The President of the Republic announced today that he will award the Order of Merit to the players of the national under-17 football team who won the world championship, in a ceremony scheduled for January 2nd.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa made this announcement at the reception at Palácio de Belém for the under-17 national team for winning the world title at the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Championship.
“It will be the awarding of the Order of Merit to the youngest recipients in these circumstances. But you deserve it. I hope you understand what this means for Portugal in the world and for Portugal at home”, stated the head of state.
The President of the Republic admitted that he considered whether he should decorate these young people, all minors, but highlighted that they achieved an unprecedented feat for Portugal: the European championship a few months ago and, this week, the world championship.
“I asked, will there be medals for all of them? And they told me: ‘President, in 48 hours we couldn’t do it. We couldn’t do it, why didn’t they think about it before?’ I thought we could become world champions, I had doubts about whether I should award young people as young as these”, he said.
After the decision was made, the President considered that “the problem has been resolved”.
“I have already spoken to the president [da Federação Portuguesa de Futebol]we agreed dates, now you will rest, you will thank the clubs, your family, you will try to understand what happened in your life. And on January 2nd, to start next year with strength, as it should be, here I will have your decorations with the Order of Merit”, he said.
The head of state highlighted that “there are thousands and thousands of young people who leave school early every day, go home later to play football” and the majority will not be able to win titles like this.
“But you have the right to dream. You help thousands of young people to dream. This is good for Portugal”, he said.
Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa explained why he attaches so much importance to the achievements of national sport, in the various modalities and football in particular.
“It’s not just football, but football has a weight in the world. Cristiano Ronaldo, there is no head of state, head of government, anyone who doesn’t talk about him”, he exemplified.
The President highlighted that it had been 34 years since Portugal had won a football world championship and defended the importance of sport in the training of young people.
“You can have a great mind, you can have great grades, but you can be incomplete if you don’t have that sporting dimension. As you can also be very good at sports, if you leave behind your preparation, your study, you leave behind something fundamental in life”, he warned.
The tribute ended with everyone singing the national anthem and a selfie session after, upon arrival, the President greeted the players and technical team one by one.
Before, the president of the Portuguese Football Federation, Pedro Proença, thanked the reception and considered that the President of the Republic has been, in recent years, “the great ambassador of Portuguese football and all sports in Portugal”.
“We will continue this level of demand, without arrogance, so that in this new era we can guarantee to all Portuguese people without exception: get used to it, we will continue to win”, he said, after stating that “Portuguese football in the next two decades is guaranteed”.
The under-17 national coach, Bino Maçães, thanked everyone very briefly, especially the players: “They were great.”
On Thursday, Portugal added the world title to the European under-17 title, beating Austria 1-0 in the final, with a goal from Anísio Cabral.
This is the third world champion title won by Portugal, after the triumphs in the under-20 World Cups, in 1989, in Saudi Arabia, and 1991, in Portugal, in both cases under the guidance of Carlos Queiroz.