• Portugal have qualified for Women's World Cup for first time

• Francisco Neto has been national team coach 2014

• He reveals key steps that have underpinned his team's progress

Francisco Neto is reflecting on the dramatic moment Portugal sealed FIFA Women’s World Cup™ qualification when he provides an insight into his laser-like focus and meticulous leadership.

Portugal booked their ticket to Australia & New Zealand 2023 by beating Cameroon in an inter-confederation Play-Off Tournament final, recovering from conceding an 89th-minute equaliser to score a match-winning penalty deep into stoppage time.

So, what was going through Neto’s head when defender Carole Costa stepped up to take that potentially era-defining spot-kick?

“I was very calm, honestly,” he tells FIFA. “Above all, I was thinking about the substitution I was going to make if she didn't score. We would have 30 minutes to play in extra time, so I was preparing that and what we were going to do to help the team to reach our goals.

“It was a moment where I, as a coach, had done my job. I couldn't do much more. It was on Carole's feet and, I must say, I fully trusted in what she was going to do. She's a very experienced player and she’s scored penalties in moments of great tension before.”

As it was, Neto’s extra-time adjustments were not needed as Costa duly slotted home from 12 yards to ensure Portugal would compete at the Women’s World Cup for the first time.

The achievement was the culmination of nine years of progress since Neto's appointment. During this period, they have steadily climbed the FIFA/Coca-Cola World Ranking – they are currently placed 21st – and qualified for their first major tournaments at the 2017 and 2022 UEFA Women’s EUROs. Neto provided an insight into the strategic plan that has propelled the team to this point.

“It’s been incredible, we’ve grown so much” he says. “We've grown enormously in terms of number of teams we have, the professionalism of these teams, and how many coaches are involved. We have improved the internal competitions and the conditions for the players. We recently broke the attendance record for a Portuguese league match (27,221 fans watched the Lisbon derby between Benfica and Sporting CP at Estadio da Luz).

“For the Portugal national team, the mindset has changed. The players have started to believe they can get to they can get to the same level as other teams. That allows us to compete and get to these tournaments. The growth has been amazing and we want to continue on this path.”

A successful Women’s World Cup campaign would give the sport’s profile in Portugal the biggest jolt of all. Neto’s team have been drawn in a devilishly difficult group, alongside both finalists from the previous World Cup – USA and the Netherlands – and fellow debutantes Vietnam. Neto is convinced, however, that his team possesses both the quality and strength of character to rise to the occasion Down Under.

“I think this will be the best Women’s World Cup ever,” he adds. “And we'll have to raise our levels of organisation and competitiveness to be the highest they can be. We also want to show our own identity during the matches.

“We must have the mindset of believing it depends only on us to achieve our objectives. Our greatest strength is when we all have the same idea and the same attitude. We have very good individuals but we believe we are more than the sum of our parts. That’s what makes Portugal very strong.”

Read on for more of our interview with the Portugal coach…

It's an incredible feeling, a great happiness. It was something we have worked hard on and struggled to achieve. But it's a tribute to the generations of the past who have worked so hard so that the current generation could have this success. We now want to lay down references for what we want to be in the future.

Firstly, we wanted to be very competitive and to really believe success was possible. This is what we've been doing in these past nine years, passing on this message to the players of confidence, faith, and encouraging them to have respect for themselves. Passion for the country and for the game are also values we want to pass on. Maybe nine years ago many people didn't believe we could achieve our goals, but now we have.

In addition to those matches, to reach the UEFA play-offs we had to beat Serbia and Turkey in our last two group games. So, we ended up having five matches in a row where we could not get any other result but victory. Emotionally, it was highly draining. But with a lot of calm conversations with the players, we showed them what they were able to do. There could be no excuses and no regrets and, when the players went on the field, they gave everything.

One of our big goals during my time as coach has been to get our teams to play as many times as possible against the best teams in the world. That's what we did, so we could reach the qualifiers in good conditions. We exposed the players to very adverse environments so that in difficult moments they would be prepared.

They're matches that will have completely different patterns and problems. The Netherlands are a team we know well. We played against them at last year's EURO and it was a very competitive match (the Netherlands won 3-2). They were runners-up at the last World Cup and it will be a difficult game. They will have preparation which is similar to ours. Almost all of their players play in Europe, so they are at the end of their domestic championships and will go to the World Cup in the same conditions as us.

Vietnam are different in that their preparation time will be much longer. For USA, their domestic league is still taking place, so their competitive rhythm will be in a good moment.

USA and the Netherlands are usually highly dominant teams. They like to have the ball and to dominate their opponents, while Vietnam is a more transitional team. But we must look at ourselves. If we depend on others, things will be more difficult. We must, above all, have our own identity and focus on what we are capable of doing.

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