"...For Portugal, a trip to Brazil for the world championship finals is at stake. Although Portugal was invited to fill one of the two vacancies in the finals, a team will not be sent if the National Soccer Federation think it cannot do itself justice. The test will come to-morrow. If the Portuguese do well in  the match, a trip to Brazil will be the reward, together with a nice fat cash bonus which might amount to as much as £60 sterling. If they do badly, they get no trip, and might nt receive a penny for playing, as match fee and bonus are conditional. Portugal are given no chance by local soccer experts. Some 70,000 spectators, paying nearly £20,000 sterling, will be in the marble open-air stadium for the match, including 5,000 American sailors, here with the USA Fleet." - Saturday, 13 May 1950, The Gloucestershire Echo
 

England began a two-match Continental tour in preparation for their first appearance in the World Cup finals starting the following month. In Lisbon they gave a thrilling first-half exhibition and romped into a 3-0 interval lead with some scintillating football. The man who inspired them was Tom Finney, who was in brilliant form scoring four goals in a superb display.

The tightly packed crowd of 70,000 saw Roy Bentley kick off and immediately a third minute shot by Finney skimmed the crossbar. Two minutes later, the winger was pulled down in the box. He took the penalty himself and calmly scored.

As England continued to dominate, Jackie Milburn fired in a blockbuster which the goalkeeper never saw but was relieved when it again skimmed the bar.

After 15 minutes, England went two up with a beautiful goal from Stan Mortensen, He took a through-pass from Wilf Mannion and deftly strode pass several Portuguese defenders before unleashing a fierce shot to score.

Portugal at this stage had been restricted to long-range efforts to test Bert Williams. They made a substitution but straight away it was England who scored again. Milburn and Bentley were involved in the approach work but Finney came in to finish the move off.

The home side improved before half-time after a further substitution and and it showed early in the second half when they pulled a goal back. Vasques moved out to the right wing and put over a perfect centre which their big coloured striker David headed home. It gave the crowd a lift and they really got behind their team. England began to feel the pressure.

Some of the steam was taken out of the situation in the 55th minute when that man Finney scored a fabulous fourth goal. A lovely dribble took him through the defence and he finished with a marvellous shot wide of Ernesto. Portugal hit back and Alf Ramsey saved one effort on the goal-line before David again scored, this time getting the vital touch after a terrific scramble.

That made it 4-2 and in the 67th minute Portugal had a golden opportunity to pull another goal back, but Albano missed an open goal. However the same player atoned for that miss shortly afterwards by sending over a lovely centre for Vasques to head home. With the score at 4-3 and the crowd delirious with excitement, England had to show all their character and experience to keep the Portuguese at bay.

They fought like tigers relying on breakaways to relieve the pressure. From one of these breakaways, England clinched the match.

Mortensen broke clear only for his legs to be whipped away from under him in the penalty area by Barrosa. Imagine the pressure on Finney as he stepped up to take the spot-kick. The crowd were howling their derision but Finney remained ice-cool and calmly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper.
 

Four goals from Tom Finney, including two from the penalty spot, and a spectacular effort from Stan Mortensen lifted England to victory. But there were worrying signs that the defence was creaking without the steadying influence of Neil Franklin. Laurie Hughes was the original choice to fill the centre-half vacancy, but he pulled out at the last minute because of injury and the job went to his Liverpool team-mate Bill Jones. Portugal, after trailing 3-0 at half-time, had battled back and England were struggling to hold on at 4-3 when Finney settled it with his second penalty. There was disturbing evidence that Billy Wright was missing that all-important understanding that he had with Neil Franklin. The Portuguese had been promised a trip to the World Cup finals if they beat England, and they played their hearts out. Their African-born centre-forward Ben David scored two of their goals, and as well as Bill Jones played it was obvious that England had lost a lot of stability in the middle of their defence. England had major problems, and the World Cup finals were just a few weeks away.
   

England 'A' team's first match was played against Portugal in Lisbon on May 14th before 70,000 spectators.
This was an exciting match, in which England, after leading 3-0, had all their work cut out to beat Portugal. In the first half they had things mostly their own way. They attacked from the start, and within five minutes Finney had scored from a penalty-kick. Soon afterwards, Milburn skimmed the crossbar with a terrific drive which the goalkeeper never saw, and then, in the 18th minute, Mortensen cleverly slid past the Portuguese defence to score again. In another ten minutes Finney got England's third goal after some good approach work by Milburn and Bentley.
The second-half opened with England three goals up, but within three minutes Vasques moved to the right wing and put across a perfect centre which David headed into the net. There was tremendous excitement as Portugal fought for a second goal, but the next one went to England, Finney dribbling past the Portuguese defence to put in a fine shot wide of the goalkeeper.
Portugal now attacked in earnest and by the 25th minute had made the score 3-4 with goals by David and Vasques. But England stood firm in the face of determined attacks. With ten minutes to go, after Mortensen had been tackled, Finney scored again from a penalty, to give England the victory by 5 goals to 3.