Portugal Chases World Cup Trophy for Diogo Jota

CAXIAS, WEDNESDAY — Grief ignites the fire of spirit. This is what envelops the national team of Portugal as they prepare to begin their competition in the qualifying round for the 2026 World Cup. The "Selecao das Quinas" is determined to pay a monumental tribute to the late Diogo Jota by winning the World Cup trophy next year.

Diogo and his brother, Andre, passed away in a car accident in Spain on July 3. The 2024-2025 European National League title was Jota's final tribute to his homeland. That was the trophy he lifted and kissed before returning to the realm of eternity.

In honor of Diogo and his family, the Portugal national team, along with the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), held an event at the FPF Arena in Caxias, Portugal, located 15 kilometers east of Lisbon.

At the event, FPF inaugurated a bronze monument of the jersey of Diogo and the legend of the Portuguese national team, Jorge Costa, on Tuesday (2/9/2025). The two jersey monuments are the initial installations at the Heroes' Square located in the FPF Arena.

After that, the Portugal squad under Roberto Martinez immediately held their first training session ahead of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers at the FPF training center. Selecao das Quinas began their journey towards the 2026 World Cup by facing Armenia on Saturday (6/8/2025) at 23:00 WIB, at the Republican Vazgen Sargsyan Stadium in Yerevan, Armenia.

In addition to Armenia, Cristiano Ronaldo and his teammates will face Hungary and the Republic of Ireland. They are grouped in Group F. Only the group champion will secure a direct ticket to the main round of the 2026 World Cup.

Portugal midfielder Ruben Neves said Jota's presence will be a constant presence in every Portugal match. He added that the Portuguese squad will strive to score goals and win to honor Jota, who has earned 49 caps for the Selecao das Quinas.

"The presence of Diogo (Jota) will always be felt whenever we wear this proud uniform. His spirit every time he defends the national team will be preserved in the matches," said Neves, who is also Jota's close friend.

The player from the Saudi Arabian club, Al Hilal, added, "If he were still alive, we would share the same ambition to conquer the World Cup. That has become our great ambition. Even now, without his presence, our desire in the national team is even stronger to win it for him."

In addition to the tribute for Jota and Costa, Ronaldo also presented the UEFA Nations League trophy to the FPF. This marks the second collection for Selecao das Quinas from the annual international tournament created by UEFA.

When Portugal was struck by sorrow, three other top teams, namely Spain, France, and Germany, were motivated by their failures in the 2022 World Cup edition. Spain, for instance, was eliminated in the round of 16 after losing in a penalty shootout against Morocco.

Together with the young squad generation trained by Luis de la Fuente, "La Roja" is equipped with a lineup that can be considered one of the favorites in the 2026 World Cup. They rely on new stars, such as Lamine Yamal, Nico Williams, and Dean Huijsen.

In the qualifying round, Spain is in Group E. They are competing with two dark horses, namely Turkey and Georgia, as well as Bulgaria to secure one direct ticket to the main round. Spain's journey to North America begins at the home of Bulgaria, the Vasil Levski National Stadium, in Sofia, on Friday (5/9/2025) at 01:45 WIB.

"Having achieved so much with the national team at such a young age has made me even more ambitious in pursuing other trophies. We will strive to become world champions, but it won't be easy because every team competing in the World Cup wants that," Yamal said, as quoted by AS.

Huijsen, the central defender of Real Madrid, wants the journey of the Spanish national team to be taken slowly. He is reluctant to discuss the World Cup before leading La Roja to secure a ticket to the main stage.

"The most important thing we have to do is qualify. Playing in the World Cup is special for any footballer, let alone winning it," Huijsen told Marca.

Meanwhile, the 2022 edition finalist, France, will also kick off the qualifying round competition on Saturday (1/9/2025) at 01:45 WIB against Ukraine at the Mijeski Stadium in Wroclaw, Poland. France is currently the team with the highest market value in Europe, valued at 1.28 billion euros, approximately IDR 24.45 trillion.

Undoubtedly, France, composed of world-class players, should have no trouble advancing to the 2026 World Cup. They are competing against mediocre teams such as Ukraine, Iceland, and Azerbaijan in Group B.

On the other hand, Germany aims to start the 2026 World Cup qualifiers positively when they visit Slovakia, at Tehelne Pole Stadium in the city of Bratislava, on Friday at 01:45 WIB. Germany's opponents in Group A are also relatively easy, namely Luxembourg and Northern Ireland.

German coach Julian Nagelsmann has initiated a regeneration within the "Die Mannschaft" squad after failing to advance to the knockout stage in Qatar. Ahead of the match against Slovakia, he has called up three potential debutants.

They are Finn Dahmen, Nnamdi Collins, and Paul Nebel. The three of them will work together with other German mainstays, such as Florian Wirtz, Serge Gnabry, Joshua Kimmich, Antonio Ruediger, and Niclas Fuellkrug.

Nagelsmann urged his team to assert dominance over three competitors in Group A. According to him, there is no reason for Germany to lose full points in the six qualifying matches.

"We are the favorites in this group. I want us to demonstrate our true dominance. That does not mean we have to win with a score of 5-0, but I want a positive result achieved without any doubt," said Nagelsmann at a press conference reported by the German Football Association (DFB) website.