Portugal Olympic football team

Portugal Olympic football team
Nickname(s) Sub–23, Selecção Olímpica
Association Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
Confederation UEFA (Europe)
Head coach Rui Jorge
Captain Ricardo Esgaio
FIFA code POR
First colours
Second colours
Olympics
Appearances 4 (first in 1928)
Best result 4th (1996)

The Portugal national under-23 football team (also known as Portugal Olympic football team) represents Portugal in international football competitions (final stage and qualifiers) in Olympic Games, as well as in under–23 football tournaments. The selection is limited to players under the age of 23, except three over-age players. The team is controlled by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF). In three participations, Portugal's highest place was fourth, in 1996. This team also competed in the now-defunct Under-23 European Championship. The first time Portugal participated in the Olympic Football Tournament, they fielded main team players since the International Olympic Committee rules allowed to do so back then and in the 1980s, the team was composed of semi-professional players. The team currently qualifies in accordance to their under-21 team position in the UEFA Under-21 Championship. The results below comprise both the under-23 team as well as the Olympic team.

History

1928 Summer Olympics in Amsterdam

Portugal was invited to enter the 1928 Summer Olympics Football Tournament, which was, at that time, contested by the best national "A" teams in the world and, therefore, considered to be the best international footballing tournament until the FIFA World Cup started, two years later, in 1930.

The Portuguese team was drawn in the preliminary round against Chile for a place in the first round. After falling 2–0 behind, Portugal scored four goals, winning the game 4–2 in what was their first win away from home soil. After their fantastic win against Chile, they faced off Yugoslavia and won 2–1 thanks to a late goal in the 90th minute.

Egypt was the team that followed in the quarter-finals. Here the Portuguese adventure ended after a 2–1 defeat. In the following games, the Egyptians lost against Argentina 6–0 in the semi-final and Italy 11–3 for the bronze medal match, which bittered the players. This was the first tournament the Portuguese team had ever competed.

1972 European U-23 qualifiers

Portugal was drawn to Group Five, along with Denmark, to play in a two-legged Play-off. After a 1–1 tie in Lisbon, the Portuguese lost the return leg in Aalborg 2–1, ending with a 3–2 aggregate result.

1974 European U-23 qualifiers

For the next tournament, Portugal was put in Group Six with Bulgaria. The playoff result was 2–1 (0–0 in the first leg in Porto and 2–1 in Pleven) for the Bulgarians.

1976 European U-23 qualifiers

With England and Czechoslovakia in Group One, Portugal ended second with three points (four less than England) coming from a win and a draw against the central Europeans (2–0 in Faro and 1–1 in Teplice). Both games against the English were loses (3–2 in Lisbon and 2–0 in London).

1984 Summer Olympics qualifiers

Portugal was to play in Subgroup A of Group Four with Israel and West Germany for a place in the second qualifying round. They finished second behind the Germans (six points) with four points. After an initial win (3–1 in Lisbon), they lost in Osnabrück 3–0, followed by a 1–0 defeat in Tel Aviv and a 2–1 win against the Israelis in Lisbon.

1988 Summer Olympics qualifiers

With strong sides to play with (East Germany, Iceland, Italy, and the Netherlands) the Portuguese qualification was seen has difficult. With wins against Iceland (2–1 in Leiria and 1–0 in Reykjavík), two away defeats (1–0 in Lecce, Italy and 3–0 in Aue, East Germany) and all other games tied, they ended up in third place with eight points (five behind group winners and qualifiers Italy).

1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta

Portugal participated in the Atlanta Games and after a win over Tunisia (2–0) and 1–1 draws against Argentina and the United States, they ended in second place in Group A with the same points and goal difference as the first-placed Argentinians (but with lesser goals scored). Then in the quarter-finals, a win over France (2–1) after extra-time assured them a place in the semi-finals. Once again, they played against Argentina, but this time the South Americans won 2–0. For the bronze medal match, they faced a strong Brazil full of world stars such as Bebeto, Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, Rivaldo, among others. Portugal was heavily defeated by a score of 5–0. This participation remains to this day as their best ever ending with the fourth place.

2004 Summer Olympics in Athens

In the 2004 Games, the Portuguese were seen as major contenders for Olympic gold, but they didn't make it past the group stage. This disappointing performance started with a 4–2 defeat at the hands of Iraq. The second game ended in a 2–1 win over Morocco and in the third game, Portugal were once again defeated 4–2 by a minor team (Costa Rica).

Tournament history

Olympic

Olympics Record
Year Round Position Games Won Drawn Lost GF GA
Greece 1896No football tournament
France 1900Did not enter
United States 1904
United Kingdom 1908
Sweden 1912
Belgium 1920
France 1924
Netherlands 1928Quarter-finals-320175
United States 1932No football tournament
Germany 1936Did not enter
United Kingdom 1948
Finland 1952
Australia 1956
Italy 1960
Japan 1964
Mexico 1968
West Germany 1972
Canada 1976
Soviet Union 1980
United States 1984Did not qualify
South Korea 1988
Spain 1992
United States 1996Fourth place4th6222610
Australia 2000Did not qualify
Greece 2004Round 1-310269
China 2008Did not qualify
United Kingdom 2012
Brazil 2016Quarter-finals6th421156
Japan 2020To be determined
TotalFourth place4/25167362430
*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 on home soil.

European U-23 Championship

Players

Current squad

The following 18 players were selected to participate at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[1]

The following is the Portugal squad in the men's football tournament of the 2016 Summer Olympics. The team of 18 players was officially named on 14 July.[2] On 17 July, Pité replaced Nuno Santos.[3] On 21 July, Fábio Sturgeon left the squad due to injury and was replaced by Fernando Fonseca.[4]

Head coach: Rui Jorge

0#0 Pos. Player Date of birth (age) Caps Goals Club
1 1GK Bruno Varela (1994-11-04)4 November 1994 (aged 21) 0 0 Portugal Vitória de Setúbal
2 2DF Ricardo Esgaio (c) (1993-05-16) 16 May 1993 1 0 Portugal Sporting CP
3 2DF Tiago Ilori (1993-10-28)28 October 1993 (aged 22) 1 0 England Liverpool
4 2DF Tobias Figueiredo (1994-02-02)2 February 1994 (aged 22) 1 0 Portugal Nacional
5 2DF Edgar Ié (1994-05-05)5 May 1994 (aged 22) 0 0 Spain Villarreal B
6 3MF Tomás Podstawski (1995-01-30)30 January 1995 (aged 21) 0 0 Portugal Porto B
7 3MF André Martins* (1990-01-21)21 January 1990 (aged 26) 0 0 Greece Olympiacos
8 3MF Sérgio Oliveira* (1992-06-02)2 June 1992 (aged 24) 1 0 Portugal Porto
9 4FW Gonçalo Paciência (1994-08-01)1 August 1994 (aged 22) 0 0 Portugal Porto
10 3MF Bruno Fernandes (1994-09-08)8 September 1994 (aged 21) 1 0 Italy Udinese
11 4FW Salvador Agra* (1991-11-11)11 November 1991 (aged 24) 0 0 Portugal Nacional
12 1GK Joel Castro Pereira (1996-06-28)28 June 1996 (aged 20) 0 0 England Manchester United
13 4FW Pité (1994-08-22)22 August 1994 (aged 21) 0 0 Portugal Tondela
14 2DF Paulo Henrique (1996-10-23)23 October 1996 (aged 19) 0 0 Portugal Paços de Ferreira
15 3MF Fernando Fonseca (1997-03-14)14 March 1997 (aged 19) 0 0 Portugal Porto B
16 3MF Francisco Ramos (1995-04-10)10 April 1995 (aged 21) 1 0 Portugal Chaves
17 4FW Carlos Mané (1994-03-11)11 March 1994 (aged 22) 0 0 Portugal Sporting CP
18 3MF Tiago Silva (1993-06-02)2 June 1993 (aged 23) 0 0 Portugal Feirense

* Over-aged player.

Previous squads

References

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