There’s only one team among the usual group of tournament favourites that has never won the World Cup, and Bruno Fernandes knows it. Portugal have been knocking on the door at major tournaments for years now, reaching semi-finals, winning Nations Leagues, producing generation after generation of elite talent. The one thing that hasn’t happened yet is lifting the trophy. Fernandes wants to be part of the team that changes that.
He was direct about it in a way that only players who genuinely believe it tend to be. “The dream is to be world champions,” he said, going on to talk about focusing on what Portugal can do to become the first side to bring the World Cup home. That’s not the careful pre-tournament language of a player managing expectations. That’s someone who has looked at this squad and genuinely believes the quality is there.
And there’s a strong case to be made for that belief. This group of players won the UEFA Nations League in 2025 by defeating European champions Spain in the final, a result that carried real weight because you don’t beat a team of Spain’s calibre in a knockout final without having genuine quality across every area of the pitch. Portugal had that. Nuno Mendes, Joao Neves, and Vitinha have won back-to-back Champions League titles with PSG. Pedro Neto had a strong season at Chelsea. Rafael Leao impressed at AC Milan. Bernardo Silva completed another exceptional campaign at Manchester City before his departure. The depth throughout this squad is real.
Then there’s Cristiano Ronaldo, who at 41 is preparing for his sixth World Cup, equalling the record held by Lionel Messi and Guillermo Ochoa simultaneously. Fernandes talked about Ronaldo in a way that went beyond just describing a senior teammate. He spoke about learning from his resilience, his mentality, his refusal to be satisfied with what he’s already achieved. Those aren’t qualities that leave a dressing room just because someone gets older, and Fernandes clearly sees Ronaldo’s presence as something that benefits the younger players in ways that go well beyond what he contributes on the pitch.
Portugal are in Group K with Colombia, Congo DR, and Uzbekistan. The match against Colombia in Miami on 27 June is already being flagged as the potential group decider, and Fernandes acknowledged the quality Colombia bring, noting that more and more Colombian players are now competing at the highest level in European football. He’s right, and that fixture could define whether Portugal top the group or go through as runners-up, which affects the knockout bracket significantly.
They open against Congo DR on 17 June before facing Uzbekistan six days later. Both fixtures are winnable, but Fernandes was clear that no game at a World Cup is easy regardless of the perceived gap on paper. That’s exactly the kind of measured confidence that tends to carry teams deep into tournaments rather than the overconfidence that gets them knocked out earlier than expected.
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The dream, as Fernandes put it, is to be world champions. The squad to make it happen is arguably the best Portugal have ever sent to a World Cup. Whether this is the year the dream becomes a reality is the question that will be answered over the next few weeks across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.