Kolkata: “We can win it and shouldn’t be afraid to say it.” The squad brimming with talent, it is not difficult to understand why Francisco Conceicao said that in an interview to The Athletic while talking about Portugal’s chances in the World Cup. This was not long after Bruno Fernandes telling Wayne Rooney in April that he wanted the World Cup “not just for Portugal, for everything Cristiano Ronaldo gave to football…”
Like Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo is headed to his sixth finals, one where he will join Luka Modric and Edin Dzeko as outfield players who are in their fifth decade. It is even possible that a first-ever World Cup meeting between Argentina and Portugal, Ronaldo and Messi, will happen in the knockout rounds, as early as the round of 16.
Ronaldo has 25 goals in 30 matches under head coach Roberto Martinez and comes to the World Cup after winning the Saudi Pro League. With eight goals in 22 finals matches between 2006 and 2022, he remains Portugal’s talisman and the tournament’s showman, his presence highlighting as much an incredible work ethic as Portugal’s lack of quality centre-forwards. Goncalo Ramos replaced him with aplomb in Qatar but has played 201 minutes in Paris St-Germain’s successful Champions League campaign and 1309 minutes in Ligue 1. Ronaldo played four minutes short of double the league minutes Ramos logged this term. Joao Felix has played more for Al-Nassr but has fewer goals than Ronaldo, his teammate in Saudi Arabia.
So, for Conceicao’s assessment to hold or Fernandes’s wish to be fulfilled, Portugal may need to look beyond their 41-year-old captain in a group that has Colombia, Uzbekistan and Congo. With a Premier League record for assists (21), the most across Europe’s top five leagues, Fernandes can fit that bill.
Manchester United’s captain from 2023 and now with a deal that could keep him till 2028, Fernandes has led from the front in times good, bad and very bad. “It is not a responsibility I take for granted,” he said in 2024. Last term, 30 of Manchester United’s 69 league goals were either scored by Fernandes or from his assist. Last December, he also spoke his mind, telling Canal 11 that loyalty was a lonely word in club football. “I could have left in the last transfer window and would have earned a lot more money…I decided to stay because I genuinely like the club,” he said. United, Fernandes said, were a bit “off”, their message being should he leave, “it’s not really bad for us.” His teammates were not spared either. Not everyone values the club or defends it, said Fernandes. Recently, there was the push back on Roy Keane after the Manchester United legend criticised Fernandes for something he had not said. Demeanour off the pitch generally has a positive correlation with performance on it.
No one has created as many chances (133) as Fernandes across leagues in Germany, Spain, Italy, France and England (the top five). As per Statmuse, Lepizig’s David Raum is second on 95. This, after bring shoehorned into a deeper midfield role by Ruben Amorim. The 2024-25 Europa final wasn’t the only game where Fernandes looked shackled. But guess what? Fernandes converted crisis into an opportunity. He understood what it takes to play deeper in midfield, Fernandes told Gary Neville on Sky Sports. “When to press, when to cover spaces”, “the games of my teammates, what type of movements I need to do to help them.”
It was only after Michael Carrick took charge in January that Fernandes returned to playing as No.10. Before the league’s last game, away to Brighton where he got the assist’s record, Fernandes’s passing accuracy in the opposition half (83%) and in the final third (73%) were the best he has had since joining for £68m from Sporting Lisbon in January 2020. Thirteen of his assists came when Manchester United were level, five when they were behind.
Patrick Dorgu, Casemiro, Bryan Mbuemo, Matheus Cunha, Benjamin Sesko have benefited from final passes made by Fernandes. “He’s there for everyone,” Cunha has said. It is proof of the club buying well and Fernandes hitting the kind of form in Portugal will hope he brings to the World Cup. Portugal may lack that kind of variety and pace in front of goal but with Vitinha and Joao Neves available, Fernandes can play where he has done well for Manchester United. His prowess at set-plays — Casemiro was the biggest beneficiary at United – can also be effective especially with Austin MacPhee in Martinez’s staff. With MacPhee in charge, Aston Villa scored 29 goals from set-piece situations in 2025-26, the most in Europe along with Arsenal.
Man United being out of Europe for the first time since 2014-15 and their early exits in domestic cup competitions meant Fernandes had to play 37 matches for his club. Around this time last year, when Portugal won the Nations League, he had played 66. That’s the number of games Declan Rice played in 2025-26 for club and country. Rice’s Arenal teammate Martin Zubimendi has played 67. Fernandes will be dealing less with end-of-season fatigue and is in the form of his life. What’s not to like?
