S.L. Benfica (youth)

S.L. Benfica (youth)
Juniores do Sport Lisboa e Benfica are the under-19 team of Portuguese football club S.L. Benfica. They hold home matches at Benfica Campus, the club's training ground and youth academy in Seixal.
Benfica's under-19s have won a record 25 Campeonato Nacional de Juniores, one Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup (1996), one UEFA Youth League (2021–22) and one Under-20 Intercontinental Cup (2022). Benfica hold UEFA Youth League records for the biggest win in a final, 6–0 against Red Bull Salzburg, most final appearances (4, joint-record with Chelsea) and most games played (70). They were distinguished for "Best implementation of the UEFA Youth League values" in 2013–14.
There are other development teams below under-19, completing Benfica's youth system: Juvenis "A" and "B"; Iniciados "A" and "B"; Infantis "A", "B", "C" and "D"; Benjamins "A" and "B"; and Traquinas "A". In 2015, Benfica received the Globe Soccer award for Best Academy of the year.
Players
Current players
Key
B = current Benfica B player; U23 = player for Benfica's under-23 team
Notable players
Over 1,000 players have come through Benfica's youth ranks, but only a small part of them played for the club's first-team. The list below includes former youth players who represented the main team in a minimum of 25 matches, or those that reached 25 caps at full international level. In some occasions, graduates debuted for the first-team but left Benfica before reaching 25 matches and went on representing their national team at full international level. Those players are also listed. (Time periods below correspond to when players joined Benfica youth.)
Pre-1960
Albino
Santana
António Mendes
Serra
Fernando Cruz
José Henrique
Simões
1960s
Diamantino Costa
Vítor Martins
Artur Correia
Nené
João Alves
1970s
Shéu
Rui Jordão
Eurico Gomes
Cavungi
Alberto Fonseca
Fernando Chalana
José Luís
Jorge Silva
Diamantino
Rui Costa
1980s
Samuel
José Carlos
Kenedy
Paulo Sousa
Paulo Madeira
Rui Bento
Bruno Basto
Maniche
1990s
Pedro Henriques
Edgar
Hugo Leal
Bruno Aguiar
José Sousa
João Pereira
Diogo Luís
Sílvio
José Moreira
2000s
Miguel Vítor
Bernardo Silva
Nélson Oliveira
Gonçalo Guedes
Bruno Varela
Renato Sanches
João Cancelo
Jota
Diogo Gonçalves
Rúben Dias
Ederson
2010s
Florentino
André Gomes
Ferro
Victor Lindelöf
João Félix
Nuno Tavares
Coaching staff
Competitive record
UEFA Youth League
Note: Benfica score is always listed first.
Honours
Portuguese Championship
Winners (25) – record: 1943–44, 1944–45, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1954–55, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1958–59, 1959–60, 1961–62, 1962–63, 1967–68, 1969–70, 1971–72, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1977–78, 1984–85, 1987–88, 1988–89, 1999–00, 2003–04, 2012–13, 2017–18, 2021–22
Blue Stars/FIFA Youth Cup
Winners: 1996
UEFA Youth League
Winners: 2021–22
Under-20 Intercontinental Cup
Winners – record: 2022
Other youth honours
Juvenis (under-17)
Portuguese Championship
Winners (20) – shared record: 1963–64, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1973–74, 1974–75, 1982–83, 1989–90, 1990–91, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1996–97, 2000–01, 2007–08, 2010–11, 2012–13, 2014–15, 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23
Iniciados (under-15)
Portuguese Championship
Winners (11): 1978–79, 1981–82, 1984–85, 1988–89, 2008–09, 2009–10, 2011–12, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2022–23
Infantis (under-13)
Portuguese Championship
Winners (3) – shared record: 1988–89, 1989–90, 1995–96
References
External links
Departamento de Formação
How Benfica became a global figurehead in player development – These Football Times (2017)
Youth
1904 establishments in Portugal
Football academies in Portugal
Youth football in Portugal
UEFA Youth League teams