Portugal walked into this World Cup as one of the favourites.
Ronaldo. Bruno. Vitinha. João Neves.
A squad most countries would kill for.
And yet… here they are.
Scraping into the Round of 32 like a team that doesn't really want to be there.
One of their own legends just said the quiet part out loud.
Ricardo Quaresma didn't sugarcoat it.
"There's a lack of joy, a lack of happiness, a lack of creativity."
And then the line that stung the most:
👉 "They looked tired. Unmotivated."
This isn't a pundit talking.
This is a man who wore the shirt. Who knows the dressing room. Who knows Cristiano.
Portugal's group stage in one glance:
And that Colombia game in Miami?
A stat-sheet horror show:
Colombia topped the group. Portugal limped through in second.
A Davinson Sánchez header in the dying minutes nearly killed them off — chalked off by a VAR offside call so tight it sparked conspiracy theories about 3D-scanned toes.
That's how close it was.
On paper, this engine room is elite.
Bruno Fernandes. Vitinha. João Neves.
Champions League winners. Premier League creators. La Liga magicians.
On the pitch?
Disjointed. Slow. Predictable.
Minimal penetration in the final third. Zero rhythm.
Individually world-class.
Collectively… strangers.
The Round of 32 draw served up a storyline made for TV.
Ronaldo vs Modrić. July 3. Croatia waiting.
The old Real Madrid brothers, on opposite sides, in what could be the final World Cup chapter for both.
But here's the problem.
Croatia don't need to be brilliant.
They just need to be organised. And right now, organisation is kryptonite for this Portugal side.
Talent isn't the issue.
It never was.
The issue is something far harder to coach:
Belief. Energy. Joy.
Football at this level isn't won by reputation.
It's won by teams that look like they actually want to be there.
Portugal have four days to find that spark.
Or Ronaldo's last World Cup ends with a whimper, not a roar.
That's all for now!
