In an exhibition that looks back to Eusebio’s 1966 legend, Portugal coach Roberto Martinez links the country’s World Cup identity to continuity: Cristiano Ronaldo’s long run, Diogo Jota’s “light” after a fatal crash, and a youth system built to turn players in
The loop of black-and-white film never ends at the Portuguese Football Federation. Behind it sits a crimson Eusebio jersey under glass. the great striker’s name stitched into the past like a promise. Roberto Martinez watches for a moment, then steps into the story Portugal tells itself: “They were called Os Magricos.”.
He remembers the kind of impact that transcended borders—Eusebio becoming “a respected figure in the British game without being British.” Portugal. he says. has always carried forward the values of that era. “You want to draw back on these memories and see their values as something we need,” Martinez says.
He has spent the last three and a half years as national team coach pulling history into the present. Martinez—still studying Portuguese. keeping up his language lessons even as football’s international calendar would have made it easy to stay in England—has moved his family to Portugal. It’s a reversal from the path many Portuguese players take: “Twenty-one members of his 26-man squad play abroad. Almost all of them speak in tongues additional to their native ones.”.
Martinez connects that openness to the country’s older character—“It comes historically from the navigators. ” he says. invoking Ferdinand Magellan and Vasco da Gama. and the expectation that young players will look outward. “The Portuguese people are prepared to go abroad. Very rarely a young Portuguese player doesn’t speak Spanish and English. The mentality is open-minded.”.
For Portugal, though, the World Cup dream has not always been steady. After Os Magricos. the country did not play another World Cup for 20 years. then failed to qualify in 1990. 1994 and 1998—three consecutive misses. Portugal’s population is about 10.7 million. Martinez points out. putting it alongside Haiti. another participant with a comparable population. and against the size of super cities like Sao Paulo.
The trophies in the federation’s foyer still show what it means when the moment returns: the 2016 European Championship. with red and green ribbons “still strewn from its arms.” Martinez turns from display to argument. making Cristiano Ronaldo the anchor of Portugal’s modern continuity. “Remember Portugal has been to seven consecutive World Cups. now nine in total. since Cristiano Ronaldo arrived in the national team. ” Martinez says. “He’s given incredible continuity in qualifying for the big tournaments.”.
Then. as the exhibition shifts attention from the past to what is won in the present. another object on a pedestal catches his eye: the ornate Taca de Portugal. In May, it was won by second-division Torreense for the first time in their 109-year history. By upsetting Sporting in the final. Torreense’s coach. Luis Tralhao. and his players wrote “one of the fairytales of the 2025-26 season.”.
Martinez compares it to the FA Cup he won with Wigan Athletic. and treats it as more than a story about one club—an allegory for Portugal’s national habit of punching above its weight. He ties the explanation to two strands: the structure built through coaching and the pathway built through youth development.
“The coaching style of Portugal comes from the university,” Martinez says. He name-checks Vitor Frade of the University of Porto and the course he taught in tactical periodisation. Martinez describes Frade as the “acorn” from which the modern Portuguese coaching tree grew. and says Jose Mourinho was Frade’s student. “Everything is very methodical,” Martinez says. “There is a real structure that helps a lot of footballers. but what they do really well is the equilibrium… that it’s the game that teaches the players. and the game needs to be a difficult game.”.
The other strand is youth development. “To be able to have national leagues at under-19 level. then you got the Youth League in Europe. then you got the Under-23 League of Revelation. then you got the B teams. and then you got the first team. ” Martinez says. “What you see is a 16- or 17-year-old going through four phases until he gets the first team. So the players are ready when they get to the first team.”.
Martinez says that ladder is not automatic elsewhere. In Europe, he argues, the jump from academy to first-team is often harder than it looks from the outside. He contrasts Portugal with Spain and England: “In the British game. it’s very difficult to get a young player that is ready to win games in the first team. In Spain, they found that B teams help a lot to develop the player at almost a pre-senior level. In England, it was always that under-23s level and the reserve leagues. (They are) not competitive enough to prepare a player. so then everything comes down to the manager to select an individual loan period and the risk of (him) fitting in and the style that you want the player to develop… the risk of using the player correctly is huge.”.
That system would be impressive anywhere, but Martinez frames it as part of something deeper—Portugal’s explorer mentality. He argues that young players broadening their horizons is not treated like a rare gamble. “In English football, it is only a recent phenomenon for young players to broaden their horizons and go abroad early. In Portugal, it is expected.”.
He points to last year’s under-17 World Cup winners in Qatar. “They got eight players from Benfica,” Martinez says. “Clearly, eight players from one club, they’re not going to have time in the first team. It’s mathematically improbable, so the players need to leave. They need to go abroad.”
Some players are so talented foreign clubs come calling before even a debut with Benfica, Porto, or Sporting. Bernardo Silva made one appearance for Benfica before being sold to Monaco. Vitinha, at barely 20, was taken on loan by Porto after Wolverhampton Wanderers made an offer. Martinez says both later became Champions League winners at Manchester City and Paris Saint-Germain.
When Martinez watched the sport’s biggest stages up close. he described the tension of being one step away from victory. In the days leading up to the final of the Champions League in Budapest—when he watched it at the Puskas Arena—he called it “an anxious moment… because it is the last step of having the squad free of injuries to come to prepare.”.
Vitinha, Nuno Mendes and Joao Neves started for PSG. Goncalo Ramos replaced Ousmane Dembele at the end of normal time and scored PSG’s first penalty in the shootout against Arsenal.
Portugal’s influence on a team Martinez describes as “arguably the team of the decade,” back-to-back European champions, is “once again, disproportionate for a nation of its size.”
Is that proof of confidence going into the World Cup?. Martinez does not answer with charts. He answers with the route Portugal has already travelled together. “This is an incredible generation. ” he says. describing three years of work through qualification for the Euros. then “going out on penalties against France (in the quarter-finals) at the Euros. ” and a Nations League that he calls “the most demanding Nations League ever with 10 games.”.
Portugal played quarter-finals and then faced Germany in Germany in the semi-finals. Martinez says they “didn’t do for many. many years.” He also cites two matches that shaped belief: to beat Germany after going behind twice against Spain. and to beat Spain in a final “as Portugal.” He calls it “an exciting process.”.
The confidence is real, but it is not weightless. Martinez speaks of grief with directness because it is part of this team’s story. One of the protagonists of Portugal’s Nations League triumph was Diogo Jota, who “passed away alongside his brother in a tragic car accident last year.”
“Diogo is our light,” Martinez says. “Diogo is our reference of wanting to do or needing to do what his dream was, which was winning titles for Portugal, like he did winning the Nations League. He was a big part of what we built in the dressing room.”
Martinez adds that Diogo wanted to win the World Cup, and that intention has become something the group carries. “He wanted to win the World Cup. so it becomes a bit of a responsibility. an example. because Diogo was the pure example of believing in whatever could be possible. always with that tenacity. always finding the answer in the right moment in the difficult moment in the game.”.
Jota’s decisive quality in the Nations League campaign is still part of how Martinez describes Portugal’s preparation. “The way that he found the way against Denmark in the quarter-finals was the difference in the Nations League campaign.” Martinez says the coach is still using it: “So. for us. he’s become a real focus. and probably an extra bit of energy and light in those difficult moments that you have as a football team. as a national team. and we need to use his inspiration until the end because he’s part of us.”.
Everyone. Martinez says. processed the trauma “in their own way.” He wanted “to give each player time and space to handle it. ” and then they “spoke about it as a group.” He counts himself lucky that Portugal’s dressing room is “an incredible dressing room.” It is full of leaders. he says. with goalkeeper Diogo Costa captaining Porto. Bruno Fernandes skippers Manchester United. and Bernardo wearing the armband for Manchester City in his final year at the Etihad. Martinez says Ruben Dias could have done too.
Fernandes’s season, Martinez argues, shows what the team now needs from its leaders. “In the three years that I’ve been here in the national team, his consistency levels have been incredible. Everything that he does in the final third has been of the highest level.”
He describes recognition spreading beyond the players: “Now I’m delighted that he gets recognition. not just from the players. because that’s something that you can feel straight away in the PFA awards. but also from the writers and the Premier League in general.” Martinez frames it as a historic memory. pointing to “breaking that record over one season to get 21 assists. knocking (off) Kevin De Bruyne and Thierry Henry.”.
Bernardo’s role, Martinez says, rests on intelligence as much as talent. “It’s that intelligence,” Martinez says. “Bernardo is such an important player at the international level. because you can use him in different positions. he understands the moment of the game. the relationship between space and time. and he executes everything at perfection with his technical ability.”.
The group’s mixture matters to him too, because it carries multiple generations into the same tournament. Martinez describes it as “unique” because it has “got a mixture of four or five different generations. Probably the new player arriving in the national team was born the year the captain made his debut for the national team.”.
He backs that up with one specific detail: Neves was born in September 2004, “a full year after Luiz Felipe Scolari brought on an 18-year-old Ronaldo against Kazakhstan to collect the first of his 227 caps.”
Now, Ronaldo is 41. He has just won his first Saudi Pro League title, taking four years to do it. Martinez says Ronaldo moved to Al Nassr after the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. He points out that many thought it would be Ronaldo’s last World Cup. especially after Fernando Santos left him out of Portugal’s starting XI for their first knockout game against Switzerland. His replacement, Goncalo Ramos, scored a hat-trick in a 6-1 win.
Martinez frames that turn as a reminder not to write endings too early. “Reports of it proved premature,” he says. Ronaldo scored in the semi-finals and the final of the Nations League to win his third trophy with Portugal. Martinez says he “wasn’t as prolific in qualifying for the World Cup as Erling Haaland. ” but he still “banged in five goals in five appearances.”.
He notes one disruption: Ronaldo “got himself sent off in the 2-0 defeat to the Republic of Ireland last November.” Martinez highlights the consequence that followed for tournament availability. “A measure of how badly FIFA appeared to want him at the World Cup was provided by the controversial decision to then suspend the final two games of his three-match ban for a year. meaning he’ll be available for Portugal’s opener against DR Congo in Houston on June 17.”.
Across the noise online. Martinez says he keeps believing Portugal are closer to starting a goal up than a man down when playing Ronaldo. “Here we get to have a wonderful conversation when we speak about the iconic figure of Cristiano Ronaldo,” Martinez says. “A unique footballer that has changed the game. His commitment to the game is still an example for many young players. Twenty-one years of service to the national team, 227 games for the national team. No other player has done that. The number of goals. All those figures make Cristiano Ronaldo iconic.”.
Even without a new striker ready to replace him. Martinez insists Ronaldo’s threat still belongs in the tournament’s future tense. He points to the Euros two years ago. when Turkey’s game was interrupted by one pitch invader after another trying to get a selfie with him. Martinez says Ronaldo “did not score from open play” at that tournament, but believes he still carries the old dangers.
“The influence of Cristiano Ronaldo as a No 9, the movement, the timing of the movement, the finishing, the way he opens spaces, the way that he can influence the defensive back line of the opposition, that’s a big, big strength.”
Martinez describes what happens when Ronaldo arrives at training. “When Ronaldo flies into the Cidade do Futebol to meet up with the national team, Martinez claims: ‘His attitude is as fresh as an 18-year-old that’s playing for the national team for the first time.’”
A record sixth World Cup would, in theory, be Ronaldo’s last. But Martinez also points toward another reason the story may not stop so abruptly. “It’s worth noting the next one in 2030 will be co-hosted by Portugal.” He asks the question without committing to an answer—might Ronaldo carry on beyond scoring “1. 000 goals” and try to be involved at 45.
If the World Cup ends and Ronaldo does not continue playing. Martinez is blunt about the impossibility of replacing him directly. “Cristiano cannot be replaced,” he says. “Like for like. it’s impossible.” He insists Portugal will still need to build answers: “But like anything. you need to find solutions. and you need to find different ways that you can to have an attacking team that can produce the same number of goals. Cristiano’s numbers cannot be replicated by an individual substitution, it is impossible.”.
He also points to another possibility, a future already beginning. “His son, Cristiano Junior, will no doubt aspire to offer just that for Portugal,” Martinez says. “He scored twice for the under-16s against Greece in May.” Martinez adds: “Who knows?. Maybe one day they’ll play together for the national team.”.
The argument, in the end, is about more than Ronaldo. It is about the combination Portugal carry into every tournament—the memory of Os Magricos. the methodical structure in coaching taught through tactical periodisation. the multi-stage youth system designed to get players ready by the first team. and the belief stitched into grief after Diogo Jota’s death.
“Everyone has processed the trauma in their own way. ” Martinez said earlier. and now his focus is on finishing the journey they started. “In the meantime, there is a World Cup to win and Os Magricos to surpass. A final would be uncharted waters. But for a nation of navigators, there is no course a team this talented cannot plot.”.
Later, a different stage for the sport is scheduled. The Portugal Football Summit—organized by the Portuguese Football Federation and taking place 23–25 September in Oeiras—will bring together leading voices on football business. leadership and the future of the sport. The Athletic is listed as the official International Media Partner, with ticket details available at the Portugal Football Summit website.
Roberto Martinez Portugal Cristiano Ronaldo Diogo Jota FIFA World Cup Diogo Costa Bruno Fernandes Bernardo Silva Ruben Dias youth development tactical periodisation Vitor Frade