The journey to the World Cup from Australia and New Zealand to Portugal was a long one. No other team in world football has played so many games to secure a place in FIFA’s top competition. Coach Francisco Neto took advantage of the marathon of qualifying games – group stage, European playoff and intercontinental playoff – to create a cohesive group of players that has changed little between calls. This stability is one of Portugal’s weapons in a group that has the two teams that were in the last final of a world cup, the Netherlands and the United States (twice world champions), but also the Vietnam team.
In addition to the challenge of equalizing possibilities on the pitch, there is also the need to balance conditions off the pitch. In Portugal, equality in the prizes distributed by the federation between women’s and men’s teams continues to be a promise with a distant date – 2030 as a goal defined by the Federation -, an opportunity that many of the players who are present in this world cup will not be able to take advantage of.
Portugal appears in the world with one of the groups with the greatest international coverage. In addition to the climb in the FIFA rankings in recent years – Portugal reaches the world cup in 21st place -, the Portuguese national team presents itself on the big stage with seven athletes with more than 100 games with the national team’s jersey. These are the cases of Sílvia Rebelo, Carole Costa, Dolores Silva, Tatiana Pinto, Ana Borges, Carolina Mendes or Jessica Silva, an important base of the team.
The experience in the 2022 European Championship helps the Portuguese team to face the tournament with another tranquility. The result against the selection of the Netherlands (3-2 defeat in the second round of the group stage), makes the team believe that it can beat among the best.
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