Portugal’s U-17 women’s national team coach Beatriz Teixeira expressed confidence in her squad’s ability to reach the Euro 2026 finals, despite a recent defeat to Spain that saw them advance to the Elite Round as second-place finishers.
Teixeira’s remarks followed Portugal’s 0-2 loss to the Spanish national team in the final match of Group A1 during the first qualification round for the tournament.
The coach admitted that the high level of difficulty against Spain was anticipated, but highlighted her team’s “positive” overall performance in the initial qualifying stage.
Despite the loss, the Portuguese team successfully secured its place in the Elite Round. Teixeira firmly believes her players possess the “competence and quality” necessary to achieve their ultimate goal of reaching the final phase of the competition.
Analyzing the match against Spain, Teixeira described her team as “well-organized, bold, [and] courageous.” She stated they aimed to compete “eye-to-eye” with Spain, acknowledging that only a victory would have secured first place in the group.
The game, she noted, was decided by “details.” Spain won more individual duels, which directly led to the two goals conceded by Portugal.
The squad showed improvement in the second half but “lacked some tranquility and maturity to score,” according to Teixeira.
Overall, the coach gave a “very positive assessment” of the first qualification round. She cited four preparatory training camps that allowed the team to develop and consolidate their organization throughout all phases of play.
While their ambition was to win the group and secure a top seed, the focus now shifts to the Elite Round. In this next stage, only the first-place team will qualify directly for the Euro 2026 finals.
Portugal plans two additional training camps to prepare for this decisive second round of qualification. Teixeira reiterated her conviction that the team has the skills required to finish first.