The Portugal national under-20 football team is the national under-20 football team of Portugal and is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation, the governing body for football in Portugal.

The U20 team acts mainly as a feeder team for the under-21s and provides further international development for youth players. The team qualified for its only official match, FIFA U-20 World Cup, depends on U19 results.

The Portuguese team has 12 participations in the FIFA U-20 World Cup and 12 in the Toulon Tournament.

History

The Golden Generation (1989–1991) The Golden Generation was the Generation of the players that won consecutive FIFA Youth Championships in 1989 and 1991.

The Silver Generation (2011) The Courage Generation was the Generation of players that was runner up in the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup.

Competitive record FIFA U-20 World Cup YearRoundGPWDLGSGA 1977Did not enter 1979Quarter-finals411224 1981Did not qualify 1983 1985 1987 1989Champions650163 1991651091 1993Group stage300315 1995Third place6501126 1997Did not qualify 1999Round of 16412154 2001Did not qualify 2003 2005 2007Round of 16410345 2009Did not qualify 2011Runners-up742173 2013Round of 164211127 2015Quarter-finals5410122 2017522197 2019Group stage311123 2023Did not qualify 2025 2027To be determinedTotal12/25573111158150

Honours

Team FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner (2): 1989, 1991 Runner-up (1): 2011 Third place (1): 1995 Toulon/Maurice Revello Tournament Winner (4): 1992, 2001, 2003, 2026 Runner-up (4): 1994, 1997, 2000, 2005 Third place (4): 1998, 2006, 2014, 2016 U20 Elite League Winner (1): 2025-26 Runner-up (1): 2018-19 Torneio Internacional da Madeira Winner (7): 1997, 2000, 2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2008 Runner-up (4): 1998, 2001, 2004, 2006 Torneio Campos Verdes Winner (2): 2007, 2008 Copa El Presidente de La Republica - Ricardo Martinelli Third place (1): 2011 SBS Cup International Youth Soccer Runner-up (1): 2012

Individual awards FIFA U-20 World Cup

YearGolden BallSilver BallBronze Ball1991Emílio PeixePaulo Torres1995Dani2011Nélson Oliveira

YearGolden ShoeSilver ShoeBronze Show1995Dani2013Bruma

YearGolden glove2011Mika

Toulon Tournament

YearTop scorer1996Nuno Gomes1997Carlitos2001 Lourenço20032005 Ricardo Vaz Tê

YearMost Elegant Player1997Edgar Pacheco2000Ednilson2001Ricardo Costa2004 Raul Meireles2005 Organista2007 Bruno Gama

YearBest Goalkeeper1997 Nuno Santos19982000 Sérgio Leite2003 Bruno Vale2016 Joel Pereira

YearRevelation2014 Ricardo Horta

Players Current squad The following players were called up for the Under 20 Elite League matches against Switzerland and Czech Republic on 27 and 30 March 2026; respectively.

Caps and goals correct as of 30 March 2026, after the match against the Czech Republic.

Recent call-ups The following players have previously been called up to the Portugal under-20 squad in the last twelve months and remain eligible for selection.

INJ Withdrew due to injury. SEN Called up to Under-21s squad.

Head-to-head record The following table shows Portugal's head-to-head record in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. OpponentWin %Total

Previous squads

FIFA U-20 World Cup

1979 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 1989 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 1991 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 1993 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 1995 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 1999 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup squads - Portugal

Toulon Tournament 2007 Toulon Tournament squads - Portugal 2011 Toulon Tournament squads - Portugal

Most appearances # Name Caps Goals First cap Latest cap 1 Tiago Ferreira 28 2 July 13, 2011 July 3, 20132Paulo Costa 20 5 September 10, 1998 June 3, 2000 Sérgio Oliveira 20 3 October 7, 2010 April 18, 20124Ricardo Esteves 19 0 September 10, 1998 June 3, 2000 Danilo Pereira 19 3 October 7, 2010 August 21, 2011 Pelé 19 3 October 7, 2010 August 21, 2011 Nuno Reis 19 0 October 7, 2010 August 21, 2011 Nélson Oliveira 19 9 October 7, 2010 August 21, 2011

Most goals # Name Goals Caps First cap Latest cap 1 Nuno Gomes 9 13 June 2, 1995 January 21, 1997 Lourenço 9 17 22 February 2001 June 21, 2003Nélson Oliveira 9 19 October 7, 2010 August 21, 20114 André Silva 8 10 November 17, 2014 June 14, 20155 Bruma 6 6 March 24, 2013 July 3, 2013Carlitos 6 11 May 27, 1997 May 19, 1998Paulo Torres 6 12 December 18, 1990 June 30, 1991Bruno Gama 6 14 November 21, 2006 July 8, 2007Dani 6 15 August 26, 1994 June 1, 19966 Ricardo Vaz Tê 5 8 February 16, 2005 September 22, 2005

Head coaches As of 2022 ManagerPeriodRecordMatchesWonDrawLostGFGAGD Peres Bandeira1979 Carlos Queiroz1989–1991 Agostinho Oliveira1993 Nelo Vingada1994–1995 Jesualdo Ferreira1996–2000 António Violante2001–20022008–2009 Rui Caçador2003–2004 2007–2008 José Couceiro2006–2007211344378+29 Paulo Alves2009–2010531193+6 Oceano Cruz2010 Ilídio Vale2010–20122491232720+7 Edgar Borges2012–2014 2015–2016295331712+5 Hélio Sousa2014–2015 2018–2019 24 16 3 5 46 22+24 Emílio Peixe2016–2017 2021–2022 19 6 8 5 33 29+4 José Guilherme2017–20187214712 -5 Filipe Ramos2019–20206123713 -6 Rui Bento2020–2021

References