Hey guys, I wanna talk about something cool today – the Portugal Euro 2016 squad. Man, what a time that was! I remember watching those games and just being amazed by the team.
So, I started digging into this, right? First thing I did was to get the basic info down. When did this all go down? Who was playing? That kind of stuff. It turns out, each of the 24 teams, they had to submit a list of 23 players by May 31, 2016. And get this, three of them had to be goalkeepers. Imagine the pressure on those guys!
Team Research
Then, I dove deeper. I looked up every match Portugal played in that tournament. Found some cool stats and facts. Did you know Portugal actually won the whole thing? They beat France in the final! I mean, how awesome is that? I was going through all their scores and stats and just nerding out. There were some great goals, some tense moments. It got me thinking about how they almost won it back in 2004 but lost to Greece. This time, though, they nailed it.
- Portugal won against France in the final.
- They almost won in 2004 but lost to Greece.
- First major international success for Portugal.
Group Stage Insights
I also checked out the group stage. Group F was wild! Hungary won it and went up against Belgium. Iceland, who came second, played against England. And Portugal? They were third but still made it through as one of the best third-placed teams. They ended up playing Croatia, the winner of Group D. It was nuts!
- Hungary topped Group F and advanced to play Belgium.
- Iceland, second in Group F, faced England.
- Portugal advanced as a third-placed team and played Croatia.
Player Spotlight
And you know what? I started looking into some of the players. There was this guy, Ricardo Quaresma. Remember him? He was a substitute but scored a super important goal against Croatia in the second round. I found out he and Cristiano Ronaldo were old teammates from their youth days. Pretty cool, huh?
Comparing to Other Teams
I also compared Portugal’s journey to other teams. Like England, for instance. They won the World Cup in ’66 but never the Euro. They came close in 2020, though, losing on penalties. It’s interesting to see how different teams have their ups and downs.
So yeah, that’s my little deep dive into the Portugal Euro 2016 squad. It was a fun trip down memory lane, and I just had to share it with you guys. What do you all remember about that tournament? Let’s chat in the comments!