Portugal are out of the 2026 World Cup after losing to Spain – and Manchester City’s Matheus Nunes can be forgiven for feeling annoyed.
Monday saw the two nations of Iberia go head to head in Arlington, and the contest was edged by Spain with Mikel Merino scoring in injury-time.
It was certainly not a game for the ages, and Spain just had that little bit more quality in the end.
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There has been fierce criticism of Roberto Martinez’s game plan, with Portugal showing no real urgency throughout.
It has been another instance of Portugal failing to live up to expectations, and Martinez has now left his position as manager.
There was a lot of focus on his devotion to Cristiano Ronaldo, and how he was reluctant to use the more effective Goncalo Ramos.
But Ramos was not the only player who was underused, with City’s Matheus Nunes barely featuring.
Matheus Nunes’ lack of World Cup opportunities was shocking management by Roberto Martinez
Martinez opted to start with Joao Cancelo for all of Portugal’s games at the World Cup.
In a couple of the games, he was taken off at half-time, and was replaced by either Diogo Dalot or Nelson Semedo.
Nunes was afforded just one very short cameo, as he replaced Nuno Mendes in the 92nd minute against Colombia.
That was the extent of his involvement at the tournament, in which Portugal lacked drive and creativity.
Frankly, that is an insult to Nunes, who just had the best season of his career with City, where he established himself as one of the best right-backs in the Premier League.
For City, he made 34 Premier League appearances in 2025/26, the vast majority of those being starts.
And in the end, he was one of the most consistent performers under Pep Guardiola, showing a high defensive level and bailing his side out plenty of times with his excellent recovery pace.
He also showed the creativity that could have been so useful to Portugal at the World Cup and, in particular, against Spain, providing seven assists.
At the tournament, Cancelo created just three chances to underline an average showing.
Nunes had a bumpy start at City, but his conversion to right-back has been the making of him.
Back in April, after the win over Southampton in the FA Cup, Guardiola said of Nunes: “Matheus Nunes is becoming one of the best right-backs in the world; defensively, attention to the line, arriving to the by-line – many, many good things!”
The fact that he played just one minute at the World Cup, having come into the tournament as one of the most in-form players, is a genuine travesty.
The Portuguese Football Federation now have an important decision to make after Martinez’s departure.
The man who succeeds him has an incredibly talented pool of players to work with, and they need someone who is going to pick the outright best XI, not put faith in players who are over the hill.
Nunes deserves to be Man City’s starting right-back next season
Hopefully, Nunes can put his awful snubs by Martinez at the World Cup behind him and kick on for City in 2026/27 under Enzo Maresca.
There has been some talk that City could sign a new right-back this summer.
| Matheus Nunes for Man City 2025/26 |
| Appearances – 34 |
| Minutes played – 2865 |
| Goals/assists – 1/5 |
| Chances created – 28 |
| Passing accuracy – 89% |
| Crossing accuracy – 24% |
| Take-on success – 49% |
| Ground duel success – 58% |
But Nunes fully deserves to go into the new campaign in the starting XI, just as he ended 2025/26 in it.
Perhaps the club can look at someone to come in as a possible understudy, but Nunes simply has to be the main man at right-back again for City in 2026/27 for all that he brings.
