The first Portugal captain was Cândido de Oliveira, who captained Portugal in the international match against Spain on 18 December 1921. This was his only international appearance. Vítor Gonçalves captained Portugal in their first international on home soil, on 17 December 1922 against the same opposition. The current individual with the most caps, as captain of the Portugal team is Cristiano Ronaldo.
List of captains
#PlayerPortugal career Caps as captain Total caps First captaincy Last captaincy Ref(s)1 1921 1 1 18 December 1921 18 December 1921 2 1921–1922 1 2 17 December 1922 17 December 1922 3 1922–1923 1 2 16 December 1923 16 December 1923 4 1921–1928 13 (15) 15 (17) 17 May 1925 4 June 1928 5 1925–1934 8 20 (21) 17 March 1929 18 March 1934 6 1928–1930 1 3 12 January 1930 12 January 1930 7Tamanqueiro 1925–1930 1 15 (17) 23 February 1930 23 February 1930 8 1926–1933 1 15 (16) 8 June 1930 8 June 1930 9 1926–1931 1 9 (11) 30 November 1930 30 November 1930 10 1928–1936 2 21 12 April 1931 31 May 1931 11 1930–1938 7 (9) 8 (10) 5 May 1935 6 November 1938 12 1934–1942 2 13 (15) 12 February 1939 12 January 1941 13 1934–1942 1 6 (7) 28 January 1940 28 January 1940 14Pinga 1930–1942 2 19 (21) 16 March 1941 1 January 1942 15 1941–1947 10 13 11 March 1945 25 May 1947 16 1938–1949 1 20 23 November 1947 23 November 1947 17 1940–1951 12 25 21 March 1948 17 June 1951 18 1945–1950 1 7 21 May 1950 21 May 1950 19 1947–1958 2 35 8 April 1951 18 December 1955 20 1945–1953 1 18 20 April 1952 20 April 1952 21 1950–1955 2 15 23 November 1952 14 December 1952 22 1950–1953 1 6 27 September 1953 27 September 1953 23 1952–1957 15 17 21 November 1953 24 March 1957 24 1952–1957 4 17 1 May 1957 16 June 1957 25 1949–1960 9 39 22 December 1957 8 May 1960 26 1959–1965 5 21 21 June 1959 7 June 1964 27 José Águas 1952–1962 7 25 11 November 1959 17 May 1962 28 1953–1964 1 28 7 November 1962 7 November 1962 29 1955–1968 21 57 16 December 1962 11 December 1968 30 1953–1966 9 24 15 November 1964 16 July 1966 31 1958–1968 7 45 25 January 1965 17 December 1967 32 1964–1972 2 27 6 April 1969 10 May 1972 33 1959–1971 5 40 16 April 1969 17 February 1971 34Eusébio 1961–1973 16 64 4 May 1969 13 October 1973 35 1961–1971 4 36 10 December 1969 12 May 1971 36 1968–1983 40 (41) 63 (64) 14 November 1973 27 April 1983 37Toni 1969–1978 4 32 (33) 19 November 1975 16 October 1976 38Nené 1971–1984 6 65 (66) 5 December 1976 28 October 1983 39 1974–1983 1 35 (36) 24 September 1980 24 September 1980 40 1976–1986 26 63 15 October 1980 3 June 1986 41 1975–1988 6 47 (48) 23 February 1983 16 November 1988 42 1982–1983 1 3 8 June 1983 8 June 1983 43 1975–1987 5 30 (31) 12 October 1986 29 March 1987 44 1981–1988 1 20 4 February 1987 4 February 1987 45 1983–1996 44 70 11 November 1987 9 November 1996 46Dito 1981–1987 1 17 5 December 1987 5 December 1987 47 1985–1989 1 18 20 December 1987 20 December 1987 48 1972–1989 2 43 12 October 1988 25 January 1989 49 1981–1994 1 40 29 August 1990 29 August 1990 50 1983–1995 4 41 31 March 1993 10 November 1993 51Oceano 1985–1998 4 54 19 June 1993 11 October 1997 52 1988–1996 1 44 20 April 1994 20 April 1994 53Nelo 1990–1995 1 (2) 10 (11) 26 January 1995 29 January 1995 54 1992–2002 1 49 (50) 3 June 1995 3 June 1995 55 1990–2002 40 80 3 September 1995 25 May 2002 56 1990–2004 44 110 12 December 1995 12 June 2004 57 1991–2006 23 127 2 June 2001 5 July 2006 58 1991–2002 1 81 6 June 2001 6 June 2001 59Pauleta 1997–2006 9 88 4 September 2004 8 July 2006 60Costinha 1998–2006 8 53 8 September 2004 11 October 2006 61 1996–2011 9 79 15 November 2006 19 June 2008 62 2003–2026 172 234 6 February 2007 24 September 2026 63 2001–2007 4 51 24 March 2007 22 August 2009 64Deco 2003–2010 2 75 5 June 2007 31 March 2009 65 2000–2008 1 54 15 June 2008 15 June 2008 66 1998–2010 8 85 20 August 2008 8 June 2010 67 2003–2016 5 89 10 June 2009 29 May 2016 68 2007–2018 6 96 29 March 2011 16 June 2015 69Pepe 2007–2024 14 141 14 November 2012 21 March 2024 70Nani 2006–2017 9 112 15 October 2013 2 July 2017 71Vieirinha 2013–2016 1 25 17 November 2015 17 November 2015 72João Moutinho 2005–2022 6 146 2 June 2018 2 June 2022 73Beto 2009–2018 1 16 14 October 2018 14 October 2018 74Rui Patrício 2010–2024 2 108 17 November 2018 17 November 2022 75Bernardo Silva 2015–present 4 113 11 September 2023 16 November 2025 76Rúben Dias 2018–present 2 80 4 June 2024 27 September 2026 77João Cancelo 2016–present 1 73 18 November 2024 18 November 2024 78Bruno Fernandes 2017–present 5 95 28 March 2026 4 October 2026
Unofficial captaincies The following players captained a side in a FIFA-declared unofficial match. Nevertheless, the Portuguese Football Federation has decided to award caps to the intervening footballers and as a result these matches were taken into account in the above table.
#CaptainOpponent ScoreVenue Date Ref(s)1 Czechoslovakia Amateurs 1–1 Campo do Ameal, Porto 24 January 1926 2 Spain B 0–2 Estadio Metropolitano de Madrid, Madrid 29 May 1927 3 Spain Nationalists 2–1 Balaídos, Vigo 28 November 1937 4 Spain Nationalists 1–0 Campo das Salésias, Lisbon 30 January 1938 5 Goiás 1–2 Estádio Serra Dourada, Goiânia 9 March 1975 6Nelo Denmark League 1–0 SkyDome, Toronto 29 January 1995
Footnotes
References