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.
![]() | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2019) |
Nickname(s) | Esperanças (Hopes) | ||
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Association | Federação Portuguesa de Futebol | ||
Head coach | Rui Jorge | ||
Captain | Diogo Queirós | ||
Most caps | Manuel Fernandes (30) | ||
Top scorer | Hugo Almeida (16) | ||
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First international | |||
![]() ![]() (Lisbon, Portugal; 16 November 1958) | |||
Biggest win | |||
![]() ![]() (Vizela, Portugal; 7 October 2021) | |||
Biggest defeat | |||
![]() ![]() Piacenza, Italy; 2 December 1987 Records for competitive matches only. | |||
UEFA U-21 Championship | |||
Appearances | 9 (first in 1994) | ||
Best result | Runners-up in 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.
Year | Round | Position | Games | Won | Drawn | Lost | GF | GA |
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1978 | Did not qualify | |||||||
1980 | ||||||||
1982 | Did not enter | |||||||
1984 | Did not qualify | |||||||
1986 | ||||||||
1988 | ||||||||
1990 | ||||||||
1992 | ||||||||
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Runners-up | 2nd | 4 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 2 |
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Quarter-finals | 7th | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
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Did not qualify | |||||||
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Group stage | 5th | 3 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 4 |
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Third place | 3rd | 5 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 9 | 11 |
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Group stage | 6th | 3 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
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Group stage | 6th | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 2 |
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Did not qualify | |||||||
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Runners-up | 2nd | 5 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 7 | 1 |
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Group stage | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 7 | 5 | |
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Did not qualify | |||||||
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Runners-up | 2nd | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 12 | 4 |
Total | Runners-up | 9/21 | 35 | 18 | 7 | 11 | 53 | 34 |
Rank | Player | Club(s) | Year(s) | U-21 Caps |
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1 | Manuel Fernandes | Benfica, Portsmouth, Everton, Valencia | 2004–2008 | 30 |
2 | Ricardo Quaresma | Sporting CP, Barcelona, Porto | 2002–2006 | 28 |
João Pereira | Benfica, Gil Vicente, Braga | 2004–2008 | 28 | |
Silvestre Varela | Sporting CP, Casa Pia, Vitória Setúbal | 2004–2007 | 28 | |
5 | Fernando Brassard | Marítimo, Gil Vicente, Vitória Guimarães | 1991–1994 | 27 |
Hugo Almeida | Porto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen | 2002–2007 | 27 | |
7 | Ednilson | Roma, Benfica | 2000–2003 | 26 |
Raul Meireles | Aves, Boavista, Porto | 2003–2006 | 26 | |
9 | Cândido Costa | Porto, Vitória Setúbal, Derby County | 2000–2004 | 25 |
Note: Club(s) represents the clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.
Rank | Player | Club(s) | Year(s) | U-21 Goals |
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1 | Hugo Almeida | Porto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen | 2002–2007 | 16 |
2 | Gonçalo Ramos | Benfica | 2020– | 14 |
3 | Fábio Vieira | Porto | 2019– | 13 |
4 | Hélder Postiga | Porto, Tottenham | 2001–2003 | 12 |
Toni | Porto, Braga | 1992–1994 | 12 | |
6 | Diogo Gonçalves | Benfica, Nottingham Forest | 2017–2018 | 8 |
Simão Sabrosa | Sporting CP, Barcelona | 1998–2001 | 8 | |
Diogo Jota | Paços Ferreira, Atlético Madrid, Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers | 2015–2018 | 8 | |
Paulo Costa | Alverca, Inter Milan, Reggina, Porto | 2000–2002 | 8 | |
Rui Fonte | Arsenal, Crystal Palace, Sporting CP, Vitória Setúbal, Espanyol | 2008–2012 | 8 |
Note: Club(s) represents the clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.
No. | Pos. | Player | Date of birth (age) | Caps | Goals | Club |
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1GK | Celton Biai | (2000-08-13) 13 August 2000 (age 22) | 7 | 0 | ![]() | |
1GK | Francisco Meixedo | (2001-05-19) 19 May 2001 (age 21) | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
1GK | Samuel Soares | (2002-06-15) 15 June 2002 (age 20) | 3 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | André Amaro | (2002-08-13) 13 August 2002 (age 20) | 1 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | Gonçalo Inácio | (2001-08-25) 25 August 2001 (age 21) | 4 | 1 | ![]() | |
2DF | Leonardo Lelo | (2000-03-30) 30 March 2000 (age 22) | 1 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | Pedro Malheiro | (2001-01-21) 21 January 2001 (age 21) | 0 | 0 | ![]() | |
2DF | João Mário | (2000-01-03) 3 January 2000 (age 22) | 13 | 1 | ![]() | |
2DF | Bernardo Vital | (2000-12-29) 29 December 2000 (age 21) | 1 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | André Almeida | (2000-05-30) 30 May 2000 (age 22) | 8 | 1 | ![]() | |
3MF | Paulo Bernardo | (2002-01-24) 24 January 2002 (age 20) | 10 | 3 | ![]() | |
3MF | Zé Carlos | (2001-10-30) 30 October 2001 (age 21) | 4 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | Fábio Carvalho | (2002-08-30) 30 August 2002 (age 20) | 4 | 2 | ![]() | |
3MF | David Costa | (2001-01-05) 5 January 2001 (age 21) | 4 | 1 | ![]() | |
3MF | Tiago Dantas | (2000-12-24) 24 December 2000 (age 21) | 10 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | Afonso Sousa | (2000-05-03) 3 May 2000 (age 22) | 7 | 1 | ![]() | |
3MF | Vasco Sousa | (2003-04-03) 3 April 2003 (age 19) | 3 | 0 | ![]() | |
3MF | Nuno Tavares | (2000-01-26) 26 January 2000 (age 22) | 8 | 1 | ![]() | |
3MF | Fábio Vieira | (2000-05-30) 30 May 2000 (age 22) | 21 | 13 | ![]() | |
4FW | Henrique Araújo | (2002-01-19) 19 January 2002 (age 20) | 9 | 4 | ![]() | |
4FW | Francisco Conceição | (2002-12-14) 14 December 2002 (age 19) | 12 | 3 | ![]() | |
4FW | Fábio Silva | (2002-07-19) 19 July 2002 (age 20) | 9 | 6 | ![]() |
Manager | Period | Record | |||||||
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G | W | D | L | GF | GA | GD | Win % | ||
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–1993 | 12 | 8 | 1 | 3 | 22 | 10 | +12 | 066.67 |
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1994–1996 | 22 | 14 | 5 | 3 | 33 | 14 | +19 | 063.64 |
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1996–2000 | 33 | 19 | 5 | 9 | 64 | 36 | +28 | 057.58 |
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2000–2002 | 22 | 11 | 4 | 7 | 39 | 21 | +18 | 050.00 |
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2002 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | +1 | 066.67 |
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2002–2004 | 18 | 12 | 2 | 4 | 44 | 27 | +17 | 066.67 |
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2004 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | +0 | 000.00 |
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2004–2006 | 18 | 14 | 1 | 3 | 36 | 9 | +27 | 077.78 |
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2006–2007 | 13 | 7 | 3 | 3 | 22 | 9 | +13 | 053.85 |
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2007–2009 | 27 | 15 | 4 | 8 | 54 | 22 | +32 | 055.56 |
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2009–2010 | 12 | 6 | 2 | 4 | 17 | 12 | +5 | 050.00 |
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2010–present | 69 | 47 | 14 | 8 | 154 | 54 | +100 | 068.12 |
Source: [5]
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Men's |
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Women's |
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District Associations |
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Defunct competitions |
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Reserve and youth football in Portugal | |
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National teams | |
Nationwide competitions |
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Regional competitions |
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Defunct competitions |
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National under-21 men's football teams of Europe (UEFA) | |
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Active |
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Defunct |
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