<p>Fernando Santos quit as coach of Portugal on Thursday following the team's shock World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco with colourful and controversial Jose Mourinho named as a leading candidate to take over.</p>.<p>The Portuguese football federation (FPF) said in a statement that an agreement was reached with the 68-year-old Santos "to end the journey of great success that began in September 2014".</p>.<p>The FPF added that it "will now launch the process to choose the next national coach".</p>.<p>Daily sports newspaper <em>Record </em>claims that Mourinho is the federation's number one target to take over ahead of qualifying for Euro 2024.</p>.<p>They would even reportedly entertain a deal which would see Mourinho take charge of the national team on an interim basis to allow him to see out the season with club side Roma in Italy.</p>.<p>Asked about the national team job by journalists late Thursday afternoon when he arrived in southern Portugal for a training camp with Roma, Mourinho made no comment.</p>.<p>Qualifying for Euro 2024 gets underway in March.</p>.<p>Portuguese coaches Rui Jorge (under-21s), Abel Ferreira (Palmeiras), Paulo Fonseca (Lille), Rui Vitoria (Egypt) and Jorge Jesus (Fenerbahce) are also among the potential candidates cited by local media.</p>.<p>Mourinho, 59, has yet to coach at international level but has an impressive record at some of Europe's heavyweight clubs.</p>.<p>He has managed Porto, Chelsea twice, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United.</p>.<p>Mourinho won three Premier League titles with Chelsea, two Serie A crowns at Inter and a Liga triumph at Real.</p>.<p>He also coached Porto to 2004 Champions League victory and repeated the feat with Inter Milan in 2010.</p>.<p>In May this year, he led Roma to the Europa Conference League title, the club's first ever major European trophy.</p>.<p>That was his fifth European title and made him the first coach to win all current UEFA competitions.</p>.<p>Mourinho's contract at Roma runs until 2024. The team are currently seventh in Serie A, 14 points behind leaders Napoli.</p>.<p>Santos had been adamant that he would not be forced out of the Portuguese job he has held for eight years despite Saturday's 1-0 defeat to the history-making Moroccans in Qatar.</p>.<p>He accepted, however, that not everyone agreed with his decisions during the World Cup which included dropping Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench in the later matches.</p>.<p>"I'm leaving with the feeling of enormous gratitude," he said in a video posted on the federation's website.</p>.<p>"When you lead a group, you have to make some difficult decisions. It's normal that not everyone is happy with the choices I made."</p>.<p>Appointed coach of Portugal in September 2014, Santos won the country's first major title at Euro 2016 and followed it up with the 2019 Nations League.</p>.<p>However, his time in charge also saw last 16 exits at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020.</p>
<p>Fernando Santos quit as coach of Portugal on Thursday following the team's shock World Cup quarter-final loss to Morocco with colourful and controversial Jose Mourinho named as a leading candidate to take over.</p>.<p>The Portuguese football federation (FPF) said in a statement that an agreement was reached with the 68-year-old Santos "to end the journey of great success that began in September 2014".</p>.<p>The FPF added that it "will now launch the process to choose the next national coach".</p>.<p>Daily sports newspaper <em>Record </em>claims that Mourinho is the federation's number one target to take over ahead of qualifying for Euro 2024.</p>.<p>They would even reportedly entertain a deal which would see Mourinho take charge of the national team on an interim basis to allow him to see out the season with club side Roma in Italy.</p>.<p>Asked about the national team job by journalists late Thursday afternoon when he arrived in southern Portugal for a training camp with Roma, Mourinho made no comment.</p>.<p>Qualifying for Euro 2024 gets underway in March.</p>.<p>Portuguese coaches Rui Jorge (under-21s), Abel Ferreira (Palmeiras), Paulo Fonseca (Lille), Rui Vitoria (Egypt) and Jorge Jesus (Fenerbahce) are also among the potential candidates cited by local media.</p>.<p>Mourinho, 59, has yet to coach at international level but has an impressive record at some of Europe's heavyweight clubs.</p>.<p>He has managed Porto, Chelsea twice, Inter Milan, Real Madrid and Manchester United.</p>.<p>Mourinho won three Premier League titles with Chelsea, two Serie A crowns at Inter and a Liga triumph at Real.</p>.<p>He also coached Porto to 2004 Champions League victory and repeated the feat with Inter Milan in 2010.</p>.<p>In May this year, he led Roma to the Europa Conference League title, the club's first ever major European trophy.</p>.<p>That was his fifth European title and made him the first coach to win all current UEFA competitions.</p>.<p>Mourinho's contract at Roma runs until 2024. The team are currently seventh in Serie A, 14 points behind leaders Napoli.</p>.<p>Santos had been adamant that he would not be forced out of the Portuguese job he has held for eight years despite Saturday's 1-0 defeat to the history-making Moroccans in Qatar.</p>.<p>He accepted, however, that not everyone agreed with his decisions during the World Cup which included dropping Cristiano Ronaldo to the bench in the later matches.</p>.<p>"I'm leaving with the feeling of enormous gratitude," he said in a video posted on the federation's website.</p>.<p>"When you lead a group, you have to make some difficult decisions. It's normal that not everyone is happy with the choices I made."</p>.<p>Appointed coach of Portugal in September 2014, Santos won the country's first major title at Euro 2016 and followed it up with the 2019 Nations League.</p>.<p>However, his time in charge also saw last 16 exits at the 2018 World Cup and Euro 2020.</p>