EURO 2024 TEAM GUIDE - Portugal: Roberto Martinez's men had the best record in qualifying and have high hopes of giving Cristiano Ronaldo a fairytale send-off

Portugal will arrive in Germany with serious hopes of winning the European Championship, just as they did eight years ago.

Roberto Martinez's team come into the tournament after qualifying with the best record of any team, winning all of their games while scoring the most and conceding the least.

They are clearly the team to beat in Group F, having been drawn alongside Czechia, Turkey and Georgia. 

And A Selecao das Quinas have the added motivation of giving captain Cristiano Ronaldo the perfect send-off in his 11th and most likely last major international tournament.

Here, Mail Sport takes you through Group F's Portugal, including how they qualified for the tournament, their history in the competition and who to look out for.

Who is the manager?  

Former Everton and Belgium boss Roberto Martinez was brought in to replace Fernando Santos following the disappointment of the 2022 World Cup. 

And it's been a perfect start to life in charge for Martinez, who came out of qualifying with a flawless record of 10 wins from 10 matches, his team scoring 36 goals and conceding just two in the process. 

Martinez's 100 per cent record came to an end in his side's last outing as they suffered a shock 2-0 defeat by Slovenia but it was merely a friendly. 

The 50-year-old has experimented with both three and four at the back but looks more likely to go with the latter in Germany.

Martinez has stuck with Cristiano Ronaldo up top as the sole striker for the most part but has tried a front two with Goncalo Ramos on the odd occasion. 

Who is their star man?  

When one of the biggest stars on planet earth is in your team he's always going to be the star man.

He may well be past his best just one year shy of 40, but the cameras and headlines still follow Cristiano Ronaldo wherever he goes.

The forward still wears the captain's armband and will be arriving in Germany with a point to prove in what will almost certainly be his last major international tournament.

The World Cup couldn't have gone much worse for Ronaldo, who saw himself fall out of the starting XI before his side's quarter-final exit and had to watch his great rival Lionel Messi lift the trophy.

However, he's bounced back since then in his new surroundings in Saudi Arabia and has shown that while his pace may have waned, his ability to score goals has not.

The Al-Nassr man was the top scorer in world football in 2023 and the second highest scorer in qualifying for this tournament with 10 goals in 10 games.

He's lifted this trophy once before and with this squad he has a great chance of doing it again.

How did they qualify?

A Selecao das Quinas were handed a favourable group in qualifying as they were drawn alongside Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg and Slovakia in Group J. 

And they proceeded to make light work of it, winning all 10 of their matches and becoming just the eighth national side to qualify for a Euros with a 100 per cent record.

Martinez's team kept a clean sheet in nine of those games with only Slovakia providing much of a test.

Fixtures

June 18: Portugal vs Czechia (Leipzig, 9pm)

June 22: Turkey vs Portugal (Dortmund, 6pm)

June 26: Georgia vs Portugal (Gelsenkirchen, 9pm) 

*All times in British Summer Time (BST)*

Tournament history

Portugal have participated in the tournament eight times with their first appearance coming in 1984.

They have reached the semi-finals on five occasions and made the final as hosts in 2004, where they were upset by Greece. 

The years of near misses came to an end in 2016 when they went all the way, defeating France 1-0 in the final thanks to an extra-time winner from Eder. 

Odds to win the trophy

Portugal have odds of 8/1 to win in Germany with Sky Bet. Odds are correct at the time of publication. 

Confirmed squad 

Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto), Jose Sa (Wolves), Rui Patricio (AS Roma)

Defenders: Antonio Silva (Benfica), Danilo Pereira (Paris St Germain), Diogo Dalot (Man Utd), Goncalo Inacio (Sporting), Joao Cancelo (Barcelona), Nelson Semedo (Wolves), Nuno Mendes (PSG), Pepe (Porto), Ruben Dias (Man City)

Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Joao Neves (Benfica), Joao Palhinha (Fulham), Otavio Monteiro (Al Nassr), Ruben Neves (Al-Hilal), Vitinha (PSG)

Forwards: Bernardo Silva (Man City), Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr), Diogo Jota (Liverpool), Francisco Conceicao (Porto), Goncalo Ramos (PSG), Joao Felix (Barcelona), Pedro Neto (Wolves), Rafael Leao (AC Milan)