Portugal’s perfect 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign continued on October 10th as they dispatched the Republic of Ireland in Lisbon, but boy, did they leave it late.
Portugal 1-0 Republic of Ireland
It looked like the Seleção were set to drop points for the first time on the road to North America as they struggled to find a way past a stubborn Irish defence anchored by a sensational display by goalkeeper Caoimhin Kelleher. The Brentford number one saved a second-half Cristiano Ronaldo penalty, and it looked like he would help his side return to the Emerald Isle with a precious point. However, as the game ticked into injury time, Al Hilal midfielder Rúben Neves nodded home a last-gasp winner to spark pandemonium in the Portuguese capital.
The 1-0 final score secured Portugal’s third straight victory after earlier triumphs against Hungary and Armenia, putting them in the box seat to punch their tickets to North America next summer. A 2-2 draw in an exciting match in Lisbon on Tuesday night meant the Seleção will have to wait until November to book their place in the tournament, required just one point from the last two matches. But online betting sites think that the trip across the Atlantic could yield much more than that. Websites offering betting online in Canada currently make the Seleção a 12/1 contender to leave MetLife Stadium with the famous gold trophy for the first time next July, a triumph that would bring the curtain down on their iconic captain Ronaldo’s career in a fitting manner.
But the current qualifying campaign is certainly no fluke. Over the years, Portugal have enjoyed some spectacular runs to major tournaments. 2026 looks to be another of those, but until that concludes, here are the Seleção’s three finest qualifying efforts to date.
Perfect 10 en route to Euro 2024
Portugal’s most recent qualifying campaign was their greatest ever effort as the Seleção won all ten of their qualifiers in the build-up to Euro 2024. When the initial draw was made, there were plenty of potential banana skins, with Slovakia, Iceland, and Bosnia and Herzegovina all providing a threat. But Cr7 and Co. made light work on their way to Germany.
They conceded just two goals in those ten qualifiers, netting a whopping 36 goals of their own, ten of which were scored by Ronaldo, a figure only surpassed by Romelu Lukaku's 14 for Belgium. Hard-fought 1-0 victories away against both Iceland and Slovakia showed the mettle within this Portugal side, while the 5-0 drubbing of Bosnia in Sarajevo was perhaps the most eye-catching result.
Their effort was just the eighth time in history that a team had made it to the European Championships with a perfect 100% winning record, but unfortunately, their exploits wouldn’t continue once the tournament proper got underway. After a series of disappointing displays, Portugal were dumped out by France in the quarter-finals following a heartbreaking penalty shootout.
Unbeaten in 2006
On only one other occasion has Portugal finished a qualifying campaign without suffering a single defeat. The main tournament was also held in Germany on that occasion, namely the 2006 FIFA World Cup. Led by a young Ronaldo alongside fellow Portuguese great Luís Figo, the Seleção embarked upon a campaign for the ages after reaching the final of Euro 2004 two years prior.
Both Slovakia and Russia provided genuine threats to Portuguese hopes, but Luiz Felipe Scolari’s side never looked flustered. They won nine of their 12 fixtures, in addition to three draws. The most shocking of those was a 2-2 stalemate on the road against lowly Liechtenstein, with Portugal throwing away a 2-0 lead against one of the lowest-ranked nations on the continent. There were further draws away against Slovakia and Russia, but the high points certainly outweigh the lows.
The pick of the results was a 7-1 thrashing of Russia in Lisbon, with braces from Ronaldo and midfielder Petit securing a statement-making victory. The triumph was made all the more impressive as the Russians would prove their quality two years later by reaching the semifinals of Euro 2008.
Portugal and Switzerland can’t be separated
In qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, Portugal managed to win nine of their ten games. Usually, that would be enough to secure safe passage with room to spare, but not this time around. Switzerland also managed the same record, with their 2-0 victory against Ronaldo & Co. in the first qualifier of the campaign in Basel setting them on their path. But despite the disappointing start, Portugal rallied.
They reeled off nine straight victories to stay locked in a two-way fight with the Swiss. In the final qualifier, the two qualification protagonists would meet in Lisbon, with Switzerland needing to avoid defeat to progress. Ultimately, they couldn’t, with a Johan Djourou own goal and a second-half André Silva strike sealing a 2-0 Portugal win and punching their tickets to Russia courtesy of a far superior goal difference.
