England U21 vs Portugal U21; Under-21 International
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England U21 vs Portugal U21. Under-21 International.
Ashton Gate Stadium.
England 0-1 Portugal: Max Dowman makes debut off the bench as U21s suffer defeat in friendly
Match report as England U21s lost to Portugal in a friendly; Afonso Moreira's first-half strike secured the win for Portugal; Max Dowman made his debut off the bench but could not stop Lee Carsley's side suffering back-to-back defeats
Friday 13 November 2026 22:38, UK
Max Dowman broke Jude Bellingham's record to become the youngest player to represent England at U21 level but could not stop Lee Carsley's side from falling to a 1-0 loss against Portugal.
Dowman, aged 16, 10 months and 13 days, stepped off the bench with around half an hour remaining to make his debut, but Moreira's first half strike secured the victory for Portugal on the evening.
Lee Carsley's side have now suffered successive defeats for the first time since March 2021 following their loss to the Republic of Ireland in their last European Championship qualifying match in October.
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England's preparations for next year's tournament did not get off to an ideal start as Bayer Leverkusen forward Moreira put the visitors ahead at the break.
Portugal's superiority continued in the second half and the hosts had to rely on a string of Tommy Setford saves to keep them in the contest, but the Arsenal goalkeeper could not stop them from falling to defeat.
Neither side did anything by the way of hurting their opponents through the opening quarter of an hour, with England's only real sight of goal came when Divin Mubama tried to catch Joao Carvalho off his line from range but fired wide.
Portugal forced Setford into action with their first shot on target of the contest when Mezian Mesloub cut inside and fired a low effort.
The visitors were beginning to get on top and they had their opener in the 38th minute when Moreira fired low at goal with a shot which squeezed under Setford and crept over the line.
England were nowhere near their best and Portugal threatened once more just before half-time when Mesloub slammed into the side netting from close range.
Setford was becoming busier as the game went on and he adjusted his body magnificently to tip Gustavo Sa's deflected effort wide.
England finally warmed into the match in the 75th minute when Mikey Moore's shot straight at Carvalho.
The hosts enjoyed their best spell of pressure in the final 10 minutes as they looked for an equaliser, but were unable to find a way through despite efforts from Divine Mukasa, Moore and Stephen Mfuni.
