Vitinha underutilized by Martinez as Portugal faces Croatia in difficult position

Portugal approach their round of 16 match of the 2026 World Cup against Croatia on July 3 in a precarious position: third in their group, the Lusitanians must eliminate a 2018 World Cup finalist and 2022 semi-finalist to hope to continue their adventure.

At the heart of concerns is Vitinha’s performance. As Spanish media outlet AS noted, practically all statistical data for the PSG midfielder show a decline compared to his Paris season, but also compared to what he displayed at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. The reason lies in Roberto Martinez’s system, structurally different from that of Luis Enrique: where the Spanish coach exploits Vitinha’s positional fluidity and role-switching in quick, fluid play, the Portuguese manager imposes a much more rigid framework, centered on Cristiano Ronaldo — never replaced during the competition’s first three matches.

Cohabitation with Bruno Fernandes, who operates much higher up the pitch than Ousmane Dembélé or Désiré Doué do at PSG, also forces Vitinha to restrict his range of action. Result: the 25-year-old midfielder struggles to express the volume of play that has made him one of the best at his position in Europe this season.

If Portugal beat Croatia, they will very likely face Spain in the round of 16, with La Roja opposed to Austria in the previous round. A fixture list that leaves little room for error and makes all the more urgent the question: is Roberto Martinez ready to free Vitinha from his tactical constraints to give Portugal a real chance of going far?