Group G contenders
Brazil
Korea DPR
Ivory Coast
Portugal

Route to the finals
For a side that finished in fourth place at the 2006 World Cup and reached the quarter-finals of Euro 2008, you could be forgiven for thinking Portugal’s progress to South Africa would be relatively straightforward. It was not to be for Selecção das Quinas, however, as they quickly slipped up in Europe’s Group 1 qualifying.

Losing to Denmark 3-2 in Lisbon in their second match was compounded by three successive 0-0 draws. They got back on track with a 2-1 victory over Albania but again dropped points against Denmark, drawing 1-1 in Copenhagen and almost guaranteeing the Danes the top spot.

With three games remaining it seemed that Portugal, Sweden and Hungary were playing for second place, and so it proved. Two victories over Hungary put the Portuguese in the driving seat and a final matchday victory over Malta put them in the play-off position.

A tough, two-leg play-off with Bosnia-Herzegovina followed but thanks to two 1-0 victories the Portuguese qualified for their third consecutive World Cup.

Manager
The career of Carlos Queiroz has been considerable and varied. Having led Portugal to victory in the 1989 and 1991 FIFA World Youth Championships, Queiroz has gone on to manage in the USA, Japan, United Arab Emirates, England and Spain.

This is actually his second spell as the Manager of the senior Portugal squad, having taken the reins between 1991 and 1993. It was not a successful period, however, as Selecção das Quinas failed to qualify for Euro ’92 and USA ’94.

The fact he has maintained his position despite the indifferent qualifying campaign suggests he has the backing of his players and bosses, and with that confidence in mind their impact in South Africa could still be considerable.

Player watch
It is incorrect to say Portugal are a one man team, but there is certainly one man who’s reputation eclipses all others in the national team.

Cristiano Ronaldo is widely accepted as one of the top three players in the world – vying with Lionel Messi and Wayne Rooney – and his £80 million move to Real Madrid from Manchester United last year propelled him into the ‘Galactico’ bracket.

Despite a subdued display in qualifying, that saw him fail to score in seven appearances, Ronaldo has the ability to transform a game at a whim and singlehandedly demolish opponents.

Perhaps the fact he was unable to help secure the La Liga title with Madrid this season will make him even more determined to grab some silverware in the summer. 

Competition History
First appearance: 1966
No. of appearances (inc 2010): 5
Best result: Third Place (1966)
Matches against England: 22

Squad

Goalkeepers
1	Eduardo	Sporting Braga, POR
12	Beto	FC Porto, POR
22	Daniel Fernandes	Iraklis, GRE
Defenders
2	Bruno Alves	FC Porto, POR
3	Paulo Ferreira	Chelsea, ENG
4	Rolando	FC Porto, POR
5	Duda	Málaga CF, ESP
6	Ricardo Carvalho	Chelsea, ENG
13	Miguel	Valencia CF, ESP
21	Ricardo Costa	Lille OSC, FRA
23	Fábio Coentrão	Benfica, POR
Midfielders
8	Pedro Mendes	Sporting CP, POR
14	Miguel Veloso	Sporting CP, POR
15	Pepe	Real Madrid, ESP
16	Raul Meireles	FC Porto, POR
19	Tiago	Atlético Madrid, ESP
20	Deco	Chelsea, ENG
Forwards
7	Cristiano Ronaldo	Real Madrid, ESP
9	Liedson	Sporting CP, POR
10	Danny	Zenit St. Petersburg, RUS
11	Simão	Atlético Madrid, ESP
17	Nani*	Manchester United, ENG
18	Hugo Almeida	Werder Bremen, GER

* Replaced by Ruben Amorim (Benfica, POR)