Roberto Martinez, manager of the Portugal national team, warned the 2026 World Cup will be a challenging event requiring exceptional resilience due to the expanded format and multiple host countries. Speaking from Lisbon on May 15, 2026, Martinez described the tournament as "a leap into the unknown" because the 48-team format spread across three nations will lengthen the competition and add complexity to logistics and conditions [1, 2].
Martinez highlighted that despite Portugal’s flawless qualification campaign and recent Nations League title, past success only guarantees three matches in the group stage. "Anything that we've done until now just gives you three games in a World Cup. It doesn't give you anything," he said. "You arrive at the World Cup, you've got three games in a group phase, and everything starts there and then" [1, 2].
Drawing from his experience leading Belgium in the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, including a quarter-final victory over Brazil in 2018, Martinez emphasized the need for teams to prepare for unpredictable physical and mental challenges rather than iconic moments alone [1, 2]. "You need to have incredible resilience... You don’t prepare for iconic moments — you prepare the team to perform under any circumstances," he said [1].
Martinez took part in FIFA’s Technical Study Group during the 2025 Club World Cup in the United States. This gave him insight into the logistical, meteorological, and psychological hurdles teams face in large multi-country tournaments. He contrasted the wide travel distances in Russia 2018 with the more compact 2022 Qatar tournament but said the 2026 edition will pose new difficulties with long distances, varying climates, humidity, heat, and even storm uncertainty [1, 2]. "The complexity of playing with different time zones, with playing with the heat, the humidity, almost moments of uncertainty when you get the storms," Martinez said. "There are many aspects that are very, very different how the game is played under those circumstances than what we do in Europe" [1].
Teams are expected to adopt different base camp strategies, either setting up a single central hub or relocating closer to match cities to better manage fatigue and conditions [1, 2]. Martinez said these preparations can turn a challenge into an opportunity: "We've gone from the complexity of the preparation to make it to an opportunity to use our experience with our preparation" [1].
Portugal, one of the 48 teams set to compete in the 2026 World Cup hosted by Canada, Mexico, and the United States, now prepares for the group stage matches where all results effectively reset.