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.

Competitive record

UEFA European Under-21 Championship

Player records

Top appearances

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

Top goalscorers

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

Players

Current squad

Players born on or after 1 January 2002 are eligible for the 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. The following 23 players were called up for the preparation matches against Ukraine and Slovakia on 15 and 18 November 2024, respectively. Caps and goals correct as of: 18 November 2024, after the match against

Recent call-ups

The following players have previously been called up to the under-21 squad and remain eligible for selection. AA Player withdrew from the squad due to a call-up to the senior squad. INJ Player withdrew from the squad due to an injury. OTH Player withdrew from the squad due to other reasons. PRE Preliminary squad.

Head coaches

{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: left" !rowspan=2| Manager !rowspan=2| Period !colspan=8| Record !G !W !D !L !GF !GA !GD !Win %

Honours