Can Portugal cause another shock?
Portugal
FIFA ranking: 4
How they qualified: Finished top of UEFA qualifying group B
World Cup appearances: 6
Best result: 3rd place (1966)
Background
Surprisingly, Portugal are making only their 7th appearance at a World Cup this summer. The Euro 2016 winners have reached Russia by finishing top of their European qualifying group ahead of Switzerland and the Seleção das Quinas will be attending their fifth consecutive World Cup.
The Coach
Fernando Santos
Santos was appointed in 2014 after a successful spell with Greece, whom he led to the last eight at Euro 2012 and the round of 16 at Brazil 2014. The Lisbon-born coach made history by leading Portugal to their first major tournament success at Euro 2016 and followed that up by guiding them through the Russia 2018 qualifiers.
Star Man
Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo is one of the greatest footballers in history. He is the all-time leading scorer for both Portugal and Real Madrid and has been named FIFA Player of the Year for the last two years running.
Starting XI
World Cup Chances
Drawn in group B with 2010 World Cup winners Spain, Morocco and Iran, Portugal and Spain are all but guaranteed to make it out of the group together. Portugal are not fancied to make it very far, even though they weren’t fancied in the 2016 European championships which they won by defeating hosts France in the final. Any team containing Cristiano Ronaldo should not be underestimated.
Transfer Watch
André Gomes
After earning a dream move to Barcelona in the summer of 2016, Gomes has fallen out of favour at the Nou Camp. As of now, Tottenham, AC Milan and Juventus are in a three-way race for the signature of André Gomes. Having fired his agent and hiring Englishman Paul Martin as his representative, it is believed that Tottenham are the favourites to sign the 24-year-old this summer.