There were several reasons to choose Portugal as the host of the eighth edition of RoboCup (RoboCup 2004) in Lisbon.

Portugal has one of the largest representations in RoboCup events. Portuguese researchers and students presence spans most of RoboCup leagues and some of them have achieved excellent competition and scientific results. The goal of the National Organizing Committee is to undertake a strong program of scientific, technological and educational activities around the RoboCup 2004 event, including a large display of Portuguese (university and industrial) research and development activities.

In recent years, the country has been making a tremendous effort to attract young people to Science and Technology. The 3rd edition of the Portuguese Robotics Open - ROBOTICA2003 brought to Lisbon about 500 participants and 90 teams from all over the country, from Universities and High Schools.

The 5th IFAC Symposium on Intelligent Autonomous Vehicles (IAV'2004) will take place in Lisbon, immediately after the end of RoboCup 2004, and there will be two joint plenary sessions with the RoboCup 2004 Symposium.

The Football European Cup, EURO 2004, will be hosted by Portugal as well, in a time frame that includes the proposed dates for RoboCup 2004.