Portugal coach Roberto Martínez has announced a 26-man squad for Portugal’s Euro 2024 qualifiers against Slovakia and Bosnia-Herzegovina next week.
The main news is the inclusion of 19-year-old Benfica midfielder João Neves, who gets his debut call-up to the senior Seleção. Bayern Munich left-back Raphaël Guerreiro is recalled after recovering from injury.
No players drop out of the previous squad, which contained 24 names.
“This is the next step in the evolution of João’s career,” said Martínez when asked why he had selected Neves.
“This season he is leading a team like Benfica, playing in the Champions League, and he was man-of-the-match against FC Porto. After playing well for the U21s, it’s a well-deserved step up.”
Questioned about his decision not to call up in-form players such as Bruma, the coach replied: “We have a bigger pool of players to choose from now. There’s a lot of competition, but that’s a good thing. To those who missed out I leave a message to keep working and be ready for when you are called up.”
The Seleção have breezed through Euro 2024 qualifying Group J so far, clocking up 6/6 wins, scoring 24 goals and conceding none.
Portugal will almost certainly seal qualification in this international window, and will do so in the first match if they beat Slovakia in Porto next Friday and Luxembourg fail to win in Iceland on the same night.
Portugal host Slovakia at the Estádio do Dragão on 13 October, before travelling to Bosnia-Herzegovina on 16 October.
Goalkeepers: Diogo Costa (Porto), José Sá (Wolves), Rui Patrício (Roma)
Defenders: Diogo Dalot (Manchester United), Nélson Semedo (Wolves), João Cancelo (Barcelona), Raphael Guerreiro (Bayern Munich), Danilo Pereira (PSG), Rúben Dias (Manchester City), António Silva (Benfica), Gonçalo Inácio (Sporting), Toti Gomes (Wolves)
Midfielders: João Palhinha (Fulham), Rúben Neves (Al-Hilal), João Neves (Benfica), Bruno Fernandes (Manchester United), Otávio Monteiro (Al Nassr), Vitinha (PSG), Bernardo Silva (Manchester City)
Forwards: Ricardo Horta (Braga), Rafael Leão (AC Milan), João Félix (Barcelona), Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nassr), Pedro Neto (Wolves), Gonçalo Ramos (PSG), Diogo Jota (Liverpool)
By Tom Kundert
