Fear over Portugal. With three victories to start the qualifiers for the Europe zone, the Seleçao thought it had protected itself from any unpleasant surprises in this race for the 2026 World Cup. But since the draw conceded in added time against Hungary (2-2), last October 14 in Lisbon, nothing is going well for Roberto Martinez’s players, who cannot finish the job.
Thursday evening, in Dublin, the Portuguese had a new opportunity to validate their place in the World Cup, but they came up against a tough Irish team (0-2), who knew how to thwart them. And even trip. Although he had never received a red card in his career with the national team, Cristiano Ronaldo suffered an unfortunate elbow in the back of Dara O’Shea (59e), which led to his expulsion.
It is therefore without the five-time Ballon d’Or that they will approach their final meeting in Group F on Sunday afternoon against Armenia. Before this decisive meeting, the situation is simple: Portugal, in the lead with two points ahead of Hungary and three over Ireland, has its destiny in hand. A victory and the winners of the 2025 Nations League will go to North America next summer.
Portugal in the play-offs?
Any other scenario would, however, place them at the mercy of the Hungarians or the Irish, who have a worse goal difference (respectively +2 and +1 against +5 for the Portuguese). On paper, it’s hard to imagine Bernardo Silva’s teammates dropping points against the Armenians, a modest 104e in the FIFA rankings. But the dynamic is not good and the pressure could make them break.
In history, the Seleçao would not be the first team to break down in the final stretch of the qualifiers. In 1993, France only needed one point to fly to the United States before receiving Israel and Bulgaria. All cooked, a priori. But the Blues lost these two matches and missed their ticket to the World Cup. Portugal will always be able to catch up in the play-offs.
