Saltillo Affair

The Saltillo Affair (Portuguese: O Caso Saltillo) was a series of controversies surrounding the Portuguese national football team during its participation in the Mexico '86 FIFA World Cup. The affair was named after the Mexican city of Saltillo, Coahuila, in which the team was headquartered for the competition, and also the place where the majority of the described events occurred.

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.

Having achieved third place in the England '66 World Cup, several years elapsed before Portugal qualified again for a major football competition. This happened when they reached Euro 84, where they advanced to the semi-finals, being only beaten in extra time by hosts and soon to be champions France.

While not making a brilliant qualifying campaign for the Mexico World Cup, Portugal qualified one point ahead of Sweden thanks to a last-game victory against already-qualified leaders West Germany in Stuttgart. Nicknaming them Os Infantes, with an anthem sung by Estebes (a fictional Porto native sports reporter with a stereotypical deep accent and fondness for wine, created by Portuguese humorist Herman José), the Portuguese had high hopes for their national team.

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