WWith less than 80 days until the start of the 2026 FIFA World Cup, national teams will play several friendly matches before taking part in the prestigious tournament. Portugal is one of them, and Mexico’s match against the USMNT promises to be historic, although it will be highlighted by the absence of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Gonaro Guedes, one of his team-mates from the national team and currently a Real Sociedad player, spoke to the press before the match against El Tri when the Azteca Stadium (Banorte) reopened, and his words regarding the World Cup attracted attention.
Portugal a World Cup candidate?
Ahead of the match at Mexico’s legendary stadium on Saturday, March 28th at 9pm ET, the Portuguese forward shared his thoughts on a variety of topics and, of course, his stance on soccer’s biggest tournament.
Guedes was completely candid and said that although some people do not consider Roberto Marnez’s side to be the favorites for the title, he has full confidence in their potential.
“We are not the favorites,” he began by admitting, “but we can win thanks to the quality of players we have. We have to go into the World Cup knowing that we are very good, but the World Cup is never easy,” the 29-year-old star warned (via Orr).
Gonaro, who returned to the national team for the first time in four years, did not reveal the difficulty of the tournament or the fierce competition, but acknowledged the team’s great talent, saying, “Everyone participating wants to win. There are some great teams that are doing well, but we have big names.”
Guedes also shared his thoughts on the opponent, saying that he sees El Tri as a “very compact” team with “very tough players”, but one that focuses on their job and strives to achieve “the best possible result”.
Meanwhile, Portugal (6th place in the FIFA rankings) will face Mexico before facing the USMNT on the 31st at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta as a prelude to the World Cup, which will be held in Mexico, the United States and Canada from June 11 to July 19.
Portugal will then be placed in Group K, where they will face Colombia, Uzbekistan and the winner of next Tuesday’s intercontinental play-off between Jamaica, Congo and New Caledonia. On Wednesday, June 17th, they will play their first game against the winners of the intercontinental playoffs. They will play against Uzbekistan on Tuesday the 23rd and Colombia on Saturday the 27th.
Along with Guedes, Joe Flix, Bruno Fernandes, Vicinha and the rest of the squad, the Portuguese will be counting on star and team captain Cristiano Ronaldo to take on the new edition of the World Cup, which will be CR7’s sixth and final World Cup. Far from calling themselves favorites, Portugal prefer to move on under the radar, but have issued a clear warning: “They will fight and they have what it takes.”
