Rating each Portugal squad member after their Euro 2016 campaign

1. Rui Patrício
The goalkeeper had an excellent tournament and was one of the key reasons for Portugal’s success. Patrício was Portugal’s first choice in all seven games and equalled Schmeichel’s 1992 record for the most saves in a European Championship final (seven).

2. Bruno Alves
The brave defender Bruno Alves started only once, but his performance against Wales in the semi-final was very good and he played his part in Portugal’s title.

3. Pepe
The Real Madrid defender was named Man of the Match in the final against France and was one of his country’s most important players. Given Portugal’s defensive approach to their games, they badly needed a player like Pepe, and his classy displays confirmed him as one of the best defenders in the world.

4. José Fonte
Southampton’s Fonte made his first appearance at the European Championship in the round of 16 against Croatia. He played four games in total, and with him on the pitch Portugal conceded only two goals.

5. Raphaël Guerreiro
The full-back was the highest-rated player on the statistics site whoscored.com. He played in five matches at Euro 2016 and came very close to scoring in the final against France, when his free kick struck the bar. Guerreiro was also very disciplined and faultless in defence.

6. Ricardo Carvalho
The most experienced player in Portugal’s squad at 38, Ricardo Carvalho surprisingly started the first three group games. He was unconvincing against Hungary in the third match, when his team conceded three goals, so Santos left him on the bench for the rest of the tournament. Carvalho still contributed from the bench, passing valuable advice to his teammates.

7. Cristiano Ronaldo
Ronaldo was his team’s best player: leader, goalscorer and motivator. He scored three goals and provided two assists. He showed his courage by staying on the pitch for 20 minutes against France after a knee injury, and once he was back on the bench he was even more animated than head coach Fernando Santos. Ronaldo also encouraged his teammate Moutinho to take a penalty against Poland, and the midfielder scored. Ronaldo was the key reason for Portugal’s success.

8. João Moutinho
The 29-year-old midfielder was used mostly as a substitute. He came off the bench in the final match and provided the assist for Éder. Moutinho also scored the third penalty in the shoot-out against Poland.

9. Éder
The man who decided the final was Éder. He had a big influence on the game after coming on in the 79th minute and scored its only goal in the 109th minute with a powerful shot. It was only his fourth international goal, but quite possibly the most important of his career.

10. João Mário
The midfielder was a very important part of Portugal’s title run and played in all seven matches at Euro 2016. Tireless, he gave everything for his team until the very last second of every game. At 23, he had a bright future with the national team.

11. Vieirinha
Several years earlier he had been described as one of the biggest talents in Portuguese football. The 30-year-old was part of Wolfsburg’s squad. Like Ricardo Carvalho, the full-back played in the first three matches of Euro 2016 before Santos changed his tactics and his personnel. Vieirinha did not impress, but he was useful to the team during the group stage.

12. Anthony Lopes (reserve goalkeeper)

13. Danilo Pereira
Pereira played only 225 minutes at Euro 2016 but was very useful. He was brought on whenever Portugal needed to be stronger in defence, and his discipline was exactly the quality on which Portugal’s success was built.

14. William Carvalho
In the round of 16 against Croatia, Fernando Santos moved Carvalho into the defensive midfield role, one of his most successful decisions. The midfielder made the most passes per game of any player (70), averaged 2.6 tackles per game (second best) and 1.4 interceptions per match. In total he made 13 successful tackles and was dribbled past only twice.

15. André Gomes
The Valencia midfielder made a great start to his tournament, providing the assist for Portugal’s first goal of the competition: his brilliant pass found Nani in the box, and Nani scored against Iceland. Gomes played in five matches and fully deserved his winner’s medal.

16. Renato Sanches
He was named best young player of Euro 2016. There was a lot of speculation about his real age, but he was in fact just 18. Sanches was regarded as the biggest young talent in Portuguese football, and he scored the vital equaliser against Poland that took the match to penalties.

17. Luís Nani
The former Manchester United player was Portugal’s unsung hero. He also scored three goals and provided one assist. He captained Portugal against France after Ronaldo left the pitch injured, which is enough to show how important Nani was to the team.

18. Rafa Silva (played for only a couple of minutes against Austria)

19. Eliseu
The left-back played in only two matches, against Hungary and Poland. He was dropped after a weak performance against Hungary, but he had the chance to make amends against Poland, and it was clear he had learned from his mistakes.

20. Ricardo Quaresma
Without Quaresma, Portugal would surely not have won the title. The winger came off the bench and gave all his skill and tactical discipline to help his teammates. He scored the priceless winner against Croatia in the 117th minute, and in the quarter-final he converted the decisive penalty against Poland to send his team into the semi-finals.

21. Cédric Soares
Alongside Fonte, Cédric Soares was one of Portugal’s key defenders from the knockout stage onwards. Like his Southampton teammate, he played four matches.

22. Eduardo (reserve goalkeeper)

23. Adrien Silva
He was part of the clever solution Santos found during the tournament. When the system changed, Silva won a place in the starting eleven for the last four games of the competition.

Head coach: Fernando Santos

To begin with, the squad was selected with great precision: Santos used 21 players at Euro 2016, everyone apart from the two reserve goalkeepers. The change of tactics after the group stage was decisive, as he switched to a 4-4-2 diamond. Santos relied on a more defensive approach. He wanted his players to be disciplined and to wait patiently for their scoring chances, which is unusual for Portuguese football. Portugal played on the counter-attack and with long balls, which again surprised the experts.

Whether Santos deliberately settled for a draw against Hungary to land in the weaker half of the knockout draw can only be guessed. Whatever the answer, he proved himself a world-class manager and deservedly lifted the European Championship trophy.