The squad was comprised largely of players that led Portugal to glory at the 2016 European U-17 Championship and it was that camaraderie that saw them run out victors 4-3 after extra time.
João ’Jota’ Filipe opened the scoring just before half-time for Portugal and when Francisco Trincão made it 2-0 with eighteen minutes to go it looked as if it was game over.
But Italy had other ideas and four minutes later Moise Kean (Juventus) scored twice within two minutes to take the final to extra-time.
In an action packed and thrilling final thirty minutes, Portugal made it 3-2 when João ’Jota’ Filipe got his second of the game in the 104th minute before Italy drew level yet again a minute later through Gianluca Scamacca (Sassuolo). Substitute Pedro Correia ensured a penalty shoot-out would not be necessary, firing home from the edge of the area two minutes later as Portugal won the competition for the first time since 1999. Trincão Francisco and João Filipe were joint winners of the ‘Golden Boot’, finishing level with five goals a piece. Watch out for these youngsters, some of whom could be on their way to international stardom.
Diogo Costa, Diogo Queirós (FC Porto); João Virginia (Arsenal); Ricardo Benjamim, Pedro Correia (Deportivo de La Coruña, Spain); Florentino Luís, Nuno Santos, Mésaque Djú, João Felipe. José Gomes (Benfica); David Carmo, Francisco Moura, Francisco Trincão (SC Braga); Romain Correia (Vitória Guimarães); Rúben Vinagre (Wolverhampton Wanderers); Nuno Henrique (Sion, Switzerland); Diogo Teixeira (Rio Ave); Elves Baldé, Miguel Luís (Sporting Lisbon); Domingos Quina (West Ham United).