Roberto Martínez has resigned as Portugal head coach. This follows the team’s 1-0 defeat to Spain in the Round of 16 of the FIFA World Cup.
According to Premium Times, Portugal crashed out at AT&T Stadium in Dallas. This happened after substitute Mikel Merino scored a dramatic 91st-minute winner to send Spain into the quarter-finals.
The defeat also marked Cristiano Ronaldo’s final appearance at the World Cup. Thus, it brings an emotional end to the Portuguese captain’s record-breaking run at football’s biggest tournament.
Roberto Martínez, who took charge of Portugal in 2023 after leaving Belgium, confirmed after the match that his time with the national team had come to an end.
“Yes, this is my last game with the national team,” Martínez said.
The Spanish coach said he felt proud of his time with Portugal despite the painful exit.
“I’m proud. I’ve had 45 games, and I felt welcomed in Portugal and loved. It’s a memory I’ll take with me always,” he added.
Martínez said the defeat ended a cycle and described his time with the Seleção as a responsibility and privilege.
“It was a pleasure, a source of pride, and responsibility. It’s hard, but it’s the end of a cycle, and in the context it makes absolute sense,” he said.
Despite Portugal’s early exit, Roberto Martínez rejected claims that the team failed at the tournament.
Portugal entered the competition with one of the strongest squads, including Vitinha, João Neves, Bruno Fernandes and Ronaldo. However, Spain ended their campaign before the quarter-finals.
“We didn’t fail,” Martínez said. “We lost a game, against a team that’s one of the favourites.”
He argued that major knockout matches often come down to small details, not a lack of effort or quality.
“Winning or losing comes down to details in big games, with big teams… You fail when you don’t try to win, and we tried to win until the last minute,” he said.
Martínez also defended his decision to keep 41-year-old Ronaldo on the pitch for the full 90 minutes as Portugal searched for a goal.
“When you’re a team, and you need a goal, you can’t take Cristiano Ronaldo off,” he said.
He said Ronaldo still offered Portugal presence, movement and a goal threat inside the box.
“He’s a presence, he opens space, with a deadball situation, anything in the box, it would make no sense,” Martínez added.
The exit ends Roberto Martínez’s two-year spell with Portugal, during which he managed 45 matches but failed to guide the team beyond the quarter-finals of Euro 2024 and the Round of 16 at the World Cup.
His resignation also closes a major chapter for Portugal. Notably, it comes on the same night Ronaldo bowed out of the World Cup after playing in six editions of the tournament.
