POrtugal will stabilize its range of choices on the way to the final phase of the Under-21 European Championship in 2027, after having carried out an extensive observation of footballers in qualification, explains national coach Luís Freire.
“The tendency will be for us to want to prepare for the European Championship with an increasingly closed group. This is not the time for major changes, but for us to prepare ourselves against high-level opponents to know the level we need to be at. However, and even now Mezian Soares has made his debut with us, it does not mean that we are not on the lookout for someone who could stand out and we will always have an open door for talent”, said the 40-year-old coach, in an interview with the Lusa agency.
Portugal, runners-up in 1994, 2015 and 2021, used 43 footballers – including 30 newcomers at the under-21 level – in the 11th qualification, and fourth consecutive, for the main competition of ‘hopes’, whose 26th edition will be co-organized by Albania and Serbia between June 16 and July 3, 2027 and played by players born from 2004.
“We had a very clear strategy from the beginning, which was to see a larger number, because then there would only be two stages left to prepare for the European Championship. We opened up the range a lot until the end of the qualification”, observed Luís Freire.
Tiago Gabriel, central defender for Lecce, had never represented the youth teams, but he imposed himself on the defensive axis and was the record holder for minutes, having even been part of the group of captains in the October training camp.
“He is serious about his work, has the desire to evolve and has remarkable maturity and has already been through a lot. We have placed trust in him and he has performed at a very good level. He was part of this journey in which we were defensively competent and in the last game he was in one of the goals”, he recalled, in reference to the central defender’s assist in the victory over the Czech Republic (2-0).
Tiago Gabriel competes in Serie A, where Rodrigo Mora, the Portuguese top scorer in accessing the under-21 European Championship, arrived in the summer, with five goals, and the midfielder is trying to gain space “with work, growth and evolution” in Rome, as is the case in England with winger Geovany Quenda, who left Sporting for world champion Chelsea.
“The bet on these two 19-year-old players, even for the amount invested, proves that the clubs have a lot of trust in them. For my part, I’m calm, because they are always motivated and ready to help Portugal and want to come when they are not called up to the ‘AA’ team, in which they have already been (without making their debut). We have a lot of affection for them and we hope that they assert themselves, but we have to give it time. We are here in the under-21s to push for both of them and give them a stage”, highlighted the Rui Jorge’s successor after 15 years.
Quenda played in the under-21 European Championship in 2025 and was part of the best team in the competition, in an experience shared with João Carvalho, Mathias de Amorim, Gustavo Sá, Roger Fernandes, captain Mateus Fernandes and Carlos Forbs, the last two released for once in the main team.
“Mateus and Forbs will never play for the under-21s again after this and they can try to do something special with their generation for Portugal. They are very involved in this. They are already ‘AA’ internationals and it is normal that they want to return to the main team, but they have presented themselves at this level motivated, with responsibility and maturity and committed to being examples for the younger players”, noted Luís Freire, who will debut in the final stages with the Portuguese.
One of the under-21s’ regulars in the spotlight this season is Gustavo Varela, Serie A’s top scorer and scorer of 10 appearances in nine games across the various competitions for promoted Monza, after leaving Benfica.
“We called him from the beginning of the process and he was the first starting striker in qualifying. He participated in Gil Vicente’s good season (in 2025/26, on loan from Benfica) and now he has a different visibility. He is being extremely effective and it is good news that we have a young striker with eight goals in Serie A. He is in a spectacular moment”, he considered.
Luís Freire also praised the “high level” of right-back Daniel Banjaqui, the only world and European under-17 champion in 2025 launched in the Portuguese under-21s and integrated into Benfica’s main squad, but warns of the risk of “too many expectations”, which “sometimes may not be positive”.
Another new addition to this cycle was Mezian Soares, 16 years old and born in France, with the striker from Gallic runner-up Lens becoming the youngest ever to represent the Portuguese team of ‘hopes’.
“It’s been a very rapid progression. Of course, we talked internally and it’s normal that we want to follow more closely when a player who plays for Portugal’s under-17s and under-18s starts to be introduced into the Champions League. That has to interest us in some way,” he admitted.
