Is this non-Euro 2016 squad even better than Portugal's Euro 2016 winning team?

Portugal’s Euro 2016 team will always go down in history for what they did for their country, delivering Portugal’s first piece of major tournament silverware in history.

That 2016 squad boasted some stars of the game, with the likes of Ricardo Quaresma, Nani and Cristiano Ronaldo leading the line and Pepe and Patricio marshalling the defence, while Golden Boy Renato Sanches operated in midfield.

But has Portugal’s squad improved since that significant day in France four years ago? Looking at some of the names that missed out, you could certainly argue that that’s exactly the case.

In fact, those that didn’t follow the Portugal national team closely at the last European Championship may even be surprised by some of the names that were excluded from the last squad, perhaps the full-backs in particular.

With none of Ricardo Pereira, Nelson Semedo or Joao Cancelo called up, despite all of them being 22 at the time, there’s a clear improvement in Portugal’s depth in the wide defensive positions.

Additionally, neither Bruno Fernandes nor Bernardo Silva, perhaps two of Portugal’s three best players currently, were included in Portugal’s last squad, while the likes of Andre Silva, Ruben Neves and Ruben Dias also were not ready to play for Portugal four years ago.

As such, could it be that Portugal are even better placed for success now than they were in 2016? Here’s a representation of a potential Portugal squad without any of the Euro 2016 champions:

And there are other names that you could include here too. The likes of Braga trio Nuno Sequeira, Ricardo Esgaio and Joao Palhinha and Wolves’ duo Daniel Podence and Pedro Neto, while Rafael Leao, Gedson Fernandes, Xeka and Tobias Figueiredo could also make a case to be included in this hypothetical squad.

Author: Дмитрий Садовников. License link.