Jesus tries to become the 14th national selector to enter to win

Coach Jorge Jesus, at the age of 72, will try on Thursday to become the 14th Portuguese selector to debut in office with a triumph, in the duel with Wales, in Alvalade, in the League of Football Nations.

22/09/2026
by

Lusa

National Selection

Nthe meeting that marks the start of the defense of the title won in 2025, at the time still under the command of Roberto Martínez, Jesus will try to ‘imitate’ the debut of the Spanish technician, who won in 2023 Liechtenstein (4-0), also in Alvalade, but at the beginning of the qualification for the Euro2024.

Paulo Bento (2010) and António Oliveira (1994) also celebrated triumphs in the first game, as well as Laurindo Grijó (1930), Salvador do Carmo (1932), Armando Ferreira (1961), Manuel da Luz Afonso (1964), José Augusto (1972), Juca (1977), Mário Wilson (1978), Otto Glória (1982), Fernando Cabrita (1983) and José Torres (1984).

After the ‘good giant’, it was much more those who could not win, and Ruy Seabra (1986), Artur Jorge (1990), Carlos Queiroz (1991) and the ‘provisory’ Nelo Vingada (1994) and Agostinho Oliveira (2002) started with equality.

For his part, Humberto Coelho (1998), Brazilian Luiz Felipe Scolari (2003) and Fernando Santos (2014) debuted with defeats, but in the stronghold of very respectable opponents, such as England, Italy and France, respectively.

Jorge Jesus' first struggle as a Portuguese selector takes place three and a half years after the inaugural game of Roberto Martínez, who achieved a more than expected easy triumph over Liechtenstein, which would eventually result in Portugal's first totally victorious qualification for a great competition, in this case the European of 2024, which took place in Germany.

Of the 22 players who were in this match, Rui Patricio, who was the holder, has already finished his career, the middle João Mário resigned to the selection and names such as Danilo Pereira, Raphael Guerreiro, José Sá, António Silva and Otávio have been out of the options. Diogo Jota, who died in the meantime, was also in this match, although as an unused alternate.

Therefore, Captain Cristiano Ronaldo heads a long list of repeaters, who after almost four years remain stone and lime in Football City, even with the entry of a new selector.

Portugal begins the ‘era’ Jorge Jesus, and the defense of the title of the League of Nations, on Thursday, in front of Wales, in a match of the A4 Group scheduled for 19:45, at the José Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon.

In this first qualifying ‘window’, the national team twice faces Norway, on 27 September, in Oslo, and on 4 October, at the Dragon Stadium in Porto, and in the middle, on 1 October, plays in Copenhagen with Denmark.

Portugal won two of the four editions of the League of Nations, the first in 2019, with Fernando Santos, on a trail completed with a triumph for 1-0 against the Netherlands, in the final of the Dragon, with a goal of Gonçalo Guedes, at 60 minutes.

After the victories of France in 2021, and Spain in 2023, the selection of ‘chines’ again won the competition in 2025, this time thanks to a triumph in the decisive game against Spain, by 5-3 in the penaltis, after 2-2 in 120 minutes.

– The premieres of the Portuguese selectors:

ROBERT MARTINEZ(ESP) 23/03/23 Liechtenstein (C), 4-0 Lisbon Euro2024 (Q)

FERNANDO SANTOS 11/10/14 France (F), 1-2 Paris Private

BENTAL PAUL 08/10/10 Denmark (C), 3-1 Euro2012 Port (Q)

LUIZ FELIPE SCOLARI(BRA) 12/02/03 Italy (F), 0-1 Private Genoa

AUGESTINHO OLIVEIRA 07/09/02 England (F), 1-1 Birmingham Private

HUMMBERTH COELHO 22/04/98 England (F), 0-3 London Private

ANTONIO OLIVEIRA 07/09/94 Northern Ireland (F), 2-1 Belfast Euro1996 (Q)

EDUARDO ‘NELO’ VINGADA 19/01/94 Spain (F), 2-2 Vigo Private

CARLOS QUEIROZ 04/09/91 Austria (C), 1-1 Private Port

ARTUR JORGE 29/08/90 FRA (C), 1-1 Lisbon Private

RUY SEABRA 12/10/86 Sweden (C), 1-1 Lisbon Euro1988 (Q)