Fernando Santos has stepped down as manager of Portugal.
The 68-year-old manager led Portugal to the quarter-finals of the World Cup in Qatar before crashing out of the tournament following a shock 1-0 defeat against Morocco last Saturday.
Santos famously led Portugal to European Championships success in 2016 and later won UEFA's inaugural Nations League in 2018-19.
Sportsmail revealed on Wednesday that the Portuguese Football Federation were considering plans to axe the coach following his eight-year stint in charge of the national team.
The PFF have now decided to let the manager go and are now on the hunt for a new head coach ahead of the Euro 2024 campaign, according to football journalist Fabrizio Romano.
Santos boldly chose to drop Portuguese icon Cristiano Ronaldo ahead of his side's last-16 clash against Switzerland.
He had lost patience with the 37-year-old forward following his negative reaction after being substituted against South Korea during the group stage.
The decision ultimately paid off as replacement striker Goncalo Ramos, of Benfica, netted a hat-trick on his first World Cup start for Portugal, steering his team to a rampant 6-1 win.
Portugal's attacking prowess showed in that match indicated for many fans that the era of Ronaldo in attack is over - and PFF chiefs clearly feel Santos' time is up as well.
They came up short against a stubborn Atlas Lions side, losing 1-0 to a Youssef En-Nesyri header after goalkeeper Diogo Costa's mistake.
The country is not short of possible contenders for the role, with former Chelsea, Manchester United and Real Madrid boss Jose Mourinho and ex-Porto and Roma manager Paulo Fonseca, currently at Lille, among the names being mentioned.
Mourinho has already been linked with the post, while Fonseca is also a leading candidate for the PFF. Both are Portuguese.
JoyNg
316
Ronaldo carried his job. He tried out a team without Ronaldo... At the end of the day he is out of duty. You shouldn’t try to underestimated Ronaldo... NEVER Disrespect the GOAT🐐🇵🇹💕
DeBani
185
Lesson Learned "Introducing A Ghost In The 40mins Just To Satisfy Some Fans Is not The Best Decision"
DeBani
130
A Now Confirmed Fact✅✅
DeBani
80
Never Compete With A god Or Your Downfall Might Come Unexpectedly ☹️☹️
DeBani
67
I Feel So Sorry For The Old Man ☹️☹️...... That's Why Perez Labeled Ronaldo As A "Kid Living In An Old Man's Body"
DeBani
57
I See Some CR5 Fans Here Arguing....... He Benched Ronaldo And Won The Game 6-1 Then During The R16 There Were Playing A Very Good Team Football Until Robnaldo Was Introduced in 60th minute, Then There Coordinated Pattern Changed To Crossing The Ball To Ronaldo To Score Which Because Of How Useless He has Become, He couldn't Even Convert At least a Goal............. And Some Of Them Are Here Blaming The Coach.......... My Only Happiness Was That The Coach Recognized His Mistake And Confessed it on Press Conference......... Just Feel So Sorry For Santos Thou
DeBani
51
You All Are Still Crying 😭.... I see 🥲😂🥲
Football⚽/Fan
45
A GREAT PORTUGAL 🇵🇹 COACH - Because of his brilliance 🇵🇹 Portugal won - Euro, Nations League title... He Choosed player who better for Portugal 🇵🇹 .. if You cant respect him,, Than you are not a Portuguese....
Gettinricher2
17
Ronaldo carried his job. He tried out a team without Ronaldo... At the end of the day he is out of duty. You shouldn’t try to underestimated Ronaldo... NEVER Disrespect the GOAT🐐🇵🇹💕
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What are you saying? Didn't Ronaldo played? Why didn't Ronaldo scored wen he came on? Morocco were superior and try to accept that.
UnusualKing
16
What are you saying? Didn't Ronaldo played? Why didn't Ronaldo scored wen he came on? Morocco were superior and try to accept that.
During the 2nd half they were all hitting thier finger nails hoping he would score so they can praise him & curse the coach. He ended up didn't score & now they say it's bcuz he didn't start. If he had started & they still lose they'd blame it on something else. He's never at fault for them. They obviously think he can pluck goals out of thin air. If he's faced with good defense or if he don't get supply he won't score. Sometimes if a player don't have the ability to take on an entire defense they won't get anywhere. Croatia's defense was solid until Neymar made that magnificent run. Messi wiggle his way through tight defenses & make killer passes. Neymar, Mbappe, Messi, etc don't stand in box waiting on crosses to score - they do unconventional things when faced with tough defense. Why couldn't Ronaldo do that? Afterall he's the GOAT as they say🤷🏽♂️
UnusualKing
14
Ronaldo carried his job. He tried out a team without Ronaldo... At the end of the day he is out of duty. You shouldn’t try to underestimated Ronaldo... NEVER Disrespect the GOAT🐐🇵🇹💕
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But Ronaldo played more than 45 minutes in the last match so what do you mean? 🤷🏽♂️
pudceilny
13
Ronaldo carried his job. He tried out a team without Ronaldo... At the end of the day he is out of duty. You shouldn’t try to underestimated Ronaldo... NEVER Disrespect the GOAT🐐🇵🇹💕
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This right up should rather make you rethink. most CR7 fans no longer know the difference between sanity and insanity. Insanity is approving a good coach's stepping down because of egostisic player who thinks he is bigger than all Portugese players in his team. He might be bigger than Every but not bigger than All.