Portugal's Euro Schedule
| Date | Fixture | Location |
|---|---|---|
| 15th June 5pm | Hungary v Portugal | Budapest |
| 19th June 5pm | Portugal v Germany | Munich |
| 23rd June 8pm | Portugal v France | Budapest |
Road to the Euros
Despite having an abundance of depth and quality, Portugal made hard work of their qualifying campaign. Ukraine won the group with 20 points and Portugal came second with 17, finishing just three ahead of Serbia. It was no surprise that Portugal made light work of Luxembourg and Lithuania, winning all four meetings and scoring 16 goals in the process. Those games accounted for 80% of their wins and 73% of their goals. In addition, they did manage to take a point from Ukraine and four from Serbia, but overall they made hard work of a less than glamorous group. They can be pleased with their defensive efforts having only allowed six goals and with Cristiano Ronaldo taking care of the rest, scoring 11 goals. Whilst Portugal are far from a one man team, the goals of Ronaldo alone would have ensured qualification.
Current form
Just over a year and a half since their qualifying campaign ended, you can see the difference in Portugal as they approach the defence of their Euro crown. The began their Nations League campaign by hammering Croatia and then recorded clean sheets against Sweden, Spain, France and Sweden again. A 1-0 loss to France was disappointing but it showed that they can compete. Their pre-tournament warm up games saw them keep another clean sheet against the Spanish before dispatching Israel 4-0 with ease. They’re still not the finished product, but the form of Ruben Dias has improved their defence to no end.
Squad assessment
The Selecao have seen the likes of Fernandes, Felix, Dias, Jota, Silva and others blossom and develop their game over the past 18 months. They have a front three as dangerous as any, spearheaded by the perpetual Ronaldo, a midfield full of grit and finesse in equal measure and their defensive performances with Ruben Dias anchoring the back four have been very commanding at times. If you look past the starting 11, there’s extreme depth with the likes of Neves, Sanches, Dalot and Silva available on the bench and the fact that Felix isn’t guaranteed a place in the starting line-up speaks volumes.
Key players
It goes without saying that Cristiano Ronaldo will need to lead from the front and score goals, but he has a wonderfully creative cast around him of technically gifted and interchangeable players who have both scored and created for their clubs this season. Bruno Fernandes is the most likely creator on the pitch, but we know from his unbelievable form in the Premier League that he also knows where the goal is, too. He could also be crucial in utilising any opportunities Portugal gets from set pieces. Ruben Dias is another influential player. You would expect to have a strong tournament and provide real quality and leadership in Portugal’s backline, but midfield anchor Danilo Perreira may be flying under the radar. He did a good job as PSG’s chief destroyer in the second half of the season and will offer some much needed protection as others fly forward.
Click below to read more about each of Portugal's Group F opponents: