Portugal national under-21 football team

The Portugal national under-21 football team is the national under-21 football team of Portugal. It is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). They are nicknamed "Esperanças," which means hope, as they are Portugal's hopes for the future.

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  2021 QualifiedTotalRunners-up8/2029137104130
*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 in Portugal"

Player records

Top appearances

 Rank Player Club(s) Year(s) U-21 Caps1Manuel FernandesBenfica, Portsmouth, Everton, Valencia2004–2008302Silvestre VarelaSporting CP, Casa Pia, Vitória Setúbal2004–200728 Ricardo QuaresmaSporting CP, Barcelona, Porto2002–200628 João PereiraBenfica, Gil Vicente, Braga2004–200828 Fernando BrassardMarítimo, Gil Vicente, Vitória Guimarães1991–1994286Hugo AlmeidaPorto, União Leiria, Boavista, Werder Bremen2002–2007277EdnilsonRoma, Benfica2000–200326 Raul MeirelesAves, Boavista, Porto2003–2006269EdgarAlverca, Real Madrid, Málaga1997–199925 Cândido CostaPorto, Vitória Setúbal, Derby County 2000–200425
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 Bremen2002–2007162Hélder PostigaPorto, Tottenham2001–200312 ToniPorto, Braga1992–1994124Paulo CostaAlverca, Inter Milan, Reggina, Porto2000–200295Simão SabrosaSporting CP, Barcelona1998–20018 Rui FonteArsenal, Crystal Palace, Sporting CP, Vitória Setúbal, Espanyol2008–201287Orlando SáBraga, Porto2008–20107 Miguel BrunoFeirense, Paços Ferreira, Beira-Mar1992–19947 DaniSporting CP, West Ham United, Ajax1995–19967 Ivan CavaleiroBenfica, Deportivo La Coruña2013–20157

Note: Club(s) represents the clubs during the player's time in the Under-21s.

Head coaches

 Manager Period 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–present

Honours
 UEFA Under-21 European Championship: 2015 (runner-up)

References

Other websites
 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.

Category:National under-21 football teams
Category:Football in Portugal
Category:National youth sports teams of Portugal