Under-21 Group C: Portugal vs Poland facts

Portugal and Poland will both look to get their first win in UEFA European Under-21 Championship Group C when they meet at the Sihoť Stadium in Trenčín on Matchday 2.

Portugal opened their finals campaign with a goalless draw against France while Poland conceded a 94th-minute goal to go down 1-2 against Georgia, Jakub Kałuziński's 73rd-minute penalty having seemingly earned them a point.

Previous European U21 Championship meetings

Matches 9
Portugal wins 5
Poland wins 2
Draws 2
Portugal goals 11
Poland goals 7

Poland qualified for the 2019 finals at Portugal's expense, in what were the sides' last fixtures. A first-half goal from Diogo Jota gave Portugal a 1-0 away win in Zabrze in the first leg; he was also on target early in the second half of the return in Chaves, but goals in the first half-hour from Krystian Bielik, Dawid Kownacki and Sebastian Szymański proved enough for Poland to progress 3-2 on aggregate.

That second-leg victory in November 2018 ended Poland's seven-game winless run against Portugal (D2 L5), stretching back to 1983.

The teams had drawn twice in the 2013 qualifying competition, 1-1 in Portugal and 0-0 in Poland; Portugal had won 2-0 in 2007 qualifying.

Prior to that, Portugal had eased to a 5-1 aggregate victory in the two-legged quarter-finals in 1994, João Pinto scoring twice and Rui Costa once in a 3-1 away first-leg win before a 2-0 home success.

Both teams had recorded a home victory in the 1984 qualifying competition, Portugal winning 1-0 in Porto and Poland 2-0 in Opole.

Dominik Marczuk and Tomasz Pieńko were both on target in Poland's 4-0 Under-20 friendly win against Portugal on 8 September 2023.

Rodrigo Gomes got Portugal's only goal in a 3-1 U20 loss to Poland on 27 September 2022.

Gustavo Sá opened the scoring as Portugal beat Poland 2-0 on Matchday 1 of the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship.

Form guide

Portugal

This is Portugal's 11th appearance in the U21 final tournament; they were runners-up in 1994 to Italy, 2015 to Sweden and 2021 to Germany. They were also third in 2004.

Portugal have now qualified for five of the last six tournaments, reaching two finals in that time – all under long-serving coach Rui Jorge, who was also a runner-up as a player in 1994.

Runners-up to co-hosts Georgia in Group A at the 2023 finals, Portugal were subsequently beaten 1-0 by eventual champions England in the quarter-finals.

In charge since 2010, Rui Jorge oversaw a near faultless qualifying campaign for the 2025 finals, his team winning nine of their ten Group G games (L1) and scoring 33 goals on their way to finishing five points clear of runners-up Croatia.

A late withdrawal from the squad due to injury, Fábio Silva was the top scorer in the qualifying group stage with eight goals and is within one of the career record of 15 U21 EURO goals (including qualifying) jointly held by Lampros Choutos (Greece), Tomáš Pekhart (Czechia) and George Puşcaş (Romania).

Poland

This is Poland's third qualification in five editions, having not made the finals between 1994 and 2017, when they were hosts.

The last of those appearances came in 2019, when Poland lost out to Spain and Italy in a three-way head-to-head after all three teams had finished level on six points.

Poland have reached the quarter-finals on five occasions – in 1982, 1984, 1986, 1992 and 1994.

Third in their qualifying section for the 2023 finals, Poland – by now coached by Adam Majewski, who was appointed in September 2023 – reached this tournament as one of the three best runners-up, finishing second in Group D four points behind Germany having won seven of their ten games (D1 L2).

Filip Szymczak was Poland's top scorer in qualifying with five goals.

Links and trivia

Have played together:
Christian Marques & Mateusz Legowski (Yverdon Sport 2024–)