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For the matches in the October window, the coach has summoned 26 players and, therefore, is obliged to exclude at least three from the match sheet, due to the limit of 23 registered.
Rafa, Domingos Duarte and Sequeira were excluded from the final list of 23 players loaned by the Portuguese team to UEFA and this Sunday they will miss the duel with France, in the third round of the Nations League.
For the matches in the October window, coach Fernando Santos summoned 26 players and, therefore, is obliged to exclude at least three from the match sheet, due to the limit of 23 registered.
By decision of the coach, Rafa, Benfica striker and European champion in 2016, will miss Portugal’s return to the Stade de France, on the outskirts of Paris, and must attend the match in the stands.
The 27-year-old lost the race to Daniel Podence, Diogo Jota and Francisco Trincão, who were registered and will be able to play against the Gauls.
With less surprise, Domingos Duarte, from Granada, and also Nelson Sequeira, from Sporting de Braga, will also be absent in the match of the third day of Group 3.
Duarte was already called during the internship, to replace José Fonte, who left work due to the COVID-19 infection, while Sequeira is a rookie and arrived to take the place of Mário Rui, prevented from traveling from Italy due to the pandemic.
Also noteworthy is goalkeeper Bruno Varela, who appears at age 23, after joining the national team just on Friday night, replacing Anthony Lopes, who tested positive for the new coronavirus.
Portugal, holders of the title, and France, world champions, dispute the leadership of Group 3 of League A of the Nations League, being tied at the top of the standings with six points.
In four official matches, Portugal has only one win, in the final of Euro2016 (1-0), but, before, France had always eliminated the national team in major competitions, and always in the semi-finals, as happened in the Euro84, in Euro2000 and the 2006 World Cup.
Fernando Santos will become the coach with the most games in the history of Portugal (75), beating the Brazilian Scolari (he coached the Portuguese team between February 12, 2003 and June 19, 2008), precisely in the same stadium and the same day where it made its debut six years ago, the Stade de France.
France-Portugal is scheduled for 19:45 (20:45 local) and will have the Spanish referee Carlos Del Cerro Grande.
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