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)
Association	Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
Head coach	Rui Jorge
Captain	Henrique Araújo
Most caps	Manuel Fernandes (30)
Top scorer	Hugo 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
Appearances	10 (first in 1994)
Best result	Runners-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

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 18 November 2024

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

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

Top goalscorers

As of 18 November 2024

Rank	Player	Club(s)	Year(s)	U-21 Goals
1	Hugo Almeida	Porto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen	2002–2007	16
2	Gonçalo Ramos	Benfica	2020–2022	14
Fábio Silva	Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Las Palmas	2021–
Fábio Vieira	Porto, Arsenal	2019–2023
5	Toni	Porto, Braga	1992–1994	12
Hélder Postiga	Porto, Tottenham	2001–2003
7	Henrique Araújo	Benfica, Watford, Famalicão, Arouca	2021–	11
8	Paulo Bernardo	Benfica, Paços Ferreira, Celtic	2021–	10
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.

The following 23 players were called up for the preparation matches against Ukraine and Slovakia on 15 and 18 November 2024, respectively.

Caps and goals correct as of: 18 November 2024, after the match against Slovakia

No.	Pos.	Player	Date of birth (age)	Caps	Goals	Club
1	1GK	João Carvalho	(2004-04-09) 9 April 2004	4	0	Braga
12	1GK	Diogo Pinto	(2004-06-18) 18 June 2004	0	0	Sporting CP
2	2DF	Danilo Veiga	(2002-09-25) 25 September 2002	2	0	Estrela da Amadora
3	2DF	João Muniz	(2005-06-26) 26 June 2005	2	0	Rio Ave
4	2DF	Eduardo Quaresma	(2002-03-02) 2 March 2002	11	0	Sporting CP
5	2DF	Rafael Rodrigues	(2002-01-27) 27 January 2002	12	1	AVS
13	2DF	Flávio Nazinho	(2003-07-20) 20 July 2003	2	0	Cercle Brugge
14	2DF	Chico Lamba	(2003-03-10) 10 March 2003	1	0	Arouca
15	2DF	Christian Marques	(2003-01-15) 15 January 2003	3	0	Yverdon-Sport
23	2DF	Rodrigo Gomes	(2003-07-07) 7 July 2003	11	3	Wolverhampton
6	3MF	Dário Essugo	(2005-03-14) 14 March 2005	7	0	Las Palmas
7	3MF	Mateus Fernandes	(2004-07-10) 10 July 2004	11	3	Southampton
8	3MF	Paulo Bernardo (Vice-captain)	(2002-01-24) 24 January 2002	28	10	Celtic
16	3MF	Martim Neto	(2003-01-14) 14 January 2003	5	0	Rio Ave
18	3MF	Gustavo Sá	(2004-11-11) 11 November 2004	4	0	Famalicão
19	3MF	João Marques	(2002-02-13) 13 February 2002	8	1	Braga
9	4FW	Henrique Araújo (Captain)	(2002-01-19) 19 January 2002	27	11	Arouca
10	4FW	Pedro Santos	(2003-02-10) 10 February 2003	9	3	Moreirense
11	4FW	Tiago Tomás	(2002-06-16) 16 June 2002	19	2	VfL Wolfsburg
21	4FW	Carlos Forbs	(2004-03-19) 19 March 2004	9	3	Wolverhampton
24	4FW	Diego Moreira	(2004-08-06) 6 August 2004	5	0	Strasbourg

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	Samuel Soares	(2002-06-15) 15 June 2002	13	0	Benfica	v. Andorra, 15 October 2024
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	Francisco Lemos	(2002-09-13) 13 September 2002	0	0	Atlético CP	v. Greece, 20 November 2023
GK	Gonçalo Ribeiro	(2006-01-15) 15 January 2006	0	0	Porto	v. Belarus, 12 September 2023
DF	Tiago Santos	(2002-07-23) 23 July 2002	5	0	Lille	v. Andorra, 15 October 2024
DF	Gabriel Brás	(2004-03-25) 25 March 2004	2	1	Porto	v. Andorra, 15 October 2024
DF	Rodrigo Pinheiro	(2002-08-28) 28 August 2002	1	0	Famalicão	v. Andorra, 15 October 2024
DF	Tomás Araújo AA	(2002-05-16) 16 May 2002	10	0	Benfica	v. Faroe Islands, 11 October 2024
DF	Renato Veiga	(2003-07-29) 29 July 2003	7	1	Chelsea	v. Croatia, 26 March 2024
DF	Tomás Esteves	(2002-04-03) 3 April 2002	5	0	Pisa	v. Croatia, 26 March 2024
DF	Leonardo Buta	(2002-06-05) 5 June 2002	3	0	Moreirense	v. Croatia, 26 March 2024
DF	Rafael Fernandes INJ	(2002-06-28) 28 June 2002	0	0	Lille	v. Greece, 20 November 2023
DF	André Amaro INJ	(2002-08-13) 13 August 2002	4	0	Al-Rayyan	v. Andorra, 8 September 2023
MF	Vasco Sousa	(2003-04-03) 3 April 2003	13	0	Porto	v. Andorra, 15 October 2024
MF	Bernardo Folha INJ	(2002-03-23) 23 March 2002	3	0	Al Wahda	v. Faroe Islands, 11 October 2024
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	Fábio Silva AA	(2002-07-19) 19 July 2002	26	14	Las Palmas	v. Slovakia, 18 November 2024
FW	Geovany Quenda AA	(2007-04-30) 30 April 2007	3	0	Sporting CP	v. Slovakia, 18 November 2024
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
FW	Francisco Conceição	(2002-12-14) 14 December 2002	23	6	Juventus	v. Greece, 20 November 2023
FW	Tiago Morais	(2003-09-03) 3 September 2003	3	0	Rio Ave	v. Greece, 20 November 2023
AA 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

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:

Honours

• UEFA Under-21 European Championship runners-up: 1994, 2015, 2021

See also

• Golden generation

External links

• Official site (in Portuguese)
• UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive
• The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.