What Actually Happens at a CIFA Elite Trial?
First Things First: The Application
Before you set foot on the pitch, you apply. Our coaching staff reviews every application individually. Not everyone gets through - and that's intentional. We're looking for players who are serious about their development and ready to compete at a high level.
If you meet our criteria, you'll receive confirmation with everything you need to prepare for your trial in Northern Portugal.
How Long Is the Trial?
You choose: 1 week or 1 month.
Both options give our technical team enough time to properly evaluate you. The longer the trial, the more we see - how you recover, how you adapt, how you grow under pressure. For players coming from abroad, the 1-month option is often the one that makes the difference.
Trials are available throughout the entire season, so there's no single window you have to hit.
What Gets Evaluated?
Our coaching staff assesses every player across four key dimensions:
Technical - Your ability on the ball. Control, passing, finishing, positioning. The fundamentals that define a footballer.
Tactical - How you read the game. Decision-making, movement off the ball, understanding of systems and structure.
Physical - Your athletic capacity. Speed, endurance, strength, and your ability to maintain performance across sessions.
Mental & Behavioural - How you respond to pressure, to feedback, to a new environment. This is often what separates good players from great ones.
Training sessions run twice daily - morning and afternoon - giving our staff a full picture of who you are as a player and as a person.
What's Included
We take care of the essentials so you can focus entirely on football:
Airport transfers (arrival and departure)
Full accommodation throughout the trial period
3 meals per day
Daily training sessions (morning and afternoon)
Complete CIFA Elite training kit
What You Need to Bring
A few things are on you:
Flights to and from Portugal
Visa and passport arrangements
Personal spending money
Personal football equipment (boots, shin guards, etc.)
Who Can Apply?
The trial is open to players aged 15 to 23 from anywhere in the world. Whether you're coming from Angola, Brazil, the UK, or anywhere else - if you have the quality, we want to see it.
What Happens After?
At the end of your trial, our coaching team produces a full individual evaluation report.
Players who are selected receive an official document detailing the next steps - including information on our Pathway to Pro programmes (available in 3, 6, and 10-month formats), program structure, methodology, and investment details.
For those who make it through, this is where the real journey begins.
Ready to Take the First Step?
Applications are reviewed individually. Spots are limited and require a 20% deposit to secure your place.
CIFA Elite Portugal — Train. Compete. Get Discovered.