Fernando Santos made the tough decision to drop Cristiano Ronaldo after the World Cup, but his side went to Morocco in the quarterfinals; Roma boss Jose Mourinho is the early favorite to replace Santos

The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) has announced that Portugal coach Fernando Santos has resigned following his team's exclusion from the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Portugal's top scorer Cristiano Ronaldo started on the bench and came on as a substitute in the second half of their 0-1 quarter-final win over Morocco. In his farewell video message, Santos said that achieving his "lifetime goal" of coaching Portugal was a "dream come true".

"When you lead a team, you have to make tough decisions," Santos added. "It's normal that not everyone is happy with the choices I made, but the decisions I made always thought of what was best for our team."

The Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) said in a statement that the two sides had decided to end the contract because it was "the right time to start a new process". Santos became Portugal coach in 201

Mourinho arrived early Thursday in southern Portugal, where AS Roma will play three friendlies, but chose to remain silent when asked by the media about Santos' replacement.

4 and coached the team in 109 games despite criticism of his approach. Portugal won the first UEFA Nations League in 2018-2019 and the 2016 European Championship under his leadership.

"In addition to the titles won, Fernando Santos has been the coach with the most games and victories," said the FPF. He added, "It is an honor to have a coach and someone like Fernando Santos at the head of the national team."

FPF said that the board will now start the recruitment of new teachers. The names of AS Roma coach Jose Mourinho, Portugal U21 coach Rui Jorge and Lille coach Paulo Fonseca have been reported in the Portuguese media as possible replacements for Santos.