Fernando Santos’s side were forced to book their ticket to Qatar the hard way, having been pipped to top spot in their qualifying group by Serbia.
After edging out Turkey 3-1 in the play-off semi-finals last week, Fernandes’s brace in Porto was enough to see the Selecao past North Macedonia – conquerors of Italy – and into the 32-team tournament which will take place later this year.
While Dalot will be dreaming of a first World Cup involvement and Fernandes of regular games in the competition after being limited to just one start four years ago, Ronaldo has the opportunity to make history in the Middle East.