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 YearRoundPositionGamesWonDrawnLost1978did not qualify19801982did not enter1984did not qualify1986198819901992 1994Runners-up2nd430172 1996Quarter-finals7th210112 1998did not qualify 2000 2002Group stage5th311144 2004Third place3rd5212911 2006Group stage6th310213 2007Group stage6th412152 2009did not qualify 2011 2013 2015Runners-up2nd523071 2017Group stage320175 2019did not qualify 2021Runners-up2nd6501124 2023Quarter-finals 411235 2025Quarter-finals 421191 2027TotalRunners-up11/2543219136540 *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
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Caps1Henrique AraújoBenfica, Watford, Famalicão, Arouca2021–202532Paulo BernardoBenfica, Paços Ferreira, Celtic3Manuel FernandesBenfica, Portsmouth, Everton, Valencia2004–2008304Ricardo QuaresmaSporting CP, Barcelona, Porto2002–200628Silvestre VarelaSporting CP, Casa Pia, Vitória Setúbal2004–2007João PereiraBenfica, Gil Vicente, Braga2004–2008Fábio SilvaPorto, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Las Palmas2021–20258Fernando BrassardMarítimo, Gil Vicente, Vitória Guimarães1991–199427Hugo AlmeidaPorto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen2002–200710EdnilsonRoma, Benfica2000–200326Raul MeirelesAves, Boavista, Porto2003–2006 Note: Club(s) represents the clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.
Top goalscorers
Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Goals1Hugo AlmeidaPorto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen2002–2007162Fábio SilvaPorto, Wolverhampton Wanderers, Anderlecht, PSV Eindhoven, Rangers, Las Palmas2021–2025153Gonçalo RamosBenfica2020–202214Fábio VieiraPorto, Arsenal2019–20235Henrique AraújoBenfica, Watford, Famalicão, Arouca2021–2025136ToniPorto, Braga1992–199412Hélder PostigaPorto, Tottenham2001–20038Paulo BernardoBenfica, Paços Ferreira, Celtic2021–2025119 Diogo GonçalvesBenfica, Nottingham Forest2017–20188Paulo CostaAlverca, Inter Milan, Reggina, Porto2000–2002Simão SabrosaSporting CP, Barcelona1998–2001Diogo JotaPaços Ferreira, Atlético Madrid, Porto, Wolverhampton Wanderers2015–2018Rui FonteArsenal, Crystal Palace, Sporting CP, Vitória Setúbal, Espanyol2008–2012
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 2004 are eligible for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.
The following players were called up for the 2027 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification match against Bulgaria, Gibraltar and Czechia on 25 and 30 September, and 6 October 2026, respectively.
Caps and goals correct as of 3 June 2026, after the match against Bulgaria.
Recent call-ups The following players have also been called up to the Portugal squad within the last twelve months and remain eligible to be called up.
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
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left" |- !rowspan=2| Manager !rowspan=2| Period !colspan=8| Record |- ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! |- | José Alberto Costa | –1993
| Nelo Vingada | 1994–1996
| Jesualdo Ferreira | 1996–2000
| Agostinho Oliveira | 2000–2002
| Rui Caçador | 2002
| José Romão | 2002–2004
| Rui Caçador | 2004
| Agostinho Oliveira | 2004–2006
| José Couceiro | 2006–2007
| Rui Caçador | 2007–2009
| Oceano Cruz | 2009–2010
| Rui Jorge | 2010–2025
| Luis Freire | 2025–Present
Honours UEFA Under-21 European Championship: Runners-up (3): 1994, 2015, 2021
Third place (1): 2004
See also Golden generation
Notes
References
External links Official site UEFA Under-21 website Contains full results archive The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation Contains full record of U-21/U-23 Championships.