Jorge Jesus Takes Over Portugal National Team

Portugal have turned to one of their most seasoned tacticians for the next World Cup cycle, handing Jorge Jesus a four-year deal that runs through to the 2030 tournament the country will co-host with Spain and Morocco.

The 71-year-old steps into a role vacated by Roberto Martinez after Portugal’s disappointing 1-0 defeat to Spain in the last 16 of this summer’s World Cup. Martinez had already signalled his intention to step down, drawing a line under a tenure that began in January 2023 and never fully convinced on the biggest stage.

Jesus arrives with a bulging CV and a clear idea of the figure who still towers over Portuguese football: Cristiano Ronaldo.

Ronaldo stays central to the story

Jesus knows Ronaldo as more than an icon. The pair worked together at Al Nassr last season, where they delivered the Saudi Pro League title during Jesus’ one-year spell in charge. That shared success has clearly shaped the new coach’s thinking.

Speaking on Friday, Jesus described the 41-year-old forward as a “symbol of Portuguese football” and made it plain that age alone will not push Ronaldo out of the national picture.

“As long as he's playing and is in a condition to be selected, I will pick him, within certain limits and under the conditions that I consider best for the national team,” he said.

The stance is unambiguous. Ronaldo, whose Al Nassr contract runs until 2027, has already confirmed this World Cup was his sixth and final, but he has not officially retired from international duty. Jesus, for his part, is in no rush to close that chapter.

“I haven't spoken with [Ronaldo] yet. [He] is never going to be a problem for the national team. Not for the national team, nor for me. I had great pleasure working with him this past year, [it's] easy to work with him,” Jesus added.

So the door stays open. The most decorated player in Portugal’s history will not be ushered out; he will be judged, Jesus insists, like any other player – on form, fitness and what he can still bring to a squad that must evolve while its greatest star fades.

A coach built on trophies and turbulence

If Portugal wanted a quiet administrator, they have chosen the wrong man. Jesus is a coach who leaves fingerprints wherever he goes.

He forged his reputation at Benfica, where his first spell brought three league titles in 2010, 2014 and 2015 and turned the Lisbon club into a relentless domestic force. His teams pressed high, attacked with numbers and rarely died wondering.

His restlessness took him abroad. In Brazil, he became a phenomenon at Flamengo, cramming five major trophies into a single year, including the 2019 Brazilian title and the Copa Libertadores. The football was bold, aggressive, unmistakably his.

Most recently, he swept up in Saudi Arabia with Al Hilal, delivering a domestic treble in the 2023-24 season and underlining his knack for imposing structure and standards quickly, even in shifting environments.

Now comes the hardest job of all: blending a gilded generation with the demands of a home World Cup.

Nations League first, 2030 looming

Jesus will not have long to imprint his ideas. His first game in charge arrives on 24 September, when Portugal open their Nations League Group D campaign against Wales.

That match will offer the first clues. How much of the Martinez blueprint survives? How many of Portugal’s emerging talents are trusted immediately? And, of course, whether Ronaldo features in the first squad of the new era.

The stakes stretch far beyond one autumn evening. With Portugal set to co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Morocco, every camp, every selection, every tactical tweak carries extra weight. The country will not just participate; it will be on show.

Jesus has built a career on chasing trophies and confronting pressure head-on. Now he must do it with a nation watching, a legend still in the frame, and a World Cup on home soil edging closer with every game.