Portugal's first participation in a major tournament finals was at the 1966 World Cup, which saw a team featuring Ballon d'Or winner Eusébio finish in third place.

This was in great part due to the production of several world class players, such as fellow Ballon d'Or winners Luís Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the win, Portugal qualified and made its only appearance in the FIFA Confederations Cup held in Russia, where they finished in third place.

Portugal is colloquially referred to as the Seleção das Quinas (a synecdoche based on the flag of the country) and has notable rivalries with Brazil, due to shared cultural traits and heritage,[7] France, due to several important meetings between the two teams at the Euros and World Cup,[8] and Spain, known as A Guerra Ibérica in Portuguese or The Iberian War in English, with the rivalry between two countries going back to 1581.

[10][11] In the 1938 FIFA World Cup qualification, the Seleção played one game against Switzerland held in neutral ground in Milan.

[25] At the World Cup, the team started out with three wins in the group stage after they beat Hungary 3–1,[26] Bulgaria 3–0, and two-time defending champions Brazil 3–1.

[33] After a draw in regular time, Portugal initially led 2–1 in extra-time, but the hosts scored in the 114th and 119th minutes to eliminate the Portuguese 3–2 and go through to the final.

[33] For 1986 World Cup qualification, the Seleção played against Czechoslovakia, Malta, Sweden and West Germany for the two spots that would guarantee them a ticket to Mexico.

[37][38] Their staying in Mexico was marked by the Saltillo Affair, where players refused to train in order to win more prizes from the Portuguese Football Federation.

Referee Günter Benkö awarded the spot kick for a handball after Abel Xavier blocked a shot.

[40] Several problems and poor judgement decisions occurred during the preparation and tournament itself – shopping sprees by players were widely reported in the Portuguese press.

For preparation, the Football Federation made a contract with Luiz Felipe Scolari to manage the team until the tournament ended.

[48] After the tournament ended, many players belonging to the Geração de Ouro (Golden Generation), abandoned their international footballing careers, with only Luís Figo remaining in the team, despite a temporary retirement.

[49][50] The silver lining for Portugal was the emergence of Cristiano Ronaldo, who was selected in the UEFA Euro All-Star team.

[53][54] Portugal defeated the Netherlands 1–0 in the Round of 16 in Nuremberg in an acrimonious match marked by 16 yellow cards, with four players sent off.

[59] For Euro 2008 Portugal finished second in qualification behind Poland,[60] and won their first two group games against Turkey and the Czech Republic, although a loss to co-hosts Switzerland set up a quarter-final matchup with Germany which the team lost 3–2.

[63][64][65][66] Portugal came second in the qualifying stages for the 2010 FIFA World Cup under Queiroz, then beat Bosnia and Herzegovina in a play-off, thereby reaching every tournament in the decade.

[67][68][69] A 19-match undefeated streak, in which the team conceded only three goals, ended with a loss to eventual champions Spain in the round of 16, 1–0.

[71] After the World Cup, squad regulars Simão, Paulo Ferreira, Miguel and Tiago all retired from international football.

[77] Bento's team qualified for Euro 2012; they were drawn with Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands in a widely speculated "group of death".

[88] In 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying, Portugal won 4–2 on aggregate in a play-off against Sweden with all four goals being scored by Ronaldo, and were drawn into Group G with the United States, Germany and Ghana.

In UEFA Euro 2016 qualifying, Bento was dismissed following a defeat to Albania and was replaced by Fernando Santos in September 2014.

[93] After qualifying for the finals, Portugal finished third in Group F but advanced to the knockout stages as the third-best third place team following three straight draws.

They finished top of their group,[99][100] but lost to Chile on penalties after a goalless draw in the semi-finals,[101] but rebounded in the third place game, defeating Mexico 2–1 after extra time.

[102] At the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Portugal opened their campaign with a 3–3 draw with Spain, with Cristiano Ronaldo scoring a hat-trick.

[106] Following the World Cup, Portugal won the inaugural UEFA Nations League beating the Netherlands at the Estádio do Dragão in Porto, with the only being scored by Gonçalo Guedes in the 60th minute.

[119] Portugal's traditional home kit is mainly red with a green trim, reflecting the colors of the nation's flag.

In recent times, all-black has been utilised, as has a turquoise-teal color, the latter of which was prominently featured during the title-winning Euro 2016 campaign.

Win Draw Loss Fixture The following 24[note 1] players were called up for the UEFA Nations League matches against Poland and Croatia on 15 and 18 November 2024, respectively.