Cristiano Ronaldo, 34, who is Portugal’s most-capped player, with 156 caps, and top goal-scorer, with 85, was the most obvious omission in the initial phase of the competition, as the result of a decision taken jointly between him and Santos. Portugal, who are European champions, won their qualifying group in the new League of Nations competition, ahead of Italy and Poland, with two wins and two draws.

Félix, 19, who emerged as one of Benfica's leading players in the second half of the 2018/19 season, contributing decisively to the Lisbon club’s success in winning its 37th national league title, had already been called up for Euro2020 qualifying matches, against Ukraine and Serbia, but was not used in either.

Dropped from the squad – which for the previous match was expanded to 25 players – are midfielder João Mário and forward André Silva.

Portugal face Switzerland in their League of Nations semi-final on 5 June at FC Porto’s Dragon Stadium, with kickoff at 7.45pm. The next day England and Holland face each other in the other semi-final, at the Dom Afonso Henriques Stadium in Guimarães, also at 7.45pm.

The final of this first ever League of Nations is on 9 June in Porto, at 7.45pm. The playoff for third place is in Guimarães on the same day, at 3pm.

Squad list (where club is Portuguese, no country is given):

-Goalkeepers: Beto (Goztepe, Tur), José Sá (Olympiacos, Greece) and Rui Patrício (Wolverhampton, England).

-Defenders: João Cancelo (Juventus, Italy), José Fonte (Lille, France), Pepe (FC Porto), Mário Rui (Naples, Italy), Nelson Semedo (FC Barcelona, Spain), Raphael Guerreiro (Borussia Dortmund, Germany) and Rúben Dias (Benfica).

-Midfielders: Bruno Fernandes (Sporting), Danilo Pereira (FC Porto), João Moutinho (Wolverhampton, England), Pizzi (Benfica), Rúben Neves (Wolverhampton, England) and William Carvalho (Betis, Spain).

-Forwards: Bernardo Silva (Manchester City, England), Gonçalo Guedes (Valencia, Spain), Rafa Silva (Benfica), João Félix (Benfica), Dyego Sousa (Sporting Braga), Diogo Jota (Wolverhampton, England) and Cristiano Ronaldo (Juventus, Italy).