Portugal national under-21 football team
 |
|
| Nickname(s) | Esperanças (Hopes) |
|---|---|
| Association | Federação Portuguesa de Futebol |
| Head coach | Rui Jorge |
| Captain | Sérgio Oliveira |
| Top scorer | Hugo Almeida (16) |
| First international | |
 Portugal 3–1 South Africa  Lisbon, 16 November 1958 |
|
| Biggest win | |
Portugal 8–1 Armenia  Estoril, 19 August 1997 |
|
| Biggest defeat | |
|
matches only. |
|
| UEFA U-21 Championship | |
| Appearances | 7 (first in 1994) |
| Best result | Runners-up in 1994, 2015 |
Italy 6–0 Portugal
Piacenza, 2 December 1987
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.
Players born in on or after 1 January 1994 are eligible for the current 2017 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualifiers
Caps and goals are correct as of 24 March 2016 after the game against Liechtenstein.
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