“With full-backs like Cancelo, who needs forwards?”
The headline of one of Portugal’s major sports papers asks the question that many Portuguese fans must have been asking themselves on Tuesday evening. Joao Cancelo ended the international window in style when he clinched Portugal’s winner against Hungary and, across their two games, he proved that he can still change games as an attacking option for Roberto Martinez.
The full-back has provided four goal contributions in his first two appearances for the national team since November 2024, helping Portugal on their way to two wins from their first two FIFA World Cup 26™ qualifiers.
“Whenever I’m here I try to give my best,” explained Cancelo, who once again highlighted the high level of performance he has maintained since his move to Al Hilal in Saudi Arabia. “People see me differently because I play in a ‘less competitive’ league in their eyes, but I’m still the same player.”
If there were ever a national side capable of proving Cancelo’s point, it is Portugal. Seven of the eight goals scored by Martinez’s side in this international window have been scored by players currently playing in the Saudi Pro League — aside from Cancelo, Joao Felix and Cristiano Ronaldo both managed three goals each.
Cancelo proved in this window that he is very much still the same player, despite leaving European football last summer. For spells over these two games – appearing as an option down the Portugal right, both inside and out – he still looked very much like the player who was seen as one of the best full-backs in world football during his time at Juventus, Manchester City and Barcelona.
“The quality is still there and I’ve shown that. I want to keep that going,” he said. “I don’t think about [myself] too much. I try to give my best in any game I play, even more so for my country.”
The full-back has been out of the picture for Portugal for almost a year now, a spell that included a total of nearly three months out of action as a result of two injuries. Martinez made it clear that this is his main concern, rather than Cancelo’s performance level.
“We all know about Cancelo’s quality; he’s an outstanding player. He’s very confident, in tight spaces, with and without the ball. He impressed everyone on his first day of training,” said the Spanish coach. “Given the levels he reached before, I’m not surprised. It’s great for us to have a player like him at 100 per cent physically, fully focused and ready to help the team.”
Injury forced Cancelo to miss out on Portugal’s UEFA Nations League triumph earlier this year. He managed to recover in time, however, to play an influential part in Al Hilal’s FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ campaign a few weeks later. Despite being knocked out at the quarter-final stage, he showed that he could still do a job for the national team, and he went above and beyond that in these two qualifiers.
His goal against Hungary came at a crucial point in the game – and could prove to be decisive in Portugal’s bid for qualification come the end of this group phase. The Portuguese have four games left in their group, and three of them are on home soil. Their trip to Hungary was widely seen as their most difficult task of this group stage, and Cancelo’s late goal clinched all three points for them.
“They made it tough for us, especially with their long balls and the crosses they put in, but the coach had prepared us for that,” said Cancelo. “Thankfully we won the game and we were better than Hungary on the whole, but that was to be expected. We could have controlled the game better and not conceded the two goals, though.”
Portugal were made to work for the win in Hungary, but it was certainly an international window to remember for Cancelo. He says that he is still the same player. Based on these two performances, it is hard to disagree with him.
