The Portuguese Sports Miracle

The last weeks have shown that there is more sport beyond football. The Portuguese athletes achieved results never before achieved in different modalities and even heard the Portuguese.

The Portuguese athletes have already used to overcoming events, achieving presence in finals and relevant results, with the achievement of medals. It is curious that a country that has a poor policy and sports culture gets excellent results at individual and collective level in different modalities. Portugal is a small country, but with a giant dedication to sport.

Sport is a passion and is able to provide exciting moments and arouse national pride. This is what we watched in recent weeks with important achievements in such different modalities such as handball, basketball, track cycling, futsal, rugabi and ice skating, and the overwhelming majority of Portuguese didn't even know that Portugal had athletes to compete at the highest level in winter sports. In addition to Cristiano Ronaldo, Portugal is also known for its features in other modalities thanks to the commitment and dedication of athletes, which compensates for the lack of infrastructure and training programs.

With a hand in the medal
Portugal is already an international reference in handball as shown with fourth place in the 2025 World Championship, where Kiko Costa was elected the best young player in the tournament. The “Heroes of the Sea” beat Germany, Olympic runner-up, Spain, Norway, Brazil and tied with Sweden. The only defeats took place against the four -time champion of the Denmark world and with European champion France in the third place assignment game. It was a game with an ungrateful end to Portugal, which lost the bronze medal in the last second when the French goalkeeper defended the ball with his head… There is a brilliant participation of the team led by Paulo Jorge Pereira, who got the best result ever. Even so they came out sad because Portugal became a full and ambitious team. « We wanted to win and it is strange to be sad with fourth place in a World Cup, » said coach Paulo Pereira.

The participation of “Heroes of the Sea” confirms the excellent work done by clubs and federation in the last five years, with constant presence in major international competitions, including Olympic Games. « It's been a long walk, we arrived here, as far as we don't know, » said the coach. Nevertheless, handball has not yet reached the notoriety it deserves in our country. Portugal plays at the best selections in the world, despite the investment in this sport from the base to the top is completely different from what the great potential worlds do. «We are fighting David against Goliath. Only with a very special temperament did we get mountain moving, and I honestly think we arrived at Evereste. We'll be back there, probably in an easier way, ”said Paulo Pereira.

The art of ending
Portugal won the last two games of the finding phase and guaranteed the presence in the European Championship, which will take place in four countries (Czech Republic, Germany, Greece and Italy) between June 18 and 29, which happens for the first time in the history of Portuguese women's basketball after 16 attempts. The triumph over the powerful Serbia, who led the group only with victories, secured second place in the group and demonstrated that the « lynice » deserving this qualification. Portugal defeated one of the strongest opponents of the sport, demonstrated its growing quality in the international panorama and deserves to be among the 16 best teams in Europe. The national coach, Ricardo Vasconcelos, highlighted the spirit of the team, stressing that the athletes were « exemplary ». «There is no vacation, there are no breaks. There is everything for the national team, there is everything for basketball, ”he said. It is with these results that women's basketball fights for greater visibility. «As a citizen I feel a great pride in recognizing everything that is done inside doors and valued outside. As a coach I feel a great happiness for proving that in Portugal there is also a lot of quality, ”said the coach, who left a warning: » It is essential to create conditions that allow us to prolong this moment.  » In the men's competition, Portugal is a victory for getting the 2025 European Championship, which can happen today if I win Israel or, at the worst, Monday, at home, against Ukraine. The Portuguese team seeks the third presence in a European, after 2007 and 2011.

Medal
The Portuguese are giving letters in track cycling, as occurred last week at the European Track Championship, held at the Heusden-Zolder Velodrome, Belgium. Portugal won six medals, two of them gold, equaling the best registration achieved in Europeans, and confirming to be a power in track cycling.
After the Olympic title in Madison, Iúri Leitão stood out by winning the race for points and the Scratch, and won two more gold medals. Rui Oliveira was second in the elimination race and his brother Ivo Oliveira obtained the same result in individual persecution. The duo Ivo and Rui Oliveira ended in third position in the race of Madison and Maria Martins won the bronze medal in Scratch. «We made a European of excellence. The athletes and the entire work team did their best. We take excellent results to Portugal, which make us very proud and motivate us to continue the work process, ”said national coach Gabriel Mendes

In defense of the title
Another sport that cannot be ignored is futsal for its popularity and sports successes at club and selection. Portugal has already won the title and is a two -time European champion. Last week, he was able to qualify for the 2026 Europe Championship, whose final phase will be held in Latvia and Lithuania, between January 20 and February 7, 2026. Portugal became in the first team to ensure the group stage by winning the first four games. «Very happy to be qualified when two journeys are missing. In recent years we have achieved clean qualifications. We have a long time to the European, with many moments of preparation to get there with fresh legs, our head clean and play with usual joy. We believe we can do Europe's championship very good, ”said national coach Jorge Braz. «We have had so many good examples in Portuguese sport and we want to remain an example. Now that we are already in the final phase and let's go with everything, ”he said. It is the 11th Portuguese participation in the final phases of European. Portugal, remember, won the last two editions of the competition.

Hungry wolves
The National Raguebi continues to score points at international level and ranks 15th in the World Rugby ranking. After the excellent performance at the France 2023 World Cup, the “wolves” again demonstrated their quality in the rugby Europe Championship and the victories about Belgium, Germany and Romania have secured the qualification for the Australian World Championship 2027. This is the third time Portugal has been among the best teams in the world, and here there is a significant evolution in the quality of the ball. Sacrifice of many of the players who are amateur pure, such as the midfielder Tomás Appleton, who is also the captain of the « wolves. » «I am very proud. Portugal deserved this, needed this to continue what we did at the 2023 World Cup. We are happy to confirm that Portugal has a lot, a lot of value, and that it gained a position in the world rugbi, ”said the captain. «We have to continue a process. Simon Mannix has dealt very well with managing players, has brought the best of us. We have two and a half years to prepare the World Cup and we will come very well, ”he added. Portugal still has a lot to win this season. On March 1, Spain will face Spain at the National Stadium (3:30 pm), at the European Championship half-final with the thought in the final against Georgia or Romania.

Glide
The most recent surprise came from Jessica Rodrigues, who became a junior junior ice skating champion in Italy. The skater won in the discipline of Mass Start and gave Portugal the first world title in winter sports. «The race was a bit confusing, because the platoon was divided into two groups. I decided to protect myself to the final sprint, and when a lap was missing, I went well for the final stretch. It has been an incredible job and had high expectations in this discipline, ”said Jessica Rodrigues, who had already obtained a diploma (sixth place) from the Winter Youth Olympic Games. Also highlighting the fourth place of Portuguese Francisca Henriques and sixth position by Afonso Silva in the men's final. Pedro Flávio, president of the Winter Sports Federation, highlighted the skater's feat: “It is an extraordinary result for ice speed skating. Jessica Rodrigues has proved that it is possible to achieve extraordinary results in the winter sports in Portugal. This is also the result of the serious and dedicated work of the athlete, his coaches and the Federation. The title of Jessica Rodrigues follows the growth in the number of winter sports athletes in Portugal. At this time there are a thousand federated athletes, alpine skiing is the modality with more practitioners, followed by ice hockey, curling, speed skating and skating. Also the number of clubs increased (56). The first Winter Sports Pavilion in Seixal, scheduled for 2027, will be decisive for the growth of the sport.