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Portugal will be looking to repeat their performance from the last World Cup and go on another strong run in the competition when they start their World Cup campaign on June 15. All matches involving Portugal Live At 2010 World Cup are available this summer on Live Sport Network. Sign up now

Portugal’s first appearance in a World Cup was back in 1966 when they went on a surprising strong run to qualify to the semi finals before losing out to eventual winners England. Eusebio was the key player for Portugal with the striker top scoring with nine goals in the competition.

Portugal’s next appearance came 20 years later but they failed to qualify out of their group, a disappointing performance that was repeated in 2002. However they had a fairly successful 2006 campaign as they rode high on Luis Figo and Cristiano Ronaldo’s creativity to progress to the semi finals where they lost out to France.

Road to 2010 World Cup

Portugal had a difficult World Cup qualification campaign and at one time looked likely to miss out on the tournament this time around. Though they started their campaign with a 4-0 win over Malta, just three points from their next four games saw them fall behind in the race for the automatic qualification spot.

However a timely return to form saw them win their final three matches to qualify to the play-off spot where they beat Bosnia and Herzegovina 2-0 on aggregate to book a place in the World Cup.

The form of Cristiano Ronaldo will be key for Portugal’s hopes of progressing far in the competition with the winger having an excellent season for Real Madrid. Nani too has slowly improved his form since the turn of the year.

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