Jorge Jesus Appointed Portugal Coach After World Cup Exit

Jorge Jesus has been handed the Portugal job, stepping into the role vacated by Roberto Martinez after the country’s latest World Cup disappointment.

Martinez’s tenure ended with a thud on Monday, a last-16 exit to Spain bringing down the curtain on a spell that began at the start of 2023 and never quite caught fire on the biggest stage. Portugal, a nation that has not seen a World Cup semi-final since 2006, has turned to one of its most seasoned — and most combustible — coaching figures.

A serial winner with a restless career

Jesus is 71. His managerial career stretches across 36 years, littered with trophies, fallouts and sharp tactical edges. He has moved through Portugal’s biggest clubs and some of the game’s most demanding environments abroad, leaving a trail of silverware and strong opinions.

He twice coached Benfica, winning three league titles there, and crossed Lisbon’s divide in 2015 in dramatic fashion to take over at Sporting CP. That move alone underlined his appetite for risk and confrontation. He then exported his high-intensity, detail-obsessed approach to Flamengo in Brazil, where he added another league title, and to Saudi Arabia with Al Hilal and Al Nassr, winning the domestic championship with each.

Twenty-five trophies as a manager tell their own story. So does his recent itinerary.

The last three seasons have placed him in the heart of the Saudi Pro League project. Two separate stints at Al Hilal were followed by a switch last summer to their Riyadh rivals Al Nassr, a club he steered to their first title in seven years before leaving at the end of the 2025-26 campaign. Ange Postecoglou has since stepped into that job. Jesus, meanwhile, returns home with his reputation intact and his CV heavier.

Ronaldo, reunions and a shifting era

His appointment also reconnects him, at least symbolically, with Cristiano Ronaldo. Before joining Al Nassr last summer, Jesus admitted he “could not refuse the invitation” from the Portugal captain to take charge of the club. The two then shared a season together in Riyadh, a late-career alliance between a demanding coach and an equally demanding superstar.

But the national-team picture has already started to move beyond Ronaldo. The 39-year-old, owner of a world-record 146 international goals in 233 appearances, confirmed earlier this month that he will not play at another World Cup. For the first time in two decades, Portugal must plan a tournament cycle without the certainty of his presence.

That cycle carries extra weight. Portugal will co-host the 2030 World Cup alongside Spain and Morocco, with Uruguay, Argentina and Paraguay staging matches at the start of the finals. The pressure on the home nations will be immense. Jesus walks straight into that expectation.

A coach courted at the highest level

His name has not only circulated around Portuguese football. In March 2025, The Athletic reported that Jesus was among the leading contenders to become Brazil head coach, mentioned in the same breath as Carlo Ancelotti. Ancelotti ultimately took that job after leaving Real Madrid in May, but the link underlined how highly Jesus is regarded in South America after his successful spell at Flamengo.

Portugal have not lacked for trophies in the modern era — the European Championship in 2016, the Nations League in 2019 and again in 2025 — yet their World Cup record still lags behind their talent pool. That is the gap the federation now expects Jesus to close.

He arrives with a fierce reputation, a bulging medal collection and a national team in transition, about to host the world. For a coach who has never shied away from a storm, it is exactly the kind of stage he has always seemed to chase.