Portugal stars celebrate historic semi-final success in Doha

Doha, Qatar: At the start of the year, the FIFA U 17 World Cup had been just a distant memory for Portugal. With only three previous appearances, the...

Doha, Qatar: At the start of the year, the FIFA U-17 World Cup had been just a distant memory for Portugal. With only three previous appearances, the last of those in 2003, the national team had barely made its presence felt in the tournament. Bino Macaes’ side have been determined to change all that.

The current European champions are now through to the FIFA U-17 World Cup Qatar 2025 final after beating Brazil in a penalty shootout in the semi-finals.

“It’s amazing. There are no words for this,” commented captain Rafael Quintas moments after the win. “We gave our best, we worked like our people always do, always giving everything they have. We are representing Portugal in an unbelievable way and we have to keep going until the end.”

Before this campaign, Portugal had only played in the World Cup in 1989 (when it was still U-16), 1995, and 2003. Their previous best had been a third-place finish in their first appearance in the tournament - an achievement which was surpassed on Monday with the victory over Brazil.

Defender Mauro Furtado, named Player of the Match in the semifinal, also celebrated the historic achievement. Although Portugal may lack experience in the U-17 World Cup historically, this team has shown it can rise to the occasion when it matters most. This is a generation that has played together for some time under Macaes.