After their fantastic win against Chile, they faced off Yugoslavia and won 2–1 thanks to a late goal in the 90th minute.

In the following games, the Egyptians lost against Argentina 6–0 in the semi-final and Italy 11–3 for the bronze medal match, which bittered the players.

After a 1–1 tie in Lisbon, the Portuguese lost the return leg in Aalborg 2–1, ending with a 3–2 aggregate result.

Portugal was to play in Subgroup A of Group Four with Israel and West Germany for a place in the second qualifying round.

With strong sides to play with (East Germany, Iceland, Italy, and the Netherlands) the Portuguese qualification was seen has difficult.

For the bronze medal match, they faced a strong Brazil full of world stars such as Bebeto, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, among others.

In the 2004 Games, the Portuguese were seen as major contenders for Olympic gold, but they didn't make it past the group stage.

[3] On 21 July, Fábio Sturgeon left the squad due to injury and was replaced by Fernando Fonseca.