'The dream is to be world champions' – Fernandes eyeing World Cup glory

Portugal are dreaming of winning their first World Cup, with Bruno Fernandes ready to do his bit to make it happen.

Portugal are among the favourites to lift the trophy for the first time, with their pre-tournament chances of winning sitting at 7% according to the Opta supercomputer, the fifth-highest win probability.

They have the highest chance of winning the World Cup among sides yet to win the competition, with their best finish up to now coming in 1966 (third place).  

Since then, their only other semi-final appearance was in 2006, where they were defeated by France before losing the third-place match to hosts Germany.

But Portugal head into their tournament opener against DR Congo high on confidence, and Fernandes believes they have a strong enough squad to make history.

"The dream is to be world champions," he told FIFA.

"The key is to focus on what we can do to change the fact that Portugal have never won it and become the first side to bring the coveted World Cup back home.

"We feel good about [the Nations League win in 2024-25]. It's positive for us, and it shows there's confidence in our overall quality and in the calibre of the players representing Portugal right now.

"We know that we're a very strong group. We genuinely believe we can have a great World Cup.

"It fills me with confidence when I look around and see an incredible team willing to do whatever it takes at any moment. It's not about helping me but helping everyone reach our final objective."

Portugal, who open their Group K campaign on Wednesday, will also face Uzbekistan and Colombia.

And they will be led by talisman Cristiano Ronaldo, who is preparing to play in a record sixth World Cup and clinch the one trophy that has evaded him during his career.

Ronaldo is the only player to have scored in five separate World Cup tournaments, and Fernandes believes the captain's influence and experience will only benefit Portugal.

"It's a huge privilege for us to have Cristiano as a compatriot, a team-mate and a player who can take us closer to winning the World Cup," he added.

"I think we can always learn from him. He's shown his resilience throughout his career.

"He has that winning mentality; he is never satisfied with what he's achieved, and he always strives for more. Those are all such positive qualities we've taken from his career.

"The fact he's managed to play for 20 years shows that all of that was, and still is, necessary to perform at the highest level for so long.

"Those factors go hand in hand with the talent he's shown over the years. More than anything, I hope he can replicate that with us at the World Cup, helping us as he's always done, scoring more goals and taking us closer to our objective."

The build-up to Portugal's match in Houston has been dominated by reports that head coach Roberto Martinez has decided not to renew his contract with Portugal.

As such, he is set to leave at the end of the tournament, no matter the result, but just like the rest of the team, he will be determined to sign off with the trophy.