featured a finals stage and no qualification round. The team took part in the 1934 FIFA World Cup qualification, but failed to eliminate their Spanish opponents, aggregating two defeats in the two-legged round, with a 9–0 loss in Madrid and 2–1 loss in Lisbon for an aggregate score of 11–1.

In the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Seleção played one game against Switzerland held in neutral ground in Milan. They lost 2–1 and failed to qualify for the finals. The Second World War delayed the World Cup until 1950 and subsequently, the national team rarely played. A 10–0 home friendly loss against England, two years after the war, still stands as their biggest ever defeat.

1950s and early 1960s

Similar to 1934, Portugal were to play a two-legged round against Spain. After a 5–1 defeat in Madrid, they managed to draw the second game 2–2. With a 7–3 aggregate score, they did not qualify on the pitch, however they would later be invited to replace Turkey, which had withdrawn from participating. Portugal refused to participate.

In 1954 FIFA World Cup qualification, the team would play Austria; the Austrians won the first game with a 9–1 result. The best the Portuguese could do was hold the Austrians to a goalless draw in Lisbon, resulting in a 9–1 aggregate defeat. Four years later, Portugal won a qualifying match for the first time, a 3–0 home victory over Italy. Nevertheless, they finished last in a group that also featured Northern Ireland; only the first-placed team, Northern Ireland, would qualify.

1960 was the year that UEFA created the European Championship. The first edition was a knock-out tournament with the last four teams participating in the finals stage that only featured one leg while the earlier stages had two legs. In the first round, the Seleção das Quinas won 2–0 at East Germany and then 3–2 in Porto, advancing with a 5–2 two-legged win. Portugal faced Yugoslavia in the quarter-finals, losing 6–3 on aggregate.

Portugal faced England and Luxembourg in 1962 FIFA World Cup qualification and ended up second in the group, behind England, who would be the only team in Group 6 to qualify. In the 1964 European Championship, Portugal played against Bulgaria in the qualifying rounds. The Portuguese lost in Sofia and won in Lisbon. With the round tied 4–4, a replay was needed in a neutral country. In the Stadio Olimpico in Rome, Portugal lost 1–0 thanks to a late strike from Georgi Asparuhov.

Third place at the 1966 World Cup

Portugal were drawn with Czechoslovakia, Romania and Turkey for 1966 World Cup qualification. They topped the group with only one draw and one defeat in six games and finally qualified for a FIFA World Cup, with a 1–0 away win against Czechoslovakia and Turkey and a 5–1 home win against the Turks being notable results.

At the World Cup, the team started out with three wins in the group stage after they beat Hungary 3–1, Bulgaria 3–0, and two-time defending champions Brazil 3–1. Secondly, they beat quarter-finalists North Korea 5–3, with Eusébio getting four markers to overturn a 3–0 deficit. Later, they reached the semi-finals where they were beaten by hosts England 2–1; in this game, Portugal would have played in Liverpool, but as England were the hosts, FIFA decided that the game would be played in London. Portugal then defeated the Soviet Union 2–1 in the third place match for their best World Cup finish to date. Eusébio was the top scorer of the World Cup with nine goals. Portugal would not qualify for another World Cup for 20 years.

1980s

Portugal won their Euro 1984 qualifying group that contained Finland, Poland and the Soviet Union with a win over the latter, allowing them to qualify and be placed in Group B alongside Spain, West Germany and Romania in the finals. In the first two matches, they drew 0–0 and 1–1 against West Germany and Spain, respectively. A 1–0 win over Romania resulted in a second-place finish in group play. Portugal were paired against hosts France in the semi-finals. After a draw in regular time, Portugal initially led 2–1 in extra-time, but the hosts scored in the 114th and 119th minutes to eliminate the Portuguese 3–2 and go through to the final.

For 1986 World Cup qualification, the Seleção played against Czechoslovakia, Malta, Sweden and West Germany for the two spots that would guarantee them a ticket to Mexico. Needing a win in the last game against West Germany in Stuttgart, Portugal won the game to become the first team to beat West Germany at their home ground in an official match. The team exited early in the group stages after a win and two losses. They started with a 1–0 win against England, but later were beaten by Poland and Morocco 1–0 and 3–1 respectively. Their staying in Mexico was marked by the Saltillo Affair, where players refused to train in order to win more prizes from the Portuguese Football Federation. Mexico marked their last World Cup appearance until 2002.

1995–2006: The golden generation

At UEFA Euro 1996, Portugal finished first in Group D, and in the quarter-finals, they lost 1–0 to the Czech Republic.

Portugal failed to qualify for the 1998 FIFA World Cup. In Euro 2000 qualifying, Portugal finished second in their group, one point short of first-placed Romania. However, after finishing as the top runner-up nation in qualifying, Portugal nonetheless secured a spot in the finals. They then defeated England 3–2, Romania 1–0 and Germany 3–0 to finish first in Group A, then defeated Turkey in the quarter-finals. In the semi-finals against France, Portugal were eliminated in extra time when Zinedine Zidane converted a penalty. Referee Günter Benkö awarded the spot kick for a handball after Abel Xavier blocked a shot. Xavier, Nuno Gomes and Paulo Bento were all given lengthy suspensions for subsequently shoving the referee. The final eventually finished 2–1.

During 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Portugal won the group. Several problems and poor judgement decisions occurred during the preparation and tournament itself – shopping sprees by players were widely reported in the Portuguese press. Questionable managing choices and some amateurism, including the same lack of agreement on prizes. Portugal entered the tournament as favourites to win Group D. However, they were upset 3–2 by the United States. They then rebounded with a 4–0 smashing of Poland. Needing a draw to advance, they lost the last group game to hosts South Korea. Portugal underachieved and ended third in its group stage, subsequently eliminated. Manager António Oliveira was fired after the World Cup.

The next major competition, the UEFA Euro 2004, was held in Portugal. For preparation, the Football Federation made a contract with Luiz Felipe Scolari to manage the team until the tournament ended. Being a favourite to win it,^[] the host nation lost the first game against Greece 1–2. They achieved their first win against Russia 2–0 and also beat Spain 1–0. They went on to play against England, in a 2–2 draw that went into penalties, with Portugal winning. Portugal beat the Netherlands 2–1 in the semi-finals, and suffered a second defeat from Greece, 1–0, in the final.

After the tournament ended, many players belonging to the Geração de Ouro (Golden Generation), abandoned their international footballing careers, with only Luís Figo remaining in the team, despite a temporary retirement. The silver lining for Portugal was the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was selected in the UEFA Euro All-Star team. While Portugal were playing in the competition, Scolari agreed in a new two-year deal with the Federation.

Portugal finished first in the qualifying round for the 2006 World Cup, and topped Group D in the World Cup, with victories over Angola (1–0), Iran (2–0) and Mexico (2–1). Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in the Round of 16 in Nuremberg in an acrimonious match marked by 16 yellow cards, with four players sent off. Portugal drew 0–0 after extra-time with England, but won 3–1 on penalties to reach their first World Cup semi-final since 1966. They then lost 1–0 against France, and faced hosts Germany in the third place play-off match in a 3–1 defeat.

2006–2014: Post-golden generation and mixed results

For Euro 2008 Portugal finished second in qualification behind Poland, and won their first two group games against Turkey and the Czech Republic, although a loss to co-hosts Switzerland set up a quarter-final matchup with Germany which the team lost 3–2. After the tournament, Scolari left to take over at Chelsea. Afterwards, Carlos Queiroz was appointed as the head coach of the Portugal national team.

Portugal came second in the qualifying stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup under Queiroz, then beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in a play-off, thereby reaching every tournament in the decade. A 19-match undefeated streak, in which the team conceded only three goals, ended with a loss to eventual champions Spain in the round of 16, 1–0. Queiroz was later criticised for setting up his team in an overly cautious way. After the World Cup, squad regulars Simão, Paulo Ferreira, Miguel and Tiago all retired from international football. Queiroz was banned from coaching the national team for one month after he tried to block a doping test to the team while preparing for the World Cup, as well as directing insulting words to the testers. In consequence, he received a further six-month suspension. Several media outbursts from Queiroz against the heads of the Portuguese Football Federation followed, which partly prompted his dismissal. Paulo Bento was appointed as his replacement at head coach.

Bento's team qualified for Euro 2012; they were drawn with Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands in a widely speculated "group of death". They lost their first game 0–1 to Germany, then beat Denmark 3–2. The final group stage match was against the Netherlands. After Van der Vaart had given the Dutch a 1–0 lead, Ronaldo netted twice to ensure a 2–1 victory. Portugal finished second in the group and qualified for the knockout phase. Portugal defeated the Czech Republic 1–0 in the quarter-finals with a header from Ronaldo. The semi-final match was against Spain, who defeated Portugal 4–2 on penalties after a goalless draw.

In 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Portugal won 4–2 on aggregate in a play-off against Sweden with all four goals being scored by Ronaldo, and were drawn into Group G with the United States, Germany and Ghana. Their first match against the Germans was their worst-ever defeat in a World Cup, a 4–0 loss. They went on to draw 2–2 against the United States and won 2–1 against Ghana. However, the team were eliminated due to inferior goal difference to the Americans.

2016–present: Euro 2016 and first international glories

In UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, Bento was dismissed following a defeat to Albania and was replaced by Fernando Santos in September 2014. After qualifying for the finals, Portugal finished third in Group F but advanced to the knockout stages as the third-best third place team following three straight draws. Portugal beat Croatia 1–0 after extra time in the round of 16 and then defeated Poland 5–3 on penalties to reach the semi-finals, where they defeated Wales 2–0. In the final against the hosts France, Ronaldo went off injured. However, in extra time, substitute Eder scored the winning goal in the 109th minute.

Following their Euro 2016 victory, Portugal participated in the 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup. They finished top of their group, but lost to Chile on penalties after a goalless draw in the semi-finals, but rebounded in the third place game, defeating Mexico 2–1 after extra time.

At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Portugal opened their campaign with a 3–3 draw with Spain, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick. After a 1–0 victory against Morocco, Portugal drew 1–1 with Iran to progress to the knockout round as group runners-up. Portugal were eliminated following a 2–1 defeat to Uruguay in the round of 16.

Following the World Cup, Portugal won the inaugural UEFA Nations League beating the Netherlands at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, with the only being scored by Gonçalo Guedes in the 60th minute.

At UEFA Euro 2020, Portugal were drawn into a group containing France, Germany and Hungary which was widely speculated as being the "group of death". Portugal advanced to the next round by defeating Hungary, drawing with France and losing to Germany. There, they faced Belgium but lost 1–0.

For the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Portugal were required to qualify for the finals via the play-offs after finishing second in their group. Nevertheless, Portugal managed to beat Turkey and North Macedonia to qualify for the final tournament. At the 2022 World Cup, Portugal defeated Ghana 3–2 in their first group game and then beat Uruguay 2–0. to qualify for the knockout stages. The Portuguese would demolish Switzerland 6–1 in the next round, their highest tally in a World Cup knockout game since the 1966 World Cup, with Gonçalo Ramos scoring a hat-trick. However, they were eliminated in the quarter-finals by Morocco, 1–0. Following a disappointing World Cup campaign, Santos was dismissed on 15 December. On 9 January 2023, Roberto Martinez was announced as the head coach of Portugal, replacing Fernando Santos.