Rui Jorge coached the Portuguese at the 2016 Olympic tournament in Brazil, where they lost 4–0 to Germany in the quarter-finals. He was also in charge for the 2017 edition of the under-21 continental tournament, which ended in group stage exit. On 10 October 2017, six years after the last loss for that stage of the competition, he was on the bench as the team lost 1–3 in Bosnia and Herzegovina for the 2019 European Championship qualifiers.