The first successful manager with Portugal was a Brazilian, Otto Glória. After making himself known on the bench of Benfica in particular, he took the reins of the selection in 1964. In two years he won fifteen of the twenty matches in which he participated. Led by a Eusébio at their peak, the Selecção das Quinas qualified for the World Cup for the first time and finished in 3rd place in the tournament. As he leaves his post after the competition, the selection regains anonymity.
More recently, another Brazilian shines at the head of the selection: Luiz Felipe Scolari was named in 2003, all proud of the title of world champion which he won with the Brazilian selection the previous year, with the objective of leading the Portuguese selection as much as possible during Euro 2004, played at home. Brilliant, the Portuguese reached the final for the first time but lost to Greece,[1] the surprise team of the tournament. Two years later, Portugal presents itself as an expected outsider. He reached the semi-finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, narrowly lost to France. This is the peak of the mandate Scolari, who leaves the selection after the elimination against a fresher and dashing Germany in the quarter-finals of Euro 2008.
Appointed in 2014, Fernando Santos will remain at the head of the Portuguese selection for eight years. He will bring Portugal the first two major titles in its history with the Euro 2016 and the 2018–19 Nations League.[2][3] He leaves his post on 15 December 2022. On 9 January 2023, the Spaniard Roberto Martínez was appointed coach,[4] he was the first Seleção coach to have a nationality other than Portuguese and Brazilian.[5]
