To be real, the Portugal vs France thing is on another level in football, but in rugby it’s not the same. I barely even hear people talk about Portugal vs France in rugby unless there’s a rare match or it’s just part of a tour. Like, Portugal only recently started making some noise in world rugby. France has a really strong rugby history, but Portugal is pretty new to the scene.

But don't get me wrong, I think it’s actually cool when they get to play each other. I heard there’s a Portugal vs Ireland rugby game in July 2025, not even Portugal vs France, so that shows these matchups don’t come up a lot in rugby. When they do play, it feels more like a big challenge for Portugal, and if they manage to hang with France, that’s a huge deal for their fans. In football though, both teams come in expecting to win and the past matches always have this crazy intensity.

So yeah, for now, Portugal vs France is way bigger in football – rugby just isn’t there yet between these two. But you never know, if Portugal keeps improving maybe in a few years people will care a lot more about that rivalry in rugby too.