The three players were picked, to the detriment of Raphaël Guerreiro, Matheus Nunes, and Toti Gomes.
Martínez did not present any new additions to the list, which includes three goalkeepers, nine defenders, including four full-backs and five central defenders, seven midfielders, and seven forwards, all already used by the Spanish coach.
Cristiano Ronaldo, first in his sixth European Championship (since 2004) and record holder for games (25), goals (14) and victories (12) in finals, and Pepe, aged 41, who competes to be the oldest ever to be used, lead the team.
Among those selected, there are the remaining consecrated candidates, such as Bernardo Silva and Bruno Fernandes, while Pedro Gonçalves, Ricardo Horta, Francisco Trincão, Bruma, and Jota Silva were left out.
Martínez chose Diogo Costa, Rui Patrício and José Sá in goal, and the full-backs João Cancelo, Diogo Dalot, Nuno Mendes and Nélson Semedo and the central players Rúben Dias, António Silva, Pepe, Gonçalo Inácio and the versatile Danilo Pereira.
In midfield, the options are Palhinha, João Neves, Rúben Neves, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Otávio and Vitinha, while in attack there will be Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonçalo Ramos, João Félix, Rafael Leão, Diogo Jota, Francisco Conceição and Pedro Neto.
Martínez’s list includes only four 2016 European champions, Cristiano Ronaldo (fifth European, since 2004), Rui Patrício and Pepe (both fourth, since 2008), and Danilo Pereira (third, since 2016).
In relation to Euro2020, held in 2021, there are 14 repeaters, the four champions and also Nélson Semedo, Rúben Dias, Nuno Mendes, Palhinha, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Rúben Neves, Diogo Jota, João Félix and Diogo Dalot, who replaced João Cancelo, excluded due to a positive test for covid-19.
In the final phase, which takes place from June 14th to July 14th, Portugal is included in Group F, together with the Czech Republic (June 18th, in Leipzig), Turkey (22nd, in Dortmund) and Georgia (26th, in Gelsenkirchen ).
Portugal’s 26 squad
- Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (FC Porto), José Sá (Wolverhampton, Eng) and Rui Patrício (Roma).
- Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United, Eng), João Cancelo (FC Barcelona, Esp), Rúben Dias (Manchester City, Eng), António Silva (Benfica), Pepe (FC Porto), Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting), Danilo Pereira (Paris Saint-Germain, Fra), Nuno Mendes (Paris Saint-Germain, Fra) and Nélson Semedo (Wolverhampton, Eng).
- Midfielders: João Palhinha (Fulham, Eng), João Neves (Benfica), Rúben Neves (Al-Hilal, Ara), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, Eng), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United, Eng), Otávio (Al Nassr, Ara) and Vitinha (Paris Saint-Germain, Fra).
- Forwards: Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr, Ara), Gonçalo Ramos (Paris Saint-Germain, Fra), João Félix (FC Barcelona, Esp), Rafael Leão (AC Milan, Ita), Diogo Jota (Liverpool, Eng), Francisco Conceição (FC Porto) and Pedro Neto (Wolverhampton, Eng).