Portugal Men’s Soccer Team 2022

The Portugal Men’s Soccer Team

The Portugal Men’s Soccer Team has had a professional soccer team since 1921. This year,  they made it to the World Cup for the seventh time. Their first World Cup game was Thursday, November 24th, and they won  3-2 against Ghana. After that game, Portugal had a few days of rest before their next match against Uruguay,  securing a 2-0 win. Their last Group H game is Friday, December second against South Korea. Their starting lineup seems to have been working with Goalkeeper as Diogo Costa, defenders as Joao Cancelo, Pepe, Ruben Dias, and Nuno Mendes, midfielders as Ruben Neves, Joao Palhinha, Bruno Fernandes, and Bernardo Silvi, and the forwards as Joao Felix and Cristiano Ronaldo. Their stars of the team being Cristiano Ronaldo, Ruben Dias, Bruno Fernandes, and Bernando Silva have been doing good to help the team out getting their wins. 

The History Of The Portugal Men’s Soccer Team

Portugal’s  Men’s Soccer team was founded in 1914. The first official name of their federation was Uniao Portuguesa de Futebol, and their main goal was to promote national tournaments. “Portugal was not always a futebol powerhouse” (Whal). They only made two World Cups in the 20th century. They trained long and hard when they started to progress in the mid 90’s then getting a win at the Euro 2016. They were doing well, when WWII stopped their plans for seven years. Portugal got through the hardships to then play their first official game in 1921 losing 3-1 to Spain. They didn’t play any more official games until the 1928 Olympics, losing 2-1 to Egypt. They then didn’t get an invitation to the 1930 World Cup due to a humiliating 9-0 loss to Spain. Portugal lost their next two qualifiers, one in 1938 losing 2-1 to Switzerland and then in 1950 losing 5-1 to Spain. They humiliated themselves again, losing 9-1 four years later to Austria. Obviously they didn’t seem like a good soccer team, but then they made the 1958 World Cup qualifiers against Italy winning 3-0. Hoping for a win against Northern Ireland, they went onto the field to start kickoff, but then they ended up losing. In 1960 they made the European Championship qualifiers. Their first two attempts were unsuccessful, losing to Yugoslavia in 1960 and Bulgaria in 1964. In 1962 they finished second in their group behind England after winning 6-0 to Luxembourg and tieing 1-1 to England, then they lost their next two away games. 

Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi 

Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi are two incredible soccer players, but who’s better? Ronaldo has the highest goal tally for any professional soccer player, and he has played in more games than Messi. He had more Portugal appearances than Lionel had Argentina appearances, Cristiano has really well executed crosses, and he won the UEFA Champions League with his club team, Manchester United. Messi is a better team player, he has won the Ballon d’Or award seven times, four times in a row, while Ronaldo only won it five times, and Messi has great runs, speed, and it is very hard to tackle and win the ball off of him. They both are really good players overall, they have outstanding foot skills, and they both have great free kicks. Who do you think is better, Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo?

How Cristiano Ronaldo may retire

Cristiano Ronaldo, a 37-year-old Portugal Men’s Soccer Team player, may be retiring after the 2022 World Cup! He had said in one of his interviews that he is still motivated, his ambition is really high,  and he wants to make the commitment to play in the World Cup and at the Euros. Cristiano loves his coaches, teammates, and playing time. He is driven to stay fit, wants to set records, and he doesn’t have the exact mentality to retire, and wants to keep playing to the age of 40 or more. Is Cristiano Ronaldo going to retire after the 2022 World Cup, or not? 

Dias’ Injuries

Ruben Dias, one of the stars on Portugal’s Men’s Soccer Team, is out of playing for the World Cup due to a hamstring injury. He hurt himself playing for Manchester United and won’t be back up until six weeks. Ruben Dias is a left center-back which hurts Portugal’s team because you need a solid back line to stop scoring opportunities, though, Portugal still has many other defenders that could take Ruben’s place. Manager Fernando Santos is also thinking about having three defenders at the back instead of four to have more offense with a left back, a right back, and one center back. Hopefully Portugal will be able to make it past the group stages into the knockout rounds without Ruben Dias.  

                                                                   Works Cited

Brennan, Feargal. “Portugal World Cup Squad 2022: Cristiano Ronaldo Leads Portugal’s Final 

26-Man National Football Team Roster in Qatar.” The Sporting News 6 Dec. 2022. Web. 

“Cristiano Ronaldo vs. Lionel Messi.” Diffen n.d. Web. 

“Cristiano Ronaldo Won’t Retire From Portugal After the 2022 World Cup.” SI 21 Sep. 2022. Web. 

“Portugal’s Central Problem as World Cup Playoffs Loom.” PortuGOAL.net 15 Mar. 2022 Web.

Thomas, Joshua. “Portugal World Cup Schedule 2022: Complete Fixtures, Matches, Kickoff 

Times, Dates for all Games in Qatar.” The Sporting News 7 Dec. 2022. Web.  

Wahl, Martin. “Portugal.” FootballHistory.org 2022. Web.