Portugal set to contest the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar

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·2 November 2025

Portugal set to contest the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup in Qatar

Portugal have arrived in Qatar where they are preparing to contest the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup. The 48-team tournament will be contested from 3 to 27 November.

Nigeria have the most titles with five, followed by the Brazil who have claimed four. Teams from Europe have won only four times, the latest in 2023 when Germany were victorious in Indonesia.

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Portugal are making their fourth appearance at the tournament, their first coming in 1989 when it was the FIFA U16 World Championship. They topped Group D which included Saudi Arabia, Guinea and Colombia, Luís Figo scoring in a 2-1 quarter-final victory over Argentina before a 1-0 semi-final defeat to hosts Scotland in Edinburgh.

The Equipa das Quinas competed at the 1995 FIFA U17 World Championship in Ecuador, finishing runners-up in Group B behind Argentina but doing enough to secure second spot ahead of Guinea and Costa Rica. Their campaign ended in the high altitude in Quito, beaten 2-0 by Ghana in the quarter-finals.

Portugal’s last appearance came at the 2003 FIFA U17 World Championship in Finland. They beat Yemen 4-3 before a humbling 5-0 defeat to Brazil, then blew a 5-0 lead against Cameroon in a 5-5 draw which was enough to progress. Manuel Curto opened the scoring against Spain in the quarter-finals, but they conceded another five goals in a 5-2 defeat which saw their tournament end in Tampere.

Bino Maçães’ side will compete in Group B alongside New Caledonia, Morocco and Japan. Their campaign begins against the New Caledonia, the match taking place in Doha on 3 November.

Road to Qatar

2025 UEFA European U17 Championship

Portugal qualified for the 2025 FIFA U17 World Cup after winning Group A4 in the second round of the 2025 UEFA European U17 Championship qualifiers. The winners of all seven groups and the four best second-placed teams qualified for the tournament in Qatar.

Bino Maçães’ side made their qualification for the tournament count by taking out the title in Albania. They beat the hosts 4-0 before a 0-0 draw against France, reaching the knockout rounds after coming from behind to beat Germany 2-1.

The Equipa das Quinas fell behind twice against Italy in the semi-finals but took the contest to a penalty shootout where they prevailed. Portugal thrashed France 3-0 in the final to win their third European U17 title.

Limoges International Tournament

Portugal contested the Limoges International Tournament in early September. The opened the competition with a 1-0 defeat against Japan who held on after scoring in the 9th minute.

Anísio Cabral scored a 77th minute winner to secure a 1-0 victory over Saudi Arabia and their campaign ended with a 2-0 win against hosts France, Tomás Soares scoring in the 36th minute and Matheus Araújo on target in the 72nd minute.

Four Nations Tournament

Bino Maçães’ side returned to action in October when they contested the Four Nations Tournament in Türkiye. They started against Spain, Stevan Manuel opening the scoring in the 59th minute before the Spaniard’s hit back, substitute Mateus Mide scoring the decisive goal in the 90th minute.

Portugal drew 1-1 against Romania after falling behind in the 13th minute. They dominated the second half and were rewarded in the 73th minute when Tomás Soares found the net.

The Equipa das Quinas beat Türkiye 1-0 to claim the trophy, Eduardo Ferreira’s 52nd minute strike the difference.

Manager

Manuel Albino Morim Maçães, known as Bino, was born in Póvoa de Varzim in 1972. He progressed through the youth ranks at FC Porto, representing Portugal at the 1989 European U16 Championship, 1989 FIFA U16 World Championship and 1994 European U21 Championship.

Following loan spells at Rio Ave, Salgueiros and Belenenses, he made 12 appearances and scored two goals as Porto won the 1995-96 Primeira Liga title. The midfielder was unable to hold down a regular spot in the Dragons’ side and was loaned to Marítimo.

Bino Maçães moved to Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1998 alongside current U21 manager Rui Jorge. He appeared in 12 matches as the Lions won the 1999-2000 title, their first in 18 years.

The midfielder spent two years at Tenerife and another two at Marítimo before winding down his playing career at Moreirense, retiring in 2009.

Bino earned three caps for Portugal, the first coming on 11 October 2000 when he played the full 90 minutes in a 2-0 away victory over the Netherlands in the 2002 FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He teammates that day included Fernando Couto, Jorge Costa, Rui Costa, Luís Figo, Sérgio Conceição and Pauleta.

He started again in a friendly in November 2000, suffering an injury and replaced in the first half as Portugal beat Israel 2-1 at Estádio 1º de Maio.His final appearance for the Seleção came in March 2002. It was another friendly, a 4-1 defeat against Finland at Estádio do Bessa Século XXI where he came on at half-time with Portugal 3-1 down.

The 52-year-old returned to Sporting as a scout in 2010 before returning to Porto in 2014 as head coach of the U17 side. He left in 2017 and resurfaced two years later as manage of Vitória de Guimarães’ B team.

In April 2021 he replaced João Henriques as caretaker manager of the senior side, his spell lasting seven matches. Bino became the manager of Liga 3 club Leiria in October 2021, leaving in June 2022 after his side were knocked out in the promotion play-offs.

Bino decided that international football was more to his liking and the Portuguese Football Federation agreed. He spent a year as U16 assistant manager before taking over the U20 side in 2022, winning one of his six games in charge.

He then managed the U16 side from 2023 to 2024, his 11 games resulting in six wins and five defeats. Bino remained with the group and successfully guided them to the U17 Championship title in Albania.

Squad

Bino Maçães initially named 24 players in his squad for the training camp. The squad was then reduced to 21 with Diego Coxi, Francisco Fernandes and Eduardo Ferreira the ones to miss out.

Goalkeepers: Alex Tverdohlebov (Sporting CP), Romário Cunha (Braga), David Rodrigues (Braga)

Defenders: Daniel Banjaqui (Benfica), Gabriel Dbouk (Braga), Yoan Pereira (Porto), José Neto (Benfica), Martim Chelmik (Porto), Ricardo Neto (Benfica), Mauro Furtado (Benfica)

Midfielders: Santiago Silva (Vitória de Guimarães), Rafael Quintas (Benfica), Martim Guedes (Vitória de Guimarães), Tomás Soares (Benfica), Bernardo Lima (Porto), Miguel Figueiredo (Benfica)

Forwards: João Aragão (Braga), Duarte Cunha (Porto), Steven Manuel (Benfica), Mateus Mide (Porto), Anísio Cabral (Benfica), Eduardo Ferreira (Porto)

Quotes

Bino Maçães “Although our core comes from the European Championship, as is logical, given the players' performances, it's natural that a large percentage of those players would be present here, which is what happened.

“It’s true that there will always be players who may be in better form than others, with other athletes who are now starting to establish themselves. This is beneficial for what we aim for: a competitive group, so we can then choose the best players and thus select the best team in the best way possible. That was the thinking of the entire coaching staff, and we hope things go well.

“The preparation will not be very different from what the preparation was for the Euros and the qualifiers we had before that, and therefore, I understand that the players are already well-adjusted and very balanced for what our process is and what we want to do. Now, yes, there is a great deal of anxiety for all of us to be present; it is true that Portugal hasn't been in a World Cup for many years.

“We know the responsibility we have after winning a European Championship. This group stage is very difficult, and we have to go in the best possible way. If we have a very strong competitive spirit, I believe we can do good things.

“If we relax and think that everything is already done, we will have many difficulties in advancing to the next stage. The message will be just that: game by game, with a very difficult group stage against the African champions (Morocco), and Japan, which is a very strong team that can cause us many problems.

“First, we would like many people to come, which would be very good in the end. It's true that, surprisingly and positively, at the Euros, we had many people from Portugal supporting us. We felt that, and the players felt that, not only in the support at the stadium, but also upon arrival at the games, a great support that also gave us extra strength which was important. If you can be there in Qatar, and even those who can't, please cheer for Portugal.”

Rafael Quintas “It is always a pleasure and a pride to represent our national team. Being in this preparation for the World Cup is very important for us, we have been working very well and we are ready for what awaits us at the World Championship.

“We know it's one of the toughest groups in the World Cup. We know Japan, but we don't know New Caledonia and Morocco directly, but we know they are two good teams. Therefore, we are ready, we are prepared. It's a difficult group and we will do our best to finish first.

“We have a very solid, very friendly team, where everyone knows each other very well and is ready to help each other and have the best possible campaign in the World Cup.

“The weather is one of the most difficult factors, the time difference doesn't help us much either, but I understand that it doesn't have to be very important, because the weather is the same for all teams, the time difference may not be, but the weather can't be an excuse for not getting results.”

Bernardo Lima “The team is good, confident, we are all very motivated for what's to come, a very important competition, we all know that. We managed to win the European Championship and now the focus is the same.

“I also think it might be one of the toughest groups, but we are aware of that difficulty, but we like that, we like good challenges and we have to be prepared to play against these three teams and win all three games.

“During the European Championship, the fans were tireless, even in the stadium we had many people supporting us and I think that's an extra force, which makes a big difference, because they help us a lot, give us a lot of confidence and I understand that they are very important now for the World Cup.

“Our team has a lot of quality. We have a team that defends well, with courage and unity, which is the most important thing.”

Tomás Soares “We know that New Caledonia might be the easiest game, but we always try never to underestimate the opponent, never to make it easy for them. We will give our best.

“We feel a positive pressure, but as the coach often tells us, that’s in the past. Now, we have to focus on the World Cup.”

Romário Cunha “The group is confident, we have an added responsibility, we know the weight of not having been to a World Cup for several years now. We are aware of what we have to do, we are prepared and we will give our all, to play our football and show our team unity, which is what led us to win the European Championship.

“We have a Portuguese mystique that is largely based on grit and team spirit. I'm a player who likes to lead and be able to pass that on to my team, I think everyone felt it and it helped me and the team a lot.

“We know the qualities of our opponents. Morocco could be the team that causes us the most difficulties, we also know that Japan has its strengths. It will be a very competitive group, with the first game always being very important for the start of the competition, an anxious game for all of us, just as it was in the European Championship.

“We are calm, we have been training well, we know this responsibility because we really want to win the World Championship, to once again make our nation proud and make our name known to all Portuguese people.

“We thank everyone who will be traveling to Qatar; we felt very strong support during the European Championship, in all the arrivals we had at the stadium. To those who remain in Portugal, we want you to help us as much as possible, because that's what made us win, feeling everyone's support. I also wanted to leave a message for all Portuguese people on behalf of the group: that you can help us to win the World Cup.”

Gabriel Dbouk “The team is very well prepared, spirits are high, and the trip was long. It's a different country, but we are ready for this journey.

“We will take it game by game, but we have our first match against New Caledonia on Monday, where we will do everything to make a good start to this great journey. It's always important to start winning, it gives us great motivation to be more confident.

“These are the games we like to play and we are prepared for anything. One of our strengths is unity, the group we have been forming so far. The character and personality we have is fundamental to facing adversity.”

José Neto “Emotions are a little high, the team is a bit anxious, but understands that it's a positive anxiety. We are confident in our abilities and I think we are prepared to have a good tournament.

“I approach this game the same way I will approach the other three. New Caledonia is a team that is also in this World Cup on merit, and therefore we must approach the game with maximum respect for our opponent. We always go into every game to win, and that has to be our mentality.

“We need to keep our feet firmly on the ground. It’s true that we were European champions, but that’s in the past. This is a completely new tournament, and we need to have that humility, which will help us achieve the victories we want to continue in the competition.

“Many emotions are going through my head. I come from Aljustrel, a place that is very important to me. I've also had a journey that I think has been quite good, with incredible experiences that I never thought I would have. I think that boy who started in Aljustrel ends up being proud of this boy who is now in Qatar.”

Pedro Proença “A message of hope, for what the Portuguese people expect from you, not putting more pressure than usual, but the last time I said this, it happened, and bring home the trophy. Be very happy, do what you know how to do, which is to play well and bring victory to Portugal.”