It’s no wonder they call it a golden generation and this is as good as it’s ever got. But do they have the all-important strength of character to do something no group of Belgians have ever done?
Practically speaking, the baggage of history really shouldn’t be a factor.
For a start there’s only a relative handful of players heading out to Russia with actual experience of putting their hands on the trophy. Any of them who do are either German or Spanish.
No Brazilian knows how to win it, no Argentine and no Frenchman. And you’d struggle to find many English or Uruguayan fans alive today who truly remember their respective World Cup glories.
Obviously the Portuguese - and Greece to a bigger extent in 2004 - have already upset the odds in international football by winning Euro 2016 while Spain proved that such success helps create a mentality for further glory.
However, while the Spaniards have been spoilt for choice with the out-and-out brilliance available to them, Portugal's triumph was based around a certain Cristiano Ronaldo and an extremely strong team ethic.
It's worth reminding ourselves that they didn't win any of their three group games in France two summers ago, drawing with Hungary, Iceland and Poland. Those three points saw them progress so narrowly as one of the 'best' third-placed sides.
They scraped past the talented Croatians deep into extra-time, knocked out Poland on penalties, were too strong for Wales and then pipped the hosts 1-0 thanks to Eder's 109th minute goal.
Hardly exhilarating but they got the maximum reward for being that hard to beat - and indeed score against. They conceded just five goals and three of those game in a crazy 3-3 draw with Hungary in the group stages.
Portugal facts
That defensive trend continued during the World Cup qualifiers as they only shipped four goals in 10 games, with half of those coming in their opening 2-0 away defeat to Switzerland.
They recovered fantastically to win their remaining nine, which culminated in a 2-0 triumph under immense pressure over the Swiss to pip them to top spot on goal difference.