The team had not competed in a final phase of the World Cup since the 1966 FIFA World Cup twenty years before, where it had achieved an unprecedented 3rd place. Following a rough qualification, the 1986 campaign did not start well with the suspicion of doping falling on one of the players who had been selected for the tournament. Although that test was later proven wrong, that was the first of many controversies to affect the team in the following weeks, that included threats of strikes from the players, the announcement of a series of demands to the Portuguese Federation and reports of inappropriate behavior at the team's headquarters. It was one of the biggest scandals involving the Portuguese national team.