# List of Portugal national football team captains

The first Portugal captain was Cândido de Oliveira, who captained Portugal in the international match against Spain on 18 December 1921. This was his only international appearance. Vítor Gonçalves captained Portugal in their first international on home soil, on 17 December 1922 against the same opposition. The current individual with the most caps, as captain of the Portugal team is Cristiano Ronaldo.

## List of captains

    As of 18 November 2024
| # | Player | Portugal career | Caps as captain | Total caps | First captaincy | Last captaincy |
| 1 | Cândido de Oliveira | 1921 | 1 | 1 | 18 December 1921 | 18 December 1921 |
| 2 | Vítor Gonçalves | 1921–1922 | 1 | 2 | 17 December 1922 | 17 December 1922 |
| 3 | Alberto Rio | 1922–1923 | 1 | 2 | 16 December 1923 | 16 December 1923 |
| 4 | Jorge Vieira | 1921–1928 | 13 (15) | 15 (17) | 17 May 1925 | 4 June 1928 |
| 5 | Augusto Silva | 1925–1934 | 8 | 20 (21) | 17 March 1929 | 18 March 1934 |
| 6 | Francisco Serra e Moura | 1928–1930 | 1 | 3 | 12 January 1930 | 12 January 1930 |
| 7 | Tamanqueiro | 1925–1930 | 1 | 15 (17) | 23 February 1930 | 23 February 1930 |
| 8 | António Roquete | 1926–1933 | 1 | 15 (16) | 8 June 1930 | 8 June 1930 |
| 9 | João Santos | 1926–1931 | 1 | 9 (11) | 30 November 1930 | 30 November 1930 |
| 10 | Valdemar Mota | 1928–1936 | 2 | 21 | 12 April 1931 | 31 May 1931 |
| 11 | Gustavo Teixeira | 1930–1938 | 7 (9) | 8 (10) | 5 May 1935 | 6 November 1938 |
| 12 | Adolfo Mourão | 1934–1942 | 2 | 13 (15) | 12 February 1939 | 12 January 1941 |
| 13 | Gaspar Pinto | 1934–1942 | 1 | 6 (7) | 28 January 1940 | 28 January 1940 |
| 14 | Pinga | 1930–1942 | 2 | 19 (21) | 16 March 1941 | 1 January 1942 |
| 15 | Álvaro Cardoso | 1941–1947 | 10 | 13 | 11 March 1945 | 25 May 1947 |
| 16 | Fernando Peyroteo | 1938–1949 | 1 | 20 | 23 November 1947 | 23 November 1947 |
| 17 | Francisco Ferreira | 1940–1951 | 12 | 25 | 21 March 1948 | 17 June 1951 |
| 18 | Octávio Barrosa | 1945–1950 | 1 | 7 | 21 May 1950 | 21 May 1950 |
| 19 | José Travassos | 1947–1958 | 2 | 35 | 8 April 1951 | 18 December 1955 |
| 20 | Serafim Neves | 1945–1953 | 1 | 18 | 20 April 1952 | 20 April 1952 |
| 21 | Ângelo Carvalho | 1950–1955 | 2 | 15 | 23 November 1952 | 14 December 1952 |
| 22 | Serafim Baptista | 1950–1953 | 1 | 6 | 27 September 1953 | 27 September 1953 |
| 23 | Manuel Passos | 1952–1957 | 15 | 17 | 21 November 1953 | 24 March 1957 |
| 24 | José Maria Pedroto | 1952–1957 | 4 | 17 | 1 May 1957 | 16 June 1957 |
| 25 | Virgílio Mendes | 1949–1960 | 9 | 39 | 22 December 1957 | 8 May 1960 |
| 26 | Fernando Mendes | 1959–1965 | 5 | 21 | 21 June 1959 | 7 June 1964 |
| 27 | José Águas | 1952–1962 | 7 | 25 | 11 November 1959 | 17 May 1962 |
| 28 | Hernâni da Silva | 1953–1964 | 1 | 28 | 7 November 1962 | 7 November 1962 |
| 29 | Mário Coluna | 1955–1968 | 21 | 57 | 16 December 1962 | 11 December 1968 |
| 30 | Germano de Figueiredo | 1953–1966 | 9 | 24 | 15 November 1964 | 16 July 1966 |
| 31 | José Augusto | 1958–1968 | 7 | 45 | 25 January 1965 | 17 December 1967 |
| 32 | Fernando Peres | 1964–1972 | 2 | 27 | 6 April 1969 | 10 May 1972 |
| 33 | Hilário da Conceição | 1959–1971 | 5 | 40 | 16 April 1969 | 17 February 1971 |
| 34 | Eusébio | 1961–1973 | 16 | 64 | 4 May 1969 | 13 October 1973 |
| 35 | José Carlos | 1961–1971 | 4 | 36 | 10 December 1969 | 12 May 1971 |
| 36 | Humberto Coelho | 1968–1983 | 40 (41) | 63 (64) | 14 November 1973 | 27 April 1983 |
| 37 | Toni | 1969–1978 | 4 | 32 (33) | 19 November 1975 | 16 October 1976 |
| 38 | Nené | 1971–1984 | 6 | 65 (66) | 5 December 1976 | 28 October 1983 |
| 39 | João Alves | 1974–1983 | 1 | 35 (36) | 24 September 1980 | 24 September 1980 |
| 40 | Manuel Bento | 1976–1986 | 26 | 63 | 15 October 1980 | 3 June 1986 |
| 41 | Fernando Gomes | 1975–1988 | 6 | 47 (48) | 23 February 1983 | 16 November 1988 |
| 42 | Carlos Coelho | 1982–1983 | 1 | 3 | 8 June 1983 | 8 June 1983 |
| 43 | Manuel Fernandes | 1975–1987 | 5 | 30 (31) | 12 October 1986 | 29 March 1987 |
| 44 | Álvaro Magalhães | 1981–1988 | 1 | 20 | 4 February 1987 | 4 February 1987 |
| 45 | João Domingos Pinto | 1983–1996 | 44 | 70 | 11 November 1987 | 9 November 1996 |
| 46 | Dito | 1981–1987 | 1 | 17 | 5 December 1987 | 5 December 1987 |
| 47 | Frederico Rosa | 1985–1989 | 1 | 18 | 20 December 1987 | 20 December 1987 |
| 48 | Rui Jordão | 1972–1989 | 2 | 43 | 12 October 1988 | 25 January 1989 |
| 49 | António Veloso | 1981–1994 | 1 | 40 | 29 August 1990 | 29 August 1990 |
| 50 | Paulo Futre | 1983–1995 | 4 | 41 | 31 March 1993 | 10 November 1993 |
| 51 | Oceano | 1985–1998 | 4 | 54 | 19 June 1993 | 11 October 1997 |
| 52 | Vítor Paneira | 1988–1996 | 1 | 44 | 20 April 1994 | 20 April 1994 |
| 53 | Nelo | 1990–1995 | 1 (2) | 10 (11) | 26 January 1995 | 29 January 1995 |
| 54 | Jorge Costa | 1992–2002 | 1 | 49 (50) | 3 June 1995 | 3 June 1995 |
| 55 | Vítor Baía | 1990–2002 | 40 | 80 | 3 September 1995 | 25 May 2002 |
| 56 | Fernando Couto | 1990–2004 | 44 | 110 | 12 December 1995 | 12 June 2004 |
| 57 | Luís Figo | 1991–2006 | 23 | 127 | 2 June 2001 | 5 July 2006 |
| 58 | João Vieira Pinto | 1991–2002 | 1 | 81 | 6 June 2001 | 6 June 2001 |
| 59 | Pauleta | 1997–2006 | 9 | 88 | 4 September 2004 | 8 July 2006 |
| 60 | Costinha | 1998–2006 | 8 | 53 | 8 September 2004 | 11 October 2006 |
| 61 | Nuno Gomes | 1996–2011 | 9 | 79 | 15 November 2006 | 19 June 2008 |
| 62 | Cristiano Ronaldo | 2003–present | 156 | 217 | 6 February 2007 | 15 November 2024 |
| 63 | Jorge Andrade | 2001–2007 | 4 | 51 | 24 March 2007 | 22 August 2009 |
| 64 | Deco | 2003–2010 | 2 | 75 | 5 June 2007 | 31 March 2009 |
| 65 | Fernando Meira | 2000–2008 | 1 | 54 | 15 June 2008 | 15 June 2008 |
| 66 | Simão Sabrosa | 1998–2010 | 8 | 85 | 20 August 2008 | 8 June 2010 |
| 67 | Ricardo Carvalho | 2003–2016 | 5 | 89 | 10 June 2009 | 29 May 2016 |
| 68 | Bruno Alves | 2007–2018 | 6 | 96 | 29 March 2011 | 16 June 2015 |
| 69 | Pepe | 2007–2024 | 14 | 141 | 14 November 2012 | 21 March 2024 |
| 70 | Nani | 2006–2017 | 9 | 112 | 15 October 2013 | 2 July 2017 |
| 71 | Vieirinha | 2013–2016 | 1 | 25 | 17 November 2015 | 17 November 2015 |
| 72 | João Moutinho | 2005–2022 | 6 | 146 | 2 June 2018 | 2 June 2022 |
| 73 | Beto | 2009–2018 | 1 | 16 | 14 October 2018 | 14 October 2018 |
| 74 | Rui Patrício | 2010–present | 2 | 108 | 17 November 2018 | 17 November 2022 |
| 75 | Bernardo Silva | 2015–present | 3 | 98 | 11 September 2023 | 8 September 2024 |
| 76 | Rúben Dias | 2018–present | 1 | 63 | 4 June 2024 | 4 June 2024 |
| 77 | João Cancelo | 2016–present | 1 | 60 | 18 November 2024 | 18 November 2024 |

## Unofficial captaincies

The following players captained a side in a FIFA-declared unofficial match. Nevertheless, the Portuguese Football Federation has decided to award caps to the intervening footballers and as a result these matches were taken into account in the above table.
| # | Captain | Opponent | Score | Venue | Date |
| 1 | Jorge Vieira | Czechoslovakia Amateurs | 1–1 | Campo do Ameal, Porto | 24 January 1926 |
| 2 | Jorge Vieira | Spain B | 0–2 | Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid, Madrid | 29 May 1927 |
| 3 | Gustavo Teixeira | Spain Nationalists | 2–1 | Balaídos, Vigo | 28 November 1937 |
| 4 | Gustavo Teixeira | Spain Nationalists | 1–0 | Campo das Salésias, Lisbon | 30 January 1938 |
| 5 | Humberto Coelho | Goiás | 1–2 | Estádio Serra Dourada, Goiânia | 9 March 1975 |
| 6 | Nelo | Denmark League | 1–0 | SkyDome, Toronto | 29 January 1995 |

## Footnotes

* 1 2 When applicable, the columns sort the number of caps recognized by the Portuguese Football Federation, written in parentheses. The 2007 friendly in Kuwait was in fact an against Al-Salmiya although FIFA at the time recognized the team as a legitimate representative of the Kuwait Football Association and sanctioned the game which resulted in being accepted as a full international match and as such FIFA awarded caps.
* 1 2 3 4 Includes two caps recognized by the Portuguese Football Federation but not by FIFA, against Czechoslovakia Amateurs and Spain B played in 1926 and 1927 respectively.
* 1 2 Includes one cap recognized by the Portuguese Football Federation but not by FIFA, against Spain B played in 1927.
* 1 2 3 4 Includes two caps recognized by the Portuguese Football Federation but not by FIFA, both against Spain Nationalist played in 1937 and 1938.
* ↑ Includes one cap recognized by the Portuguese Football Federation but not by FIFA, against Spain Nationalist played in 1937.
* 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Includes one cap recognized by the Portuguese Football Federation but not by FIFA, against Goiás played in 1975.
* 1 2 3 Includes one cap recognized by the Portuguese Football Federation but not by FIFA, against a team representing the Danish league played in 1995 for the SkyDome Cup.
* ↑ Portugal's score is shown first.