Portugal

Group A

How they got here: Emerging victorious in the 2016 European Championships, overcoming a mediocre group stage performance, a raucous crowd against the hosts in the final and an overwhelming amount of resentment from fans throughout the world for their conservative style of play along the way.

Coach: Fernando Santos

Schedule: Mexico (June 18, Kazan),  Russia (June 21, Moscow), and New Zealand (June 24, Saint Petersburg)

Players to keep an eye on: Winger Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid), Left-Back Raphaël Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund), Midfielder/Winger Bernardo Silva (Manchester City), Striker André Silva (AC Milan)

Outlook: A year removed from breaking through the wall it’s been butting its head against for the better part of two decades and finally winning its first international competition, the Portuguese national side has shown no signs of slowing down.

In the nine matches its played since the Euro 2016 final in Paris last July, the Selecao has won seven and lost just twice, falling 2-0 to Switzerland in Basel counting for 2018 World Cup qualification and 3-2 to Sweden in a friendly in Madeira.

While the opposition they’ve defeated hasn’t been very impressive — Latvia twice, Gibraltar, Andorra, Hungary, Faroe Islands and Cyprus — the manner in which Portugal won was. In those nine matches, they outscored teams 33-6, earning six clean sheets and being held scoreless just once in the process.

The 23 chosen to make the trip to Russia by Fernando Santos has eight changes from the 23 he took to France. And while the change which initially created the most buzz amongst the supporters and media alike — the exclusion of Eder, the hero who scored the only goal in a 1-0 win over France in the final — the one which will have the most impact on the squad was forced.

Midfielder João Mario, a crucial part of the Euro squad who had another phenomenal club season in his debut year with Inter Milan in Italy, suffered a calf injury in the initial week of preparation, forcing him to be the player cut by Fernando from the initial list of 24 selections.

His exclusion raises questions in two arenas — will Santos make tactical changes to the 4-4-2 he found great success with in France? Who will slot into the 11 in Mario’s place?

Portugal played a match after the injury was announced, facing Latvia in World Cup qualifying. Santos elected to go with a 4-3-3, slotting André Gomes in for João Mario in midfield and using Gelson Martins out on the right wing.

The results were mixed; Gomes did provide an assist to Portugal’s opening goal with a decent cross from the left side, but it would be the only positive action in a sloppy, slow performance from the Barcelona player.

With teams of the quality of Russia and Mexico awaiting in the group stage, that level won’t be enough to live up to the expectations put on the Portuguese after their last summer. Those expectations expand to the opposition — Mexican left-back Miguel Layun declared Portugal “the favorites to win the Confederations Cup.”

A solution Santos may use is in the form of recent Manchester City signing Bernardo Silva. As he showed in a phenomenal title winning season in France for AS Monaco, Silva is versatile in attack, able to play both on either wing or behind the striker either as a second striker or a 10 in midfield.

This versatility allows Santos to slot him into Joao Mario’s usual spot on the left wing or use him at the top of a midfield triangle in a 4-3-3, playing behind Andre Silva and connecting with Cristiano Ronaldo and whichever between Martins, Nani or Quaresma Santos elects to put on the right wing.

Whatever he chooses to do, Santos’ deserves the benefit of the doubt given his track record with the national side. Say what you will, the man did what others before him couldn’t — win a title. For that reason alone, Portugal stands among the favorites as it looks to double the space taken up in its trophy case.