Portugal national football team: full squad and key players at the 2026 World Cup
Cristiano Ronaldo is chasing one last World Cup, and Portugal have the squad to make a real run at it. Here is the full 26-man group, the players who matter most, and how the campaign stands.
Jul 4, 2026
The Portugal national football team arrived at the 2026 World Cup as one of the deepest squads in the tournament, and so far they have played like it. Roberto Martinez has built a 26-man group around Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes and a spine of Paris Saint-Germain players, and that group has already carried Portugal into the last 16. Here is the full squad, the players who matter most, and how the campaign has gone.
Portugal finished second in Group K, then edged Croatia 2-1 in the round of 32 to book a heavyweight tie with Spain. For a nation that has spent two decades waiting on a first World Cup title, this is as strong a run at it as they have had in years.
Portugal’s 2026 World Cup squad in full
Martinez named his squad on 19 May 2026: three goalkeepers, eight defenders, seven midfielders and eight forwards. The clubs listed are the sides each player was attached to going into the tournament.
| Position | Players (club) |
|---|---|
| Goalkeepers | Diogo Costa (Porto), Jose Sa (Wolverhampton), Rui Silva (Sporting CP) |
| Defenders | Ruben Dias (Manchester City), Joao Cancelo (Barcelona), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain), Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting CP), Nelson Semedo (Fenerbahce), Tomas Araujo (Benfica), Renato Veiga (Villarreal) |
| Midfielders | Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain), Joao Neves (Paris Saint-Germain), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Ruben Neves (Al Hilal), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Matheus Nunes (Manchester City), Samuel Costa (Mallorca) |
| Forwards | Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr), Joao Felix (Al Nassr), Goncalo Ramos (Paris Saint-Germain), Rafael Leao (AC Milan), Pedro Neto (Chelsea), Francisco Conceicao (Juventus), Francisco Trincao (Sporting CP), Goncalo Guedes (Real Sociedad) |
Who are Portugal’s key players?
Ronaldo is still the headline. At 41 he is captain and figurehead, and he remains the all-time leading scorer in international football, a record he stretched further with a goal in the 5-0 win over Uzbekistan and the penalty that rescued Portugal against Croatia. He is now the first player, man or woman, to score at six different World Cups. His sister has publicly suggested this will be his international farewell, which only adds weight to every match Portugal play.
Bruno Fernandes runs the team from midfield. The Manchester United captain is Portugal’s chief creator and set-piece taker, and much of what Portugal do in the final third starts with him. Around him sits the Paris Saint-Germain core that gives this squad its balance: Vitinha controls tempo in deeper areas, Joao Neves covers ground box to box, and Nuno Mendes attacks down the left as one of the best full-backs in the world right now.
Ruben Dias anchors the defence, a leader in the same mould as the Manchester City version fans know. In attack, Rafael Leao offers direct, one-versus-one danger from the left, while Goncalo Ramos has become the man Portugal turn to late in games. It was Ramos who headed the 94th-minute winner against Croatia after coming off the bench. That blend of a veteran talisman and a genuinely modern supporting cast is why Portugal are taken seriously as contenders.
What separates this side from the near-misses of the past decade is the strength of the group behind Ronaldo. Vitinha, Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes and Ramos have grown up together at club level, and they give Martinez a young spine that can carry the team when the 41-year-old is rested or taken off. For years Portugal leaned almost entirely on Ronaldo when a game got tight. This time the supporting cast can win a knockout on its own, as the late comeback against Croatia showed.
There is quality at the back too. Diogo Costa is a goalkeeper who belongs in any conversation about the best in the world, and he saved the decisive penalty when Portugal beat Spain in the 2025 Nations League final. Joao Cancelo and Diogo Dalot give Martinez attacking full-backs, while Ruben Neves brings a calm head in the holding role.
Who is Portugal’s captain and head coach?
Cristiano Ronaldo captains the side. The head coach is Roberto Martinez, the Spaniard who took charge in January 2023 after spells managing Belgium and Everton. Martinez has leaned into Portugal’s attacking depth while trying to add the defensive discipline that has undone the team at past tournaments. Under him Portugal won the 2025 UEFA Nations League, beating Spain on penalties for their second title in that competition.
How have Portugal done at the 2026 World Cup so far?
Portugal were drawn in Group K alongside Colombia, DR Congo and Uzbekistan. They opened with a 1-1 draw against DR Congo, then thrashed Uzbekistan 5-0 in a game where Ronaldo added to his records. A 0-0 draw with Colombia on the final matchday meant Portugal finished as group runners-up, with Colombia topping the section.
In the round of 32 on 2 July, Portugal met Croatia in Toronto. Ivan Perisic put Croatia ahead early in the second half before Ronaldo levelled from the spot. Ramos then settled it deep in stoppage time, and a late Croatia equaliser was ruled out by VAR. The 2-1 win ended Luka Modric’s World Cup and set up a last-16 meeting with Spain, one of the standout ties of the round.
What comes next for Portugal?
The last-16 draw hands Portugal a tie against Spain, and it carries plenty of history. The two met in the 2025 Nations League final barely a year ago, a game Portugal won on penalties after a 2-2 draw. Beat Spain again and Portugal reach the quarter-finals, one of the deeper runs Ronaldo has managed at a World Cup. Lose, and a promising campaign ends earlier than a squad this good should accept. It is the kind of fixture that decides whether a tournament is remembered as a breakthrough or another near-miss.
Portugal remember Diogo Jota
This tournament carries a heavy backdrop for the squad. Forward Diogo Jota died in a car crash in Spain in July 2025, aged 28, alongside his brother Andre Silva. Jota had won 49 caps and scored 14 goals for Portugal. Martinez kept a symbolic place for him in the squad announcement, and the players have worn tribute wristbands bearing his name throughout the competition. For a group of players who counted Jota as a friend and team-mate, the run in North America has been played in his memory as much as anything else.
Portugal at the World Cup: a short history
Portugal’s best World Cup finish remains third place at the 1966 tournament in England, the campaign lit up by Eusebio. Their so-called golden generation reached the semi-finals in 2006 before losing to France. Since then the biggest prize came at Euro 2016, when Portugal beat the hosts France in the final for a first major international trophy. A World Cup, though, has stayed out of reach. This squad, with its mix of experience and PSG-fuelled youth, is built to change that before Ronaldo’s international story ends.
For another national-team breakdown, see our guide to the India national football team squad and key players, and keep up with the rest of our World Cup 2026 coverage.