Jose Sa says Portugal are “contenders” for the World Cup and have “tried to understand what was missing” at previous tournaments as the 2006 semi-finalists work towards their opener against DR Congo in Houston on June 17 (18:00 BST).
Portugal lost to Morocco in the 2022 quarter-finals, having suffered two last-16 exits and one in the group stage at the preceding three editions.
“This topic has been discussed a lot and I’ve been asked about it many times,” said Wolves goalkeeper Sa, via Portugal’s website, adding that warm-up matches against Chile in Oeiras on Saturday and Nigeria in Leiria on Wednesday are “very important”.
“Instead of calling up kids or goalkeepers from the United States [to train], we have [27-year-old Farense player] Ricardo Velho with us to help. He’s part of the group and it’s always good to have him with us.”
Chile finished bottom in South American qualifying and failed to score in their final six matches of the campaign, leading to Ricardo Gareca, who guided Peru to the 2019 Copa America final but won one of his 13 matches in charge of La Roja, being replaced with Technical Director Nicolas Cordova.
In matches in Auckland in March, they recovered from 2-1 behind at half-time to beat World Cup debutants Cape Verde 4-2 but lost 4-1 to New Zealand three days later.
“What I can say in general is that the results haven’t been what everyone expected in terms of matches,” Cordova told Chile’s website, placing an emphasis on giving experience to young players and looking years ahead.
“But believe me, the players are improving a lot and the time will come when we’ll be able to compete and at least be in the top six [in the CONMEBOL group phase], which is what qualifies you for a World Cup.”
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Portugal v Chile team news
Portugal’s Matheus Nunes missed training with a stomach problem on Thursday. Forward Joao Felix, who scored 26 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions for Al-Nassr last season, worked individually in their gym.
Left-back Nuno Mendes, midfielders Vitinha and Joao Neves and forward Goncalo Ramos are resting following their roles in Paris Saint-Germain winning the Champions League last Saturday.
Much of the focus around Portugal is likely to centre on head coach Roberto Martinez’s use of five-time Ballon d’Or winner Cristiano Ronaldo, who is his team’s talisman but is 41 and desperate not to miss any more matches after sitting out two friendlies in March and April with a hamstring injury.
Right-back Francisco Salinas is out for Chile with an ankle sprain and has been replaced by Fabian Hormazabal.
Portugal v Chile predicted line-ups
Portugal starting XI: Rui Silva, Diogo Dalot, Tomas Araujo, Ruben Dias, Joao Cancelo, Ruben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Samu Costa, Bruno Fernandes, Goncalo Guedes, Rafael Leao
Chile starting XI: Lawrence Vigouroux, Gabriel Suazo, Francisco Sierralta, Ivan Roman, Agustin Arce, Rodrigo Echeverria, Vicente Pizarro, Lautaro Millan, Lucas Cepeda, Maximiliano Gutierrez, Clemente Montes
Where to watch Portugal v Chile: TV channel, live online stream
Kick-off on Saturday is at 18:45 BST (13:45 ET / 10:45 PT), with live coverage in the UK on Amazon Prime PPV, which charges £2.99 for the game.
Portugal v Chile stats
- Both matches between the teams during the 21st century have been draws after 90 minutes: 1-1 in a friendly in Leiria in March 2011 and 0-0 in the Confederations Cup in Kazan in June 2017, when Ronaldo and Bernardo were among Portugal’s starters and Chile won on penalties
- Ronaldo is appearing at his 12th consecutive major tournament and is the all-time record scorer in men’s internationals, with 143 goals
- The five-time Champions League winner Ronaldo became the first player to score at five World Cup final tournaments by scoring against Ghana in 2022
- Portugal’s 2-0 defeat in Ireland in qualifying in November is their only defeat in 11 matches, although they recovered to beat Armenia 9-1 at home to seal qualification three days later, hitting nine for the second time under Martinez
- They then drew 0-0 in Mexico in March, representing the second time in their last four games they have failed to score, having netted in each of their previous seven matches for a total of 20 goals
- Including friendlies, Portugal have gone more than four hours and 12 minutes without conceding
- The Selecao have not conceded in a friendly in more than five hours and four minutes, although they have one clean sheet in their last five competitive matches
- Bruno Fernandes scored twice in a 4-0 win over Nigeria in Lisbon in Portugal’s only friendly before the 2022 World Cup, proceeding to beat Ghana and Uruguay in the group stage before losing to South Korea in their third match and beating Switzerland in the last 16
- Chile have scored at least twice in each of their last five matches for a total of 11 goals, with all of those matches being friendlies
- The defeat to New Zealand was their first in six matches including friendlies (W4 D1), having gone winless in six (L4 D2) before beating Peru 2-1 at home in October 2024
Portugal v Chile prediction
Portugal 2-0 Chile
With home advantage and clean sheets in both of their matches this year, Portugal will again be aiming to prove their defensive fragilities are behind them by shutting out opponents who are going through a transitional period.
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