Portugal national under-21 football team

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
  3–1 South Africa 
(Lisbon, Portugal; 16 November 1958)
Biggest win
  11–0 Liechtenstein 
(Vizela, Portugal; 7 October 2021)
Biggest defeat
 Italy 6–0  
Piacenza, Italy; 2 December 1987
Records for competitive
matches only.
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances10 (first in 1994)
Best resultRunners-up (1994, 2015, 2021)

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.

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

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

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

Top appearances

As of 21 June 2025[1]
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Caps
1 Henrique Araújo Benfica, Watford, Famalicão, Arouca 2021–2025 32
Paulo Bernardo Benfica, Paços Ferreira, Celtic
3 Manuel Fernandes Benfica, Portsmouth, Everton, Valencia 2004–2008 30
4 Ricardo Quaresma Sporting CP, Barcelona, Porto 2002–2006 28
Silvestre Varela Sporting CP, Casa Pia, Vitória Setúbal 2004–2007
João Pereira Benfica, Gil Vicente, Braga 2004–2008
Fábio Silva Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Las Palmas 2021–2025
8 Fernando Brassard Marítimo, Gil Vicente, Vitória Guimarães 1991–1994 27
Hugo Almeida Porto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen 2002–2007
10 Ednilson Roma, Benfica 2000–2003 26
Raul Meireles Aves, Boavista, Porto 2003–2006

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

Top goalscorers

As of 21 June 2025[1]
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Goals
1 Hugo Almeida Porto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen 2002–2007 16
2 Fábio Silva Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Las Palmas 2021–2025 15
3 Gonçalo Ramos Benfica 2020–2022 14
Fábio Vieira Porto, Arsenal 2019–2023
5 Henrique Araújo Benfica, Watford, Famalicão, Arouca 2021–2025 13
6 Toni Porto, Braga 1992–1994 12
Hélder Postiga Porto, Tottenham 2001–2003
8 Paulo Bernardo Benfica, Paços Ferreira, Celtic 2021–2025 11
9 Diogo Gonçalves Benfica, Nottingham Forest 2017–2018 8
Paulo Costa Alverca, Inter Milan, Reggina, Porto 2000–2002
Simão Sabrosa Sporting CP, Barcelona 1998–2001
Diogo Jota Paços Ferreira, Atlético Madrid, Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers 2015–2018
Rui Fonte Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Sporting CP, Vitória Setúbal, Espanyol 2008–2012

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

Players

Current squad

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

On 22 May, 26 players were named in the preliminary squad for a training camp in preparation for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, to be played June 2025.[2] On 29 May, Eduardo Quaresma withdrew from the squad due to medical/fitness issues.[3] On 1 June, Fábio Silva withdrew from the squad due to injury.[4] The final 23-man squad was announced on 3 June.[5]

Caps and goals correct as of: 21 June 2025, after the match against Netherlands

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Samuel Soares (2002-06-15) 15 June 2002 17 0 Benfica
12 1GK João Carvalho (2004-04-09) 9 April 2004 6 0 Braga
22 1GK Diogo Pinto (2004-06-18) 18 June 2004 1 0 Sporting CP
2 2DF Rodrigo Pinheiro (2002-08-28) 28 August 2002 7 1 Famalicão
3 2DF João Muniz (2005-06-26) 26 June 2005 8 0 Sporting CP
4 2DF Chico Lamba (2003-03-10) 10 March 2003 5 0 Arouca
5 2DF Rafael Rodrigues (2002-01-27) 27 January 2002 13 1 AVS (on loan from Benfica)
13 2DF Flávio Nazinho (2003-07-20) 20 July 2003 8 0 Cercle Brugge
14 2DF Christian Marques (2003-01-15) 15 January 2003 4 0 Yverdon-Sport
15 2DF Lourenço Henriques (2004-03-11) 11 March 2004 0 0 Varzim (on loan from Leixões)
23 2DF Rodrigo Gomes (2003-07-07) 7 July 2003 15 5 Wolverhampton
6 3MF Diogo Nascimento (2002-11-02) 2 November 2002 6 0 Vizela
7 3MF Mateus Fernandes (2004-07-10) 10 July 2004 16 3 Southampton
8 3MF Paulo Bernardo (Vice-captain) (2002-01-24) 24 January 2002 32 11 Celtic
10 3MF Pedro Santos (2003-02-10) 10 February 2003 13 3 Moreirense (on loan from Benfica)
16 3MF Mathias De Amorim (2004-12-10) 10 December 2004 2 0 Famalicão
18 3MF Gustavo Sá (2004-11-11) 11 November 2004 10 0 Famalicão
19 3MF João Marques (2002-02-13) 13 February 2002 13 1 Gil Vicente (on loan from Braga)
9 4FW Henrique Araújo (Captain) (2002-01-19) 19 January 2002 32 13 Arouca (on loan from Benfica)
11 4FW Tiago Tomás (2002-06-16) 16 June 2002 24 2 VfL Wolfsburg
17 4FW Geovany Quenda (2007-04-30) 30 April 2007 7 3 Sporting CP
20 4FW Carlos Forbs (2004-03-19) 19 March 2004 14 4 Wolverhampton (on loan from Ajax)
21 4FW Roger Fernandes (2005-11-21) 21 November 2005 3 0 Braga

Recent call-ups

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 André Gomes (2004-10-20) 20 October 2004 0 0 Benfica v.  Andorra, 15 October 2024
GK Francisco Silva (2005-11-20) 20 November 2005 0 0 Sporting CP v.  Croatia, 10 September 2024
GK Gonçalo Ribeiro (2006-01-15) 15 January 2006 0 0 Porto v.  Belarus, 12 September 2023
DF Francisco Chissumba (2005-05-29) 29 May 2005 2 0 Braga 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, June 2025 PRE
DF Jónatas Noro (2005-07-09) 9 July 2005 1 0 Braga v.  England, 24 March 2025 INJ
DF Gabriel Brás (2004-03-25) 25 March 2004 2 1 Porto v.  Andorra, 15 October 2024
MF Dário Essugo (2005-03-14) 14 March 2005 8 0 Las Palmas v.  England, 24 March 2025 OTH
MF Hugo Félix (2004-03-03) 3 March 2004 1 0 Benfica v.  Greece, 17 October 2023
MF João Neves (2004-09-27) 27 September 2004 6 1 Paris Saint-Germain v.  Belarus, 12 September 2023
FW Rodrigo Mora (2007-05-05) 5 May 2007 2 0 Porto v.  Andorra, 15 October 2024
FW Youssef Chermiti (2004-05-24) 24 May 2004 2 1 Everton v.  Croatia, 26 March 2024

SEN Player withdrew from the squad due to a call-up to the senior squad.
INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury.
OTH Player withdrew from the squad due to other reasons.
PRE Preliminary squad.

Head coaches

As of 14 November 2017[6]
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: [6]

Honours

See also

Notes

References

  1. ^ a b "Jogadores" [Players]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 14 June 2022.
  2. ^ "Convocados para o Campeonato da Europa" (in Portuguese). FPF. 22 May 2025.
  3. ^ "Eduardo Quaresma dispensado". 29 May 2025.
  4. ^ "Fábio Silva dispensado". 1 June 2025.
  5. ^ "Eleitos para o Europeu" (in Portuguese). FPF. 3 June 2025.
  6. ^ a b "Portugal-Suíca" [Portugal - Switzerland]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
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