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It was a night of drama in the Euro 2024 on Tuesday (June 18) as Portugal snatched a late winner to start proceedings in Group F as they beat Czechia 2-1. A game in which Cristiano Ronaldo's side trailed until the final 20 minutes saw them roll their sleeves and mount an amazing comeback as Francisco Conceicao scored the winning goal in the 93rd minute with his first meaningful touch of the match.


But who is Francisco Conceicao and why is he considered the next big thing in football?

Hailing from a very influential football family in Portugal, Conceicao emerged from Porto's famous youth academy before bursting onto the scene at club level. Born in December 2022, Conceicao was part of Sporting Lisbon's academy until 2018 when he decided to swap Lisbon for Porto. One of the major reasons for this was his father Sergio's appointment as Porto's senior team's head coach who brought the youngster along with him.



He made his first team debut for Porto in 2021 when he played against Benfica as a substitute. He was handed his debut by his father at that time which was a proud moment for the duo. He wore the No.10 shirt for the 2021-22 season, a hallmark of any football team's best player. However, he failed to impress in his first spell before being sold to the Dutch side Ajax. He spent a year in the Netherlands capital before returning to Portugal on loan.

Conceicao was handed back the No.10 shirt as he showcased his talent yet again for the side earning applause from the national team manager. His deal was made permanent ahead of the 2023-24 season having already won the Liga Portugal and the Portugal Cup.


Sergio Conceicao, Francisco's father scored at the Euro 2000 for the national side and he followed in his footsteps on Tuesday when the latter scored against Czechia. Having been a regular at youth levels, Conceicao represented under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-21 levels before making his debut for the senior side in 2024.