Official: Roberto Martínez is the new coach of the Portugal team

Roberto Martinez was named this Monday the new coach of the Portugal national team after leading Belgium from 2016 until its elimination in Qatar 2022. The Spanish will take charge of the team for the 2026 World Cup, the Portuguese Football Federation officially announced.

After directing the Belgian golden generation for six and a half years, the Spanish Roberto Martínez is now in charge of the Portuguese, where he will have established names and a new crop of talents about to emerge.

Martínez, 49, was announced today to replace Fernando Santos, who left office last December after eight years in which he won the 2016 Euro Cup in France and the 2019 League of Nations.

The Spanish coach arrives at this new stage after a long career in charge of Belgium and a career in British football as a coach and as a player.

Now he will have in his hands a Portugal thirsty for titles and footballers like Bernardo Silva or Bruno Fernandes, as well as rising figures like Gonçalo Ramos, Rafael Leão or João Félix. He will try to achieve with them what he never achieved with the inexhaustible Belgian talent that he commanded.

Now in Portugal, Roberto Martínez will have the task of managing the new Portuguese golden generation, as well as making a decision about the future of Cristiano Ronaldo in the team, after his signing by Al Nassr of Saudi Arabia.

His first games with the “quinas” are scheduled for next March, against Liechtenstein in Lisbon and a trip to Luxembourg, both qualifying for Euro 2024.