{"id":669895,"date":"2026-05-21T15:48:02","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T19:48:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/?p=669895"},"modified":"2026-06-05T10:37:41","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T14:37:41","slug":"portugal-world-cup-squad","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/2026\/05\/21\/portugal-world-cup-squad\/","title":{"rendered":"Portugal World Cup Squad: Three Under The Radar Players Selected"},"content":{"rendered":"

The World Cup<\/span><\/a> is edging closer, with Mexico vs South Africa kicking this summer’s competition off on June 11. Many countries are announcing their final squads for this summer, and Roberto Martinez has named the Portugal World Cup squad. Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Vitinha have been selected.<\/span>\u00a0We look at three under-the-radar players selected by the Portugal<\/span><\/a> manager.<\/p>\n

Roberto Martinez Selects Final Squad<\/h2>\n

Three Under The Radar Players Picked<\/h3>\n

There is always an expectation that Portugal will compete in the later stages of every major international competition. Here is the full squad selected by Roberto Martinez. Ricardo Velho<\/a> is named as a fourth-choice goalkeeper who will only take part in case there is an injury to the other three.<\/span><\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: <\/span>Carlo Ancelotti Announces 26 Man Squad for Brazil<\/a><\/p>\n

Goalkeepers:<\/b> Diogo Costa, Jos\u00e9 S\u00e1, Rui Silva, Ricardo Velho<\/p>\n

Defenders:<\/b> Diogo Dalot, Matheus Nunes, N\u00e9lson Semedo, Jo\u00e3o Cancelo, Nuno Mendes, Gon\u00e7alo In\u00e1cio, Renato Veiga, R\u00faben Dias, Tom\u00e1s Ara\u00fajo<\/p>\n

Midfielders:<\/b> R\u00faben Neves, Samuel Costa, Jo\u00e3o Neves, Vitinha, Bruno Fernandes, Bernardo Silva<\/p>\n

Forwards:<\/b> Jo\u00e3o F\u00e9lix, Francisco Trinc\u00e3o, Francisco Concei\u00e7\u00e3o, Pedro Neto, Rafael Le\u00e3o, Gon\u00e7alo Guedes, Gon\u00e7alo Ramos, Cristiano Ronaldo<\/p>\n

Read More<\/strong>: World Cup 2026: Julian Nagelsmann Announces 26 Man Squad for Germany<\/a><\/p>\n

Samuel Costa<\/span><\/h3>\n

The first name on our list is the 25-year-old midfielder Samuel “Samu” de Almeida Costa, who currently plays in midfield for Mallorca in La Liga. Capped four times for his country, Costa deserves his call-up to the Portugal World Cup squad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

He has played 35 times for Mallorca this season, scoring seven times and providing two assists. \u201cSamu\u201d is adept at protecting his team’s defence. He excels at timing his tackles and making vital interceptions. Costa could play a huge role for Martinez as the tournament progresses. If he gets the chance, the 25-year-old could excel.<\/p>\n

<\/smartframe-embed><\/p>\n

Renato Veiga<\/h3>\n

The next name on our list will be familiar to Chelsea fans: versatile defender Renato Veiga. The 22-year-old will bring much-needed versatility to Roberto Martinez\u2019s squad.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Veiga has enjoyed an impressive season at Villarreal, making 42 appearances in all competitions, helping his team finish third in La Liga. Veiga mainly plays at centre-back, but can also play left- back, and is more than capable of playing in midfield. A robust, versatile player who works tirelessly for the team. Having players like Veiga will be vital for the Portugal World Cup squad.<\/p>\n

Tomas Araujo<\/span><\/h3>\n

The last name on our list is Benfica defender Tomas Araujo. The 24-year-old played 39 times in all competitions for Benfica this season. He\u2019s enjoyed an impressive season in the Primeira Liga. He\u2019s been capped three times by his country. He reads the game exceptionally well, and rarely looks flustered, whether at centre back or right back.<\/p>\n

It remains to be seen just how big his role will be in the Portugal World Cup squad, but his talent is undeniable, and given the opportunity by Martinez, he could excel on the biggest stage this summer.<\/p>\n

Featured Image Credit<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

IMAGO \/ Matthias Koch<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The World Cup is edging closer, with Mexico vs South Africa kicking this summer’s competition off on June 11. Many countries are announcing their final squads for this summer, and Roberto Martinez has named the Portugal World Cup squad. Cristiano Ronaldo, Bruno Fernandes, and Vitinha have been selected.\u00a0We look at three under-the-radar players selected by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4106,"featured_media":669897,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[161,30,2132],"tags":[798,369,32077,2331,32844,32845],"class_list":["post-669895","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-international-football","category-news","category-world-cup","tag-2026-world-cup","tag-cristiano-ronaldo","tag-renato-veiga","tag-roberto-martinez","tag-samuel-costa","tag-tomas-araujo"],"modified_by":"Michael Kovacs, ADMIN","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669895","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4106"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=669895"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669895\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":669906,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/669895\/revisions\/669906"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/669897"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=669895"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=669895"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/football\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=669895"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}