Portugal has created history. After their previous best finish—third place back in 1989—the nation has finally claimed the U-17 World Cup title. Cristiano Ronaldo’s homeland celebrated a proud moment as they lifted the trophy for the very first time.
In a tightly contested final, Portugal defeated Austria 1-0 on Thursday to secure the championship. The decisive moment came when Benfica youngster Anício Cabral broke free of the offside trap, collected a low pass in front of goal, and calmly guided the ball into an empty net. His 32nd-minute strike proved to be the title-winning goal.
“𝑪𝒂𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒍 𝒅𝒊𝒅𝒏’𝒕 𝒘𝒊𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝑮𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆𝒏 𝑩𝒂𝒍𝒍, 𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒉𝒆 𝒅𝒆𝒍𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 𝒊𝒕 𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒕𝒆𝒓𝒆𝒅 𝒎𝒐𝒔𝒕,” 𝒔𝒂𝒊𝒅 𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒕𝒆𝒂𝒎 𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒇𝒇 𝒎𝒆𝒎𝒃𝒆𝒓 𝒅𝒖𝒓𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒑𝒐𝒔𝒕-𝒎𝒂𝒕𝒄𝒉 𝒄𝒆𝒍𝒆𝒃𝒓𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒐𝒏𝒔.
Cabral’s tally rose to seven goals in the tournament—just one short of Austria’s Golden Ball winner Johannes Moser.
Portugal Dominates as Austria Fights Hard
Portugal controlled the rhythm of the match with 58% possession, taking 10 shots, three of which hit the target. Austria, which held the remaining 42%, managed eight attempts and tested the Portuguese goalkeeper five times. The match was physical throughout, with both sides combining for 43 fouls.
“𝑾𝒆 𝒌𝒏𝒆𝒘 𝑨𝒖𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒊𝒂 𝒘𝒐𝒖𝒍𝒅 𝒇𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝒖𝒏𝒕𝒊𝒍 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒍𝒂𝒔𝒕 𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒖𝒕𝒆, 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝒐𝒖𝒓 𝒃𝒐𝒚𝒔 𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒐𝒅 𝒔𝒕𝒓𝒐𝒏𝒈,” 𝒂 𝑷𝒐𝒓𝒕𝒖𝒈𝒖𝒆𝒔𝒆 𝒐𝒇𝒇𝒊𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍 𝒄𝒐𝒎𝒎𝒆𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒐𝒏 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒊𝒏𝒕𝒆𝒏𝒔𝒆 𝒇𝒊𝒏𝒂𝒍.
Meanwhile, in the third-place playoff held earlier in Doha, Italian goalkeeper Alessandro Longoni became the hero. He saved two crucial penalties as Italy defeated Brazil 4-2 in a shootout, securing the bronze medal.