Their performance was all the more impressive given manager Lee Carsley rested players as they’d reached the knockouts for the first time since 2017 with a game to spare.
That strength in depth and being the only side in the tournament yet to concede has now made the Young Lions among the favourites to win the Euros, although to do so they’ll need to overcome a poor recent H2H record against Portugal (W1, L3).
Their last meeting was in the group stage of the previous Euro Under-21 tournament (L 2-0) two years ago, making this something of a grudge match.
Portugal started the final round of group games at the bottom of the standings but secured their progress in dramatic style as Tiago Dantas’ 89th-minute penalty sealed a 2-1 win over Belgium and their place in the last eight.
Rui Jorge’s side will have reasonable expectations of going further as they haven’t fallen at this stage since 1996 and reached the final in 2015 and 2021.
As Esperanças have only lost two of their last 18 matches (W14, D2), they come into this fixture in decent form and will hope to put a slow start to the Euros behind them.
Winning three of the last four H2Hs ‘to nil’ (L1) should also give Portugal a boost, although no clean sheet in the group stage (W1, D1, L1) suggests they might find it hard to produce a repeat.
Players to watch: England’s Emile Smith Rowe completed the scoring in two of their group-stage victories with goals after the 65th minute despite not playing the full 90 minutes of either fixture. Portugal’s João Neves is another second-half threat, scoring after the 55th minute in two of his last five games for club and country.
Hot stat: The side netting first has won seven of the last eight H2Hs (England: W4, L4).