During this time, Portugal was not part of a group of teams that were candidates to win titles, but from 2000 until this present day, the team evolved, being present in all the final stages of major tournaments, due to the presence of several world-class players such as Luís Figo, Rui Costa, Deco, Ricardo Carvalho, and Cristiano Ronaldo, who were dubbed as Portugal's golden team, who were considered as the best of the world at their time and among the best in history.