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
CaptainDiogo Jota
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
 Liechtenstein 0–9 Portugal 
(Vaduz, Liechtenstein; 11 October 2018)
Biggest defeat
 Italy 6–0 Portugal 
Piacenza, Italy; 2 December 1987
Records for competitive
matches only.
UEFA U-21 Championship
Appearances8 (first in 1994)
Best resultRunners-up in 1994, 2015

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-up2nd430172
1996 Quarter-finals7th210112
1998 Did not qualify
2000
2002 Group stage5th311144
2004 Third place3rd5212911
2006 Group stage6th310213
2007 Group stage6th412152
2009 Did not qualify
2011
2013
2015 Runners-up2nd523171
2017 Group stage320175
2019 Did not qualify
TotalRunners-up8/2029137104130
*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 9 September 2008[1]
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Caps
1Manuel FernandesBenfica, Portsmouth, Everton, Valencia2004–200830
2Silvestre VarelaSporting CP, Casa Pia, Vitória Setúbal2004–200728
 Ricardo QuaresmaSporting CP, Barcelona, Porto2002–200628
 João PereiraBenfica, Gil Vicente, Braga2004–200828
 Fernando BrassardMarítimo, Gil Vicente, Vitória Guimarães1991–199428
6Hugo AlmeidaPorto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen2002–200727
7EdnilsonRoma, Benfica2000–200326
 Raul MeirelesAves, Boavista, Porto2003–200626
9EdgarAlverca, Real Madrid, Málaga1997–199925
 Cândido CostaPorto, Vitória Setúbal, Derby County2000–200425

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

Top goalscorers
As of 30 June 2015[2]
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Goals
1Hugo AlmeidaPorto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen2002–200716
2Hélder PostigaPorto, Tottenham2001–200312
 ToniPorto, Braga1992–199412
4Paulo CostaAlverca, Inter Milan, Reggina, Porto2000–20029
5Simão SabrosaSporting CP, Barcelona1998–20018
 Rui FonteArsenal, Crystal Palace, Sporting CP, Vitória Setúbal, Espanyol2008–20128
7Orlando SáBraga, Porto2008–20107
 Miguel BrunoFeirense, Paços Ferreira, Beira-Mar1992–19947
 DaniSporting CP, West Ham United, Ajax1995–19967
 Ivan CavaleiroBenfica, Deportivo La Coruña2013–20157

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

Current squad

The following 23 players have been called up for the 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification matches against Poland.

Caps and goals are correct as of 20 November 2018 after the game against Poland.

No. Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Diogo Costa (1999-09-19) 19 September 1999 4 0 Porto
12 1GK Luís Maximiano (1999-01-05) 5 January 1999 0 0 Sporting CP
22 1GK João Virgínia (1999-10-10) 10 October 1999 1 0 Reading
2 2DF Thierry Correia (1999-03-09) 9 March 1999 3 0 Valencia
3 2DF Diogo Leite (1999-01-23) 23 January 1999 8 0 Porto
4 2DF Diogo Queirós (1999-01-05) 5 January 1999 3 2 Mouscron
5 2DF Rúben Vinagre (1999-04-09) 9 April 1999 3 0 Wolverhampton Wanderers
13 2DF Nuno Tavares (2000-01-26) 26 January 2000 2 0 Benfica
15 2DF Pedro Pereira (1998-01-22) 22 January 1998 1 0 Bristol City
16 2DF Tiago Djaló (2000-04-09) 9 April 2000 0 0 Lille
21 2DF Tomás Tavares (2001-03-07) 7 March 2001 0 0 Benfica
6 3MF Vítor Ferreira (2000-02-11) 11 February 2000 3 0 Porto
7 3MF Filipe Soares (1999-05-20) 20 May 1999 1 0 Moreirense
14 3MF Gedson Fernandes (1999-01-09) 9 January 1999 2 0 Benfica
8 3MF Miguel Luís (1999-02-27) 27 February 1999 3 0 Sporting CP
21 3MF Mathias Pereira Lage (1996-11-30) 30 November 1996 3 0 Clermont
23 3MF Stephen Eustáquio (1996-12-21) 21 December 1996 7 0 Cruz Azul
18 3MF Xadas (1997-12-02) 2 December 1997 6 1 Braga
17 3MF Bruno Costa (1997-04-19) 19 April 1997 3 0 Porto
9 4FW Diogo Jota (1996-12-04) 4 December 1996 20 8 Wolverhampton Wanderers
16 4FW Rafael Leão (1999-06-10) 10 June 1999 5 0 Lille
11 4FW Diogo Gonçalves (1997-02-06) 6 February 1997 13 8 Benfica
20 4FW João Félix (1999-11-10) 10 November 1999 10 4 Benfica
19 4FW Heriberto Tavares (1996-02-16) 16 February 1996 9 6 Moreirense

Previous squads

Head coaches
As of 14 November 2017[3]
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: [4]

Honours
  • UEFA Under-21 European Championship runners-up: 2015
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See also

References
  1. "Portugal-Irlanda" [Portugal - Ireland]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  2. "Suécia-Portugal" [Sweden - Portugal]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  3. "Portugal-Suíca" [Portugal - Switzerland]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
  4. "Portugal-Suíca" [Portugal - Switzerland]. FPF.pt. Retrieved 12 December 2017.
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