One of the biggest beneficiaries of the appointment of Jorge Jesus as Portugal’s new head coach looks set to be João Félix.
Under the previous Seleção manager, Roberto Martínez, Félix was in and out of the team as the Spaniard attempted several tactical ideas and formations without ever settling on one. That is set to change on both counts.
Jorge Jesus has always preferred a 4-4-2 formation, with a second forward and a defensive midfielder usually key components of his teams.
Jesus surprised many be selecting a virtually identical group to the World Cup 2026 squad for the first four Nations League matches, although he explained that: “the players may be similar but my ideas are completely different to my predecessor.”
In the lead-up to the Wales match, when asked specifically about Félix’s role, JJ interestingly stated that he sees him in the future as an out-an-out centre forward, rather than his current position behind the main striker.
Having successfully worked with him for a year at Al Nassr last season – the team won the Saudi Pro league for the first time in 7 years and Félix was voted the best player in the championship – JJ is the perfect man to get the best out of the mercurial talent.
Nobody has doubted João Félix’s ability since he burst onto the scene with a brilliant debut season for Benfica in 2018/19, leading to an eye-watering €127 million transfer to Atlético Madrid.
Since then, his career has been the story of showing sporadic flashes of his exceptional talent, without finding consistency – until last season.
Jorge Jesus was able to get the most out of Félix, still only 26 years old, and as the ‘JJ era’ began for the Seleção it was more of the same. Félix was man-of-the-match as Portugal overcame Wales 1-0 in Lisbon on Thursday night.
PortuGOAL journalist Matthew Marshall asked Jesus for his assessment of Félix’s performance in the post-match press conference. This was his response:
“As you know, last season he played with me and I know him very well. In today’s match, even though he was tired, I left him on the pitch because at any moment he can come up with something different. He’s a difference-maker.
“He scored a goal and defensively he ran a lot for the team. I asked him to cover the defensive midfielder and put pressure on the centre-back.
“With the ball he’s always very composed, knowing how to occupy the space so the ball would get to him. He played like he normally does; he knows what he’s doing, with the talent he has.”
When it comes to Félix’s career, there is a nagging feeling that he has never hit the heights corresponding to the natural talent he is blessed with, after that memorable first season at Benfica.
At least in terms of his international career, and for the good of Portugal, that could be about to change.
