Portugal 1986: Part 1: A Troubled Beginning

Playing in a World Cup is the pinnacle of a player or coach’s career. To test yourself in the world’s premier tournament is the ultimate challenge and a dream come true for many footballers. However, there are times when the dream of participating in a World Cup can turn into a nightmare. No country would have such a nightmare of a tournament than Portugal in 1986.

Prior to the mid-1980s, Portugal were unable to build on the success of the 1960s, where Portugal finished third in the 1966 World Cup and Benfica won back to back European Cups in 1961/62 under the coaching of Béla Guttmann. Since then, Portugal had failed to qualify for a World Cup or European Championship.

That run would end by qualifying for Euro 1984 under the management of Fernando Cabrita – their first major tournament for 18 years. It was a successful tournament, as Portugal reached the semi finals and pushed France in extra time before losing a pulsating game in Marseille 3-2. However, Cabrita would soon leave, with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) appointing José Torres as his replacement.

His main objective was to qualify for the 1986 World Cup in Mexico, something they hadn’t done for 20 years, where Torres played at centre back for Portugal in 1966. Placed in Group 2, their qualifying group had Czechoslovakia, Malta, Sweden and West Germany. With the top two qualifying for Mexico ’86, Portugal qualified in dramatic style ahead of Sweden by defeating West Germany 1-0 at Stuttgart in their final game.