Portugal have been tipped as a serious contender for the 2026 FIFA World Cup, with Cristiano Ronaldo still in the frame to chase the one prize missing from his career. The tournament begins on June 11 across the USA, Canada and Mexico, and the suggestion that Portugal could go all the way has put fresh weight on a team that has never won the competition.
That is why the talk matters now. Ronaldo will be 41 years old during the tournament, but Portugal are not being framed as sentimental hopefuls. They won the 2025 Nations League final against European champions Spain, and their squad has more than one major name behind the captain, including Bruno Fernandes, the Premier League player of the year, plus Joao Neves, Nuno Mendes, Goncalo Ramos and Vitinha from PSG. For a country with no World Cup title to its name, that combination has made the question feel plausible rather than fanciful.
The 48-nation format also gives Portugal a different route through the tournament than the old setup, and the final will be played on July 19 at MetLife Stadium in New York. If Portugal and Lionel Messi’s Argentina both win their groups, they could meet in the quarter-finals, a meeting that would immediately turn the bracket into one of the tournament’s biggest storylines. That possibility has added more intrigue to a side already being spoken about among the teams in the mix for the title.
Still, the gap between potential and proof remains wide. Portugal’s recent pedigree is real, but the World Cup has defeated generations of talented teams before, including Portugal’s own finest sides. The country has come close in other eras, finishing third in 1962 and producing elite players across 2010, 2018 and 2022 from afar as Spain, France and Argentina lifted the trophy. Whether Ronaldo’s final World Cup becomes the stage for Portugal’s first-ever title, or just another reminder of how hard the competition is to win, will depend on whether this group can carry its form into June and survive the stretch that follows.
