Wikipedia

Portugal national under-21 football team

The Portugal national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Portugal and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). They are nicknamed "Esperanças." Esperança means hope, thus they are Portugal's hopes for the future.

Portugal Under-21
Nickname(s)Esperanças (Hopes)
AssociationFederação Portuguesa
de Futebol
Head coachRui Jorge
CaptainHenrique Araújo
Most capsManuel Fernandes (30)
Top scorerHugo Almeida (16)
First colours
Second colours
First international
 Portugal 3–1 South Africa 
(Lisbon, Portugal; 16 November 1958)
Biggest win
 Portugal 11–0 Liechtenstein 
(Vizela, Portugal; 7 October 2021)
Biggest defeat
 Italy 6–0 Portugal 
Piacenza, Italy; 2 December 1987
Records for competitive
matches only.
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances10 (first in 1994)
Best resultRunners-up (1994, 2015, 2021)

Following the realignment of UEFA's youth competitions in 1976, the Portuguese under-21 team was formed. Until 1994, the team had a rather poor record, failing to qualify for each of the first eight UEFA under-21 Championships. Since 1994, the team has improved its record greatly, qualifying for five of the next seven tournaments, including the 2006 finals.

Having qualified for the 2006 tournament finals, UEFA announced that Portugal would host the finals in May and June. From 2007 onwards, host nations will be announced before the qualification stage and will not need to qualify.

Competitive record edit

UEFA European Under-21 Championship edit

Year Round Position Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA
1978 did not qualify
1980
1982 did not enter
1984 did not qualify
1986
1988
1990
1992
  1994 Runners-up 2nd 4 3 0 1 7 2
  1996 Quarter-finals 7th 2 1 0 1 1 2
  1998 did not qualify
  2000
  2002 Group stage 5th 3 1 1 1 4 4
  2004 Third place 3rd 5 2 1 2 9 11
  2006 Group stage 6th 3 1 0 2 1 3
  2007 Group stage 6th 4 1 2 1 5 2
  2009 did not qualify
  2011
  2013
  2015 Runners-up 2nd 5 2 3 0 7 1
  2017 Group stage 3 2 0 1 7 5
  2019 did not qualify
    2021 Runners-up 2nd 6 5 0 1 12 4
    2023 Quarter-finals 4 1 1 2 3 5
Total Runners-up 10/24 39 19 8 12 56 39
*Denotes draws include knockout matches decided on penalty kicks.
**Gold background colour indicates that the tournament was won.
***Red border color indicates tournament was held on home soil.

Player records edit

Top appearances edit

As of 7 July 2023[1]
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Caps
1 Manuel Fernandes Benfica, Portsmouth, Everton, Valencia 2004–2008 30
2 João Pereira Benfica, Gil Vicente, Braga 2004–2008 28
Ricardo Quaresma Sporting CP, Barcelona, Porto 2002–2006
Silvestre Varela Sporting CP, Casa Pia, Vitória Setúbal 2004–2007
5 Fernando Brassard Marítimo, Gil Vicente, Vitória Guimarães 1991–1994 27
Hugo Almeida Porto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen 2002–2007
7 Ednilson Roma, Benfica 2000–2003 26
Raul Meireles Aves, Boavista, Porto 2003–2006
9 Cândido Costa Porto, Vitória Setúbal, Derby County 2000–2004 25
Fábio Vieira Porto, Arsenal 2019–2023

Note: Club(s) represents the clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

Top goalscorers edit

As of 26 March 2024[2]
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Goals
1 Hugo Almeida Porto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen 2002–2007 16
2 Fábio Vieira Porto, Arsenal 2019–2023 14
Gonçalo Ramos Benfica 2020–2022
4 Fábio Silva Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers 2021– 12
Hélder Postiga Porto, Tottenham 2001–2003
Toni Porto, Braga 1992–1994
7 Henrique Araújo Benfica, Watford, Famalicão 2021– 9
8 Diogo Gonçalves Benfica, Nottingham Forest 2017–2018 8
Diogo Jota Paços Ferreira, Atlético Madrid, Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2015–2018
Paulo Costa Alverca, Inter Milan, Reggina, Porto 2000–2002
Rui Fonte Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Sporting CP, Vitória Setúbal, Espanyol 2008–2012
Simão Sabrosa Sporting CP, Barcelona 1998–2001

Note: Club(s) represents the clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

Players edit

Current squad edit

Players born on or after 1 January 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.

The following 23 players were called up for the UEFA Under-21 Euro 2025 qualifying matches against Faroe Islands and Croatia on 21 and 26 March 2024, respectively.[3]

Caps and goals correct as of: 26 March 2024, after the match against   Croatia

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Samuel Soares (2002-06-15) 15 June 2002 (age 21) 11 0   Benfica
12 1GK João Carvalho (2004-04-09) 9 April 2004 (age 20) 1 0   Braga
22 1GK Diogo Pinto (2004-06-18) 18 June 2004 (age 19) 0 0   Sporting CP
2 2DF Tomás Esteves (2002-04-03) 3 April 2002 (age 22) 5 0   Pisa
3 2DF Renato Veiga (2003-07-29) 29 July 2003 (age 20) 7 1   Basel
4 2DF Tomás Araújo (2002-05-16) 16 May 2002 (age 21) 10 0   Benfica
5 2DF Rafael Rodrigues (2002-01-27) 27 January 2002 (age 22) 8 0   Benfica
13 2DF Leonardo Buta (2002-06-05) 5 June 2002 (age 21) 3 0   Gil Vicente
14 2DF Eduardo Quaresma (2002-03-02) 2 March 2002 (age 22) 10 0   Sporting CP
16 2DF Tiago Santos (2002-07-23) 23 July 2002 (age 21) 4 0   Lille
6 3MF Mateus Fernandes (2004-07-10) 10 July 2004 (age 19) 7 2   Estoril
7 3MF Vasco Sousa (2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 21) 11 0   Porto
8 3MF Paulo Bernardo (3rd captain) (2002-01-24) 24 January 2002 (age 22) 23 7   Celtic
15 3MF Bernardo Folha (2002-03-23) 23 March 2002 (age 22) 2 0   Porto
18 3MF João Marques (2002-02-13) 13 February 2002 (age 22) 5 1   Estoril
20 3MF Gustavo Sá (2004-11-11) 11 November 2004 (age 19) 1 0   Famalicão
21 3MF Martim Neto (2003-01-14) 14 January 2003 (age 21) 2 0   Gil Vicente
9 4FW Fábio Silva (2002-07-19) 19 July 2002 (age 21) 22 12   Rangers
10 4FW Pedro Santos (2003-02-10) 10 February 2003 (age 21) 5 3   Benfica
11 4FW Tiago Tomás (2002-06-16) 16 June 2002 (age 21) 14 2   VfL Wolfsburg
17 4FW Carlos Forbs (2004-03-19) 19 March 2004 (age 20) 4 1   Ajax
19 4FW Youssef Chermiti (2004-05-24) 24 May 2004 (age 19) 2 1   Everton
23 4FW Rodrigo Gomes (2003-07-07) 7 July 2003 (age 20) 6 3   Estoril

Recent call-ups edit

The following players have previously been called up to the under-21 squad and remain eligible for selection.

Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club Latest call-up
GK Francisco Lemos (2002-09-13) 13 September 2002 (age 21) 0 0   Atlético CP v.   Greece, 20 November 2023
GK Gonçalo Ribeiro (2006-01-15) 15 January 2006 (age 18) 0 0   Porto v.   Belarus, 12 September 2023
DF Gabriel Brás (2004-03-25) 25 March 2004 (age 20) 0 0   Porto v.   Greece, 20 November 2023
DF Rafael Fernandes (2002-06-28) 28 June 2002 (age 21) 0 0   Lille v.   Greece, 20 November 2023 INJ
DF André Amaro (2002-08-13) 13 August 2002 (age 21) 4 0   Al-Rayyan v.   Andorra, 8 September 2023 INJ
MF Dário Essugo (2005-03-14) 14 March 2005 (age 19) 3 0   Chaves v.   Greece, 17 October 2023
MF Hugo Félix (2004-03-03) 3 March 2004 (age 20) 1 0   Benfica v.   Greece, 17 October 2023
MF João Neves (2004-09-27) 27 September 2004 (age 19) 6 1   Benfica v.   Belarus, 12 September 2023
FW Henrique Araújo (Captain) (2002-01-19) 19 January 2002 (age 22) 22 9   Famalicão v.   Greece, 20 November 2023
FW Francisco Conceição (Vice-captain) (2002-12-14) 14 December 2002 (age 21) 23 6   Porto v.   Greece, 20 November 2023
FW Tiago Morais (2003-09-03) 3 September 2003 (age 20) 3 0   Boavista v.   Greece, 20 November 2023
FW Diego Moreira (2004-08-06) 6 August 2004 (age 19) 4 0   Chelsea v.   Belarus, 12 September 2023

INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
PRE Preliminary squad.
OTH Player withdrew from the squad due to other reasons.

Head coaches edit

As of 14 November 2017[4]
Manager Period Record
G W D L GF GA GD Win %
  José Alberto Costa –1993 12 8 1 3 22 10 +12 066.67
  Nelo Vingada 1994–1996 22 14 5 3 33 14 +19 063.64
  Jesualdo Ferreira 1996–2000 33 19 5 9 64 36 +28 057.58
  Agostinho Oliveira 2000–2002 22 11 4 7 39 21 +18 050.00
  Rui Caçador 2002 3 2 0 1 5 4 +1 066.67
  José Romão 2002–2004 18 12 2 4 44 27 +17 066.67
  Rui Caçador 2004 1 0 1 0 0 0 +0 000.00
  Agostinho Oliveira 2004–2006 18 14 1 3 36 9 +27 077.78
  José Couceiro 2006–2007 13 7 3 3 22 9 +13 053.85
  Rui Caçador 2007–2009 27 15 4 8 54 22 +32 055.56
  Oceano Cruz 2009–2010 12 6 2 4 17 12 +5 050.00
  Rui Jorge 2010–present 69 47 14 8 154 54 +100 068.12

Source: [5]

Honours edit

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Jogadores" [Players]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Jogadores" [Players]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  3. ^ "Convocados para encontros com as Ilhas Faroé e Croácia" (in Portuguese). Federação Portuguesa de Futebol. 15 March 2024. Retrieved 15 March 2024.
  4. ^ "Portugal-Suíca" [Portugal - Switzerland]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  5. ^ "Portugal-Suíca" [Portugal - Switzerland]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2017.

External links edit

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