Portugal has been a reckoning force in the footballing world and despite an uneasy dalliance with the looming threat of being knocked out from the contention of appearing in the FIFA World Cup, they survived and will be appearing for the 2022 Qatar World Cup.
It didn’t come easy after all for the Portuguese as they had to surpass the qualifying stages with some fiery contention but the ultimate goal was achieved as Bruno Fernandes struck on either side of the half-time to send them hammer and tongs to the quadrennial show-stopper that is all set to be played out in Qatar.
Before football’s grandest event kicks off in Qatar, let us take a look at five of Portugal’s highest goal-scorers at the FIFA World Cup.
#1 Eusebio – 9 goals
In the 1966 FIFA World Cup, Eusebio made the tournament his very own, scoring goals at will. He racked up a staggering 9 goals next to his name that would also go on to be the highest number of goals scored so far in the history of the most prestigious event in the history of the sport. He was one of the most eminent sportsmen in the history of Portugal as he played in 64 matches for his nation banging 41 goals in his entire career. He played a significant part of his club career at the Benfica where he would go on to play 301 matches from which he hammered 317 goals.
#2 Cristiano Ronaldo – 7 goals
Needless to say, Cristiano Ronaldo has undoubtedly been one of the best players in the history of Portugal. He is also the highest goal-scorer in the international circuit and his numbers are just too staggering to be even painted in the pictures of the wildest imagination of Ronaldo’s hardliners. However, when it comes to the World Cups, he has been a part of the set-up for a while now and all he has managed to score is 7 goals. Most likely, in the upcoming World Cup, he may be surpassing the likes of Eusebio but till then he stays in the second position on this prestigious list.
#3 Pauleta – 4 goals
Another star that burnt out too early in the Portuguese firmament of legends, Pauleta was in intimidating form in 2002 that saw him spearing 3 netters. However, with time, he slowly started losing that shine and by 2006, he will only manage a solitary goal for himself that would take his tally to 4, making him the third-highest goal-scorer for Portugal in the World Cup history.
#4 Jose Augusto – 3 goals
The 1966 World Cup was quite a memorable one for the Portuguese as, alongside Eusebio, Jose Augusto also managed to smash home 3 emphatic strikes that saw them reaching to the semi-finals before losing against England in the semis. Augusto scored a brace in the opener against Hungary and bagged his third against North Korea.
#5 Jose Torres – 3 goals
If Eusebio managed to kiss the back of the nets regularly in the 1966 World Cup, it was the combined efforts of Jose Augusto and Jose Torres that helped them bag the third place. Torres scored in the opener alongside Augusto while his all-important third came against in the bid for the third-place battle where Portugal drowned the Soviet Union in a high-octane encounter.
