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Portugal has had a long love affair with the game of football and the
FIFA World Cup. That said, the first year the Portuguese national football
team played in a World Cup was in 1966.
During that tournament the team impressed the international football fraternity
greatly by
reaching the semi-finals, where they were dispatched by eventual winners,
England (1-2). The Portuguese national football
team is governed by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF).
From 1970 to 1982 and from 1990 to 1998 the Portuguese national football team
failed to qualify for the World Cup. In 1986 and 1998 the team managed to reach
round 1 of the tournament, and in the 2006 World Cup impressed yet again by
finishing in fourth place overall.
This was an exceptional result considering the team's previous World Cup record.
With manager Luiz Felipe Scolari at the helm, Portugal defeated Russia by 7-1 in
the qualification, and came top of Group D after also dispatching Angola (1-0),
Iran (2-0) and Mexico (2-1).
Portugal went on to defeat the Netherlands by 1-0 in the Round of 16.
Thereafter, Portugal drew 0-0 with England after extra-time, and went on to
dispatch the 1966 World Cup victors by 3-1 on penalties to reach the semi-finals.
The team then lost to France by 0-1, with two players
short.
Top Portuguese national football team players include Cristiano Ronaldo, Luís
Figo, Fernando Couto, Pauleta, Eusébio, Nuno Gomes, Rui Costa, João Vieira
Pinto, Nené, Simão Sabrosa, Rui Jordão, Jorge Costa and many more.
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