Bruno Fernandes and his Portugal teammates will embark upon their latest World Cup adventure intent on ending the nation's wait for glory on the biggest stage of all.
The Euro 2016 champions and 2025 Nations League winners have established themselves as a major force, and will head into their Group K opener against the Congo DR in Houston on Wednesday ranked fifth by FIFA with only Argentina, France, Spain and England ahead of them.
Semifinalists in 1966 and again 40 years later, they have high hopes of finally ending their wait.
Manchester United midfielder Fernandes told FIFA's official website: "The dream is to be world champions.
"The key is to focus on what we can do to change the fact that Portugal have never won it and become the first side to bring the coveted World Cup back home."
Roberto MartÃnez's side will be intent on improving on their showing in Qatar four years ago, when they went out at the quarterfinal stage to surprise package Morocco.
They qualified as Group F winners, winning four of their six games and drawing another with their only defeat coming in Dublin, where they went down 2-0 to the Republic of Ireland as superstar Cristiano Ronaldo was sent off.
At 41, Ronaldo remains a key member of the squad, and Fernandes has no doubt about the enduring influence of the Al Nassr star as he prepares for a sixth World Cup finals campaign.
He said: "It's a huge privilege for us to have Cristiano as a compatriot, a teammate and a player who can take us closer to winning the World Cup.
"I think we can always learn from him. He's shown his resilience throughout his career. He has that winning mentality, he is never satisfied with what he's achieved, and he always strives for more.
"Those are all such positive qualities we've taken from his career."
Ronaldo's world-record 228 senior international appearances confirm his status as a generational talent, but also provide those following in his footsteps with a blueprint for what is required to achieve success on a sustained basis.
Fernandes said: "The fact he's managed to play for 20 years shows that all of that was, and still is, necessary to perform at the highest level for so long. Those factors go hand in hand with the talent he's shown over the years.
"More than anything, I hope he can replicate that with us at the World Cup, helping us as he's always done, scoring more goals and taking us closer to our objective."
