The 2022/23 season has concluded in Portugal and across most of Europe but there is still plenty of action to sink your teeth into during the summer as far as the Seleção is concerned. There are three tournaments across different age groups that Portuguese teams will be involved in, including the women’s senior team who are featuring in their first-ever FIFA Women’s World Cup! Roberto Martínez’s Seleção are also in action during the summer, with the first of their two fixtures taking place next week.
Próxima Jornada has you covered with your guide to the summer.
Portugal – FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023
Portugal made history back in November when they overcame Cameroon in the play-off to guarantee their place in the FIFA Women’s World Cup finals for the first time in their history. Francisco Neto’s side have continued to make great strides and they now sit in 21st place in the FIFA World Rankings – their highest-ever position.
Portugal have been placed in Group E, a particularly difficult group comprised of defending champions the United States of America, Netherlands who are ranked 8th in the world and Vietnam, a nation who are making their first appearance in the competition and who will be looking to cause an upset.
The competition will be held in Australia and New Zealand and will kick off on the 20th of July and will finish on the 20th of August.
All times are in Portugal/UK time:
Netherlands v Portugal – 23rd July 2023 – KO: 08:30
Portugal v Vietnam – 27th July 2023 – KO: 08:30
Portugal v USA – 1st July 2023 – KO: 08:00
You can also read our interview with Portugal international Tatiana Pinto here as she discusses what it’s like to reach 100 caps for her country and to be part of this Portugal squad.
Portugal Under 21 – UEFA U21 European Championship
Rui Jorge will lead his side into the U21 Euros hoping to do what he and no other Portugal U21 side has done before and win the competition.
In 2021, an ultra-talented Portugal U21 group featuring the likes of Fábio Vieira, Vitinha, Diogo Costa and Gonçalo Ramos reached the final but lost 1-0 to Germany. It has been a similar story over the years for Portugal at U21 level, finishing as runners-up on three separate occasions and never quite being able to get the job done.
This time around Rui Jorge once again has a stacked squad at his disposal, featuring the likes of Pedro Neto, Fábio Vieira, Fábio Silva and André Almeida.
The competition will be held in Georgia and Romania and Portugal have been drawn in Group A with Belgium, Georgia and Netherlands.
All times are in Portugal/UK time:
Georgia v Portugal – 21st June – KO: 20:00
Portugal v Netherlands – 24th June – KO: 20:00
Portugal v Belgium – 27th June – KO: 20:00
Portugal Under 19 – UEFA U19 European Championship
Portugal have excelled at under-19 level in recent years, winning the competition in 2018 and finishing runners-up in both 2017 and 2019. This time around, Portugal received a bye into the UEFA U19 European Championship elite round due to having the best coefficient seeding of any team.
Rui Bento’s side made light work of the elite round, winning all three of their games without conceding a single goal.
The eight-team competition will take place in Malta between 3rd and 16th of July 2023.
Portugal are in Group A with hosts Malta, Poland and Italy.
Poland v Portugal – 3rd July – KO: 18:00
Portugal v Italy – 6th July – KO: 18:00
Portugal v Malta – 9th July – KO: 18:00
Portugal – UEFA Euro 2024 Qualifying
Roberto Martínez will be hoping his side can continue their strong start to Euro 2024 qualifying next week. This will be the Spaniard’s second international break with the squad and another chance for the former Belgium boss to cast his eye over both the experienced members of the group and some newer faces to the group. Nélson Semedo, Renato Sanches and Ricardo Horta all missed out on Martínez’s first squad, but they are now back in the fold, as well as Toti Gomes who has been called up for the first team.
The Seleção faced the two worst sides statistically in Group J back in March, with Liechtenstein sitting 199th in the FIFA World Rankings and Luxembourg in 91st. The upcoming matches against Bosnia & Herzegovina (57th) and Iceland (64th) on paper should present more of a challenge for Portugal, with both sides sitting inside the top 65 of the FIFA rankings. With Portugal’s quality, however, it really should be another six points on the board for Martínez’s men.
Portugal v Bosnia & Herzegovina – 17th June – KO: 19:45
Iceland v Portugal – 20th June – KO: 19:45
