U17 world champion Duarte Cunha extends with FC Porto | OneFootball

“Renewing with the club of my heart is a very special moment. Above all, whenever I wear this shirt, I give my all, because that is what this club has demanded of me since I arrived at the age of nine. Throughout these years, I always dreamed of this moment. By renewing my contract with FC Porto, I am fulfilling another dream,” stressed the 18-year-old player in comments to the club’s website.

Duarte Cunha’s new contract, for a player who has represented the Porto club for nine seasons, comes after that of Bernardo Lima, his teammate in the under-17 national team’s international achievements, who also extended his deal with the new national champions three days ago, likewise until 2031.

On their website, the Porto side highlight “the winger who stands out for his influence in the final third,” recalling that, along his journey, he has “established himself as one of the main attacking weapons of Porto’s youth teams.”

This season, the player has already been living the “dream” of training with the senior team, while holding on to the hope of “still being able to play” and thus joining the group of national champions.

“I believe opportunities come with time and hard work. I absorb everything I can in every training session and try to learn from the more experienced players, who have already gone through all the major competitions, including the Champions League. I try to take in what they teach me,” he said.

On its website, FC Porto highlights the fact that the blue-and-white number 57 has achieved notable milestones in recent months: in June 2025 he became European under-17 champion, in November he won the world title in that age group, in February 2026 he scored for the first time in professional competitions, and in May he renewed his contract until 2031.

Duarte Cunha arrived at FC Porto at the age of nine, joining the under-10s, after scoring 54 goals in 46 matches for his hometown club, CD Cerveira.

The 2024/25 season was a breakthrough one for the 1.76-meter-tall player, as he scored 16 goals and provided 21 assists in the 34 matches played by the under-17s, even making the team of the tournament at the European Championship for that age group.

In his international journey with the under-17s, he became world champion alongside teammates Bernardo Lima, who has already renewed, Martim Chelmik, Yoan Pereira, and Bernardo Lima and Mateus Mide, the latter having been named the tournament’s best player in Qatar, and it is expected that the Dragons will also renew with this trio.

His professional debut came on February 6, in FC Porto B’s away win over Académico de Viseu (3-1), and three weeks later he scored his first goal in the second division, in the visit to Torreense (3-0).

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.