Brazil, the four-time U-17 World Cup champions, hoped to reclaim the trophy they last won in 2019. But their campaign came to a heartbreaking end as Portugal halted their dream in a dramatic semifinal clash.
Missed Chances Hurt Brazil Early
Brazil began aggressively but failed to make their opportunities count. Angelo Candido fired wide, while Portugal’s Anício Cabral also wasted a promising chance at the other end.
In the 20th minute, Del tested goalkeeper Romario Cunha, who reacted brilliantly. Brazilian keeper João Pedro soon matched that quality by denying Mauro Furtado’s attempt.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒄𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒄𝒉𝒂𝒏𝒄𝒆𝒔 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒊𝒔𝒉 𝒕𝒉𝒆𝒎,” 𝒂 𝑩𝒓𝒂𝒛𝒊𝒍 𝒄𝒂𝒎𝒑 𝒔𝒐𝒖𝒓𝒄𝒆 𝒔𝒉𝒂𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒂𝒇𝒕𝒆𝒓 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉.
Portugal Holds Firm and Force Penalties
After the break, Brazil controlled possession again but lacked a decisive edge in the final third. They slowly fought their way into the game through coordinated buildup play. Santiago Vardy’s powerful strike, however, missed the target.
Inácio tried a long-range effort, only for the Brazilian keeper to collect it comfortably. With neither side breaking the deadlock in regular time, the semifinal headed to penalties.
Historic Win for Portugal
Portugal held their nerve in the shootout, edging Brazil 6–5 and booking their first-ever U-17 World Cup final. Their previous best finish was third place back in 1989.
“𝑻𝒉𝒊𝒔 𝒗𝒊𝒄𝒕𝒐𝒓𝒚 𝒎𝒆𝒂𝒏𝒔 𝒂 𝒍𝒐𝒕 𝒕𝒐 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒂𝒅 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒓𝒚,” 𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅.
Final Awaits Against Austria
Portugal will now face Austria, which defeated Italy 2–0 in the other semifinal. Brazil, meanwhile, will play the Italians in the third-place match. Their pursuit of matching Nigeria’s record of five titles will have to wait until 2026.
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