This was Portugal's first World Cup after not qualifying for the 2019 Women's World Cup, and some would say they were the underdogs in this competition.
Portugal played in Group E amongst reigning World Cup winners USA, Netherlands, and Vietnam.
During the group stage, Portugal picked up four points, winning 2-0 against Vietnam and drawing 0-0 to USA.
Throughout their campaign they had some rises and some falls, the rise of their tournament would be drawing against USA as they were the current champions of the tournament but their fall would be not making it out of the group stage as the dark horses.
Best achievement (The Rise):
Although Portugal did not make it through the group stage, their best moment other than winning against Vietnam would be their draw to USA who are currently ranked number one in the world, whereas Portugal are ranked 21st in the world.
This was Portugal's last match in the group stage, they would have had to win this game to qualify for the Round of 16 but USA managed to hold on throughout the game to gain the point they needed to qualify instead.
Portugal were the better team in this match, having 57% possession with up to 400 passes in the 90 minutes. They would have felt unlucky but as underdogs in this tournament, they should be proud of what they achieved against USA as they have remained unbeaten in the last 19 matches of the World Cup before losing to Sweden on penalties in the Round of 16.
The fall:
Portugal lived up to their name as dark horses, as they failed to succeed out of the group stages as many people expected.
Fans would have thought that Portugal would have lived up to their name and become dark horses by reaching the knockout stages but after having four points to their name, they miss but one point.
People across the world would have been supporting Portugal's first-ever World Cup journey as they were underdogs and everyone loves an underdog.
Although they performed well in their World Cup it was not quite enough for them as they did not make it out of their group and eventually live up to their name as the underdogs.
Best Young Player:
Francisca Nazareth was Portugal's young player to watch out for, at just 20 years old she has become an integral part of the Portugal squad.
Nazareth plays for SL Benfica and in the 2022-23 season she scored 26 goals for her club.
During this tournament she scored one goal which came in the group stage game against Vietnam, Nazareth made it 2-0 which confirmed Portugal's all three points and their first-ever win in this competition.
When Portugal played in the qualifiers to make this competition, Nazareth scored three goals and had two assists to her name in nine matches to help her team qualify for the Women's World Cup.
She is known by many as the 'golden girl'.
Player you should have looked out for:
A player you should have looked out for during the 2023 World Cup for Portugal was Tatiana Pinto.
This was her first World Cup in her career at 29 years of age and she started every game for Portugal in this campaign. In the tournament overall she won 86% of her tackles which would have been vital to break up play while in midfield, as well as having a high percentage of winning her tackles she had an 80% pass accuracy also throughout her three games.
Pinto would have hoped to help with more contributions for Portugal in the World Cup as she was influential for her club last season, Levante.
Last season, Pinto scored 12 goals for her club and registered three assists in 30 matches.
Overall rating 6.5:
For Portugal's first-ever World Cup, a 6.5 rating shows that there is improvement needed to reach the knockout stages as they marginally missed out this time.
They had strong performances in the group stage, winning comfortably against Vietnam with a 2-0 win and a massive draw against USA showing that in the next World Cup, they can definitely go further if they can hold their own against a number one rated side, in the world.