Portugal
Portugal were one of the best teams in all the World Cup qualifiers.
They easily topped their group by seven points, with their greatest scares coming against underdogs Liechtenstein. They scored 35 goals, the highest amount in all of Europe, and only conceded five goals.
Pauleta was the top scorer in all the European qualifiers with 11 goals.
Portugal World Cup profile continues below
Portugal's Brazilian manager, Luiz Felipe Scolari, actually won the last World Cup in 2002 with Brazil. He has already taken Portugal to the final of the European Championships in 2004, and his experience will definitely help the Portuguese cause.
Germany 2006 will be Portugal’s 4th World Cup, not a very impressive record for such a prestigious team. In 2002, they finished bottom of their group losing to both South Korea and the USA.
The Portuguese team has experience in players like Figo and Rui Costa but it also has youthful flair in players like Cristiano Ronaldo.
Portugal are ranked 10th in the world but failed to be seeded for the competition, however they avoided some of the toughest competition and after beating Angola 1-0 and Iran 2-0 they ensured qualification to the next stage.
Portugal also beat Mexico 2-1 and so topped the group.
They then played Holland in a heated encounter that saw both teams end the match with nine men. Portugal won 1-0 and secured a quarter final encounter with England.
Coach, Scolari's teams having previously put England out of the 2002 World Cup and Euro 2004. And this time, Portugal won on penalties again with Ricardo the hero, saving three penalties in the shoot-out after extra time had ended 0-0.
The semi-final was a different story for Portugal as they lost 1-0 to France after a Zidane penalty in the 33rd minute. Ricardo got close to the penalty but this time he was unable to save it and Portugal were out of the 2006 World Cup.
They still had one match left - the fixture with Germany to decide on third place. Portugal lost 3-1. The match saw Luis Figo come on as a sub in his final appearance for Portugal.
Portugal Squad:
Player Club Position Caps Goals
Bruno Vale Est. Amadora G 1 0
Paulo Santos Sp. Braga G 1 0
Quim Benfica G 24 0
Ricardo Sporting Lisbon G 47 0
M Caneira Sporting Lisbon D 14 0
F Meira VfB Stuttgart D 29 2
Miguel Valencia D 27 1
Nuno Valente Everton D 22 1
Paulo Ferreira Chelsea D 30 0
Ricardo Carvalho Chelsea D 24 1
Ricardo Costa Porto D 2 0
Costinha Dynamo Moscow M 43 2
Deco Barcelona M 34 2
Maniche Dynamo Moscow M 30 4
A Petit Benfica M 35 4
C Ronaldo Man Utd M 31 11
Tiago Lyon M 21 0
H Viana Valencia M 20 1
L Boa Morte Fulham F 24 2
L Figo Inter F 119 31
Nuno Gomes Benfica F 53 23
Pauleta Paris St-G. F 81 46
H Postiga Porto F 23 9
Simao Sabrosa Benfica F 42 7
Portugal World Cup profile by Ben Rosenbaum
