Top division men's association football league in Portugal
For the former Brazilian regional cup with the same name, see Primeira Liga 💶 (Brazil)
Football league
The Primeira Liga (Portuguese pronunciation: [pɾiˈmɐjɾɐ ˈliɣɐ]), also known as Liga Portugal, and officially known as Liga Portugal Betclic 💶 for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, 💶 it is contested by 18 teams since the 2014–15 season, with the three lowest-placed teams relegated to the Liga Portugal 💶 2 and replaced by the top-three non-reserve teams from this division.[a]
Founded in 1934 as Campeonato da Liga da Primeira Divisão, 💶 it was named Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão from 1938 until 1999, when it was changed to its current naming. 💶 Over 70 teams have competed in the Primeira Liga, but only five have been crowned champions. Among them, the "Big 💶 Three" teams – Benfica (38 wins), Porto (30) and Sporting CP (19) – have won all but two Primeira Liga 💶 titles; the other winners are Belenenses (1945–46) and Boavista (2000–01).[2]
The Primeira Liga has increased its reputation in recent years, occupying 💶 the sixth place of UEFA's national league ranking, as of 2024. It broke into the top five for the first 💶 time in the 2011–12 season, passing the French Ligue 1, one of the historical "big five" European leagues, for the 💶 first time since 1990. The Primeira Liga also reached a world ranking of fourth according to IFFHS's 2011 ranking.[3]
History [ 💶 edit ]
Before the Portuguese football reform of 1938, a competition on a round-basis was already being held – the Primeira 💶 Liga (Premier League) and the winners of that competition were named "League champions". Despite that, a Championship of Portugal in 💶 a knock-out cup format was the most popular and defined the Portuguese champion, although the winners of this competition no 💶 longer count as Portuguese football champions.[citation needed]
Then, with the reform, a round-robin basis competition was implemented as the most important 💶 of the calendar and began defining the Portuguese champion. From 1938 to 1999, the name Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão 💶 (National Championship of the First Division) or just Primeira Divisão (First Division), was used.[4]
Porto won the inaugural edition of the 💶 new league championship and successfully defended the title in the next season. In 1939–40 the tournament was expanded from eight 💶 to ten clubs, due to an administrative battle between Porto and Académico do Porto, regarding a Regional Championship game that 💶 ended with only 43 minutes after the start, and later repeated (which FC Porto won) according to Porto FA decision. 💶 FPF came out with a decision to satisfy both clubs, expanding the championship to 10 teams (one more from Porto 💶 FA and another from Setúbal FA) and annulling the result from the repetition match. With this decision, FC Porto lost 💶 the Regional title and finished in 3rd, Leixões SC became the new regional champion, while Académico was 2nd place. All 💶 3 teams qualified for 1939–40 Primeira Divisão.[5]
In the 1941–42 season, it was decided to expand the championship from eight to 💶 ten teams to admit Braga FA and Algarve FA champions (until this season only the top teams from Porto, Coimbra, 💶 Lisboa and Setúbal were admitted).[6] Porto finished the regional championship in third place again, which did not grant entry into 💶 the Primeira Liga. However, a second expand (from 10 to 12) in the same season was decided, which allowed the 💶 club to participate.[8]
After the 1945–46 season, the qualifying system based on regional championships was abandoned and adopted a pyramid system, 💶 with relegations and promotions between the 3 tiers. The clubs in Primeira Divisão, Segunda Divisão and Terceira Divisão no longer 💶 had to play their district championships on the same season as they had been doing since the first seasons of 💶 the Liga.[6] Below is a complete record of how many teams played in each season throughout the league's history;
8 clubs: 💶 1934–1939
10 clubs: 1939–1940
8 clubs: 1940–1941
12 clubs: 1941–1942
10 clubs: 1942–1945
12 clubs: 1945–1946
14 clubs: 1946–1971
16 clubs: 1971–1987
20 clubs: 1987–1989
18 clubs: 1989–1990
20 clubs: 💶 1990–1991
18 clubs: 1991–2006
16 clubs: 2006–2014
18 clubs: 2014–present
When the Portuguese League for Professional Football took control of the two nationwide leagues 💶 in 1999, it was renamed "Primeira Liga" (Premier League).[citation needed]
"Big Three" performance over the last 10 seasons Season Benfica Porto 💶 Sporting 2013–14 1 3 2 2014–15 1 2 3 2024–16 1 3 2 2024–17 1 2 3 2024–18 2 1 💶 3 2024–19 1 2 3 2024–20 2 1 4 2024–21 3 2 1 2024–22 3 1 2 2024–23 1 2 💶 4
Big Three [ edit ]
"The Big Three" (Portuguese: Os Três Grandes) is a nickname for the three most powerful sports 💶 clubs in Portugal. With the exception of Belenenses in 1945–46 and Boavista in 2000–01, only three clubs have won the 💶 Primeira Liga title – Benfica (38 times), Porto (30) and Sporting CP (19). These three clubs generally end up sharing 💶 the top three positions (thus, appearing more frequently in UEFA competitions) and are the only clubs to have played in 💶 every season of the competition.
These clubs dominate Portuguese football, and it has become typical for fans to support any of 💶 these teams as a "first club", with a local team probably coming afterwards, if at all. The "Big Three" have 💶 the highest average attendance ratings every season in Portugal, while many other teams, lacking support from the locals, have suffered 💶 from poor attendance. The lack of support for local teams is considered to be one of the main reasons why 💶 Portuguese Football registers one of the worst attendance ratings in European Football's best championships, alongside the broadcast of almost all 💶 the games on television. In other sports, the rivalry between the big clubs is also considerable and it usually leads 💶 to arguments between the fans and players.[9]
Benfica is the club with most league, cup and league cup titles, as well 💶 as the most domestic titles (81) and overall titles won (83 or 84, if the Latin Cup is taken into 💶 account), including back-to-back European Cup trophies. Porto is the club with most Portuguese Super Cups and international titles won (7).
Sporting 💶 CP holds the third place when it comes to the most league and cup titles. Benfica is the only Portuguese 💶 club to have won two consecutive European Cup/UEFA Champions League titles, reaching ten European finals: seven European Cups and three 💶 UEFA Cup/Europa League, and was runner-up in two Intercontinental Cups. Porto is the only Portuguese club since 1987 to have 💶 won any international competition (excluding the UEFA Intertoto Cup), gathering a total of two European Cup/UEFA Champions Leagues, two UEFA 💶 Cup/Europa Leagues, one European Super Cup and two Intercontinental Cups and finished runner-up in one European Cup Winner's Cup and 💶 three UEFA Super Cups. Sporting won one European Cup Winner's Cup and was runner-up in one UEFA Cup. Apart from 💶 the big three, Braga won the last UEFA Intertoto Cup and was runner-up in one UEFA Europa League.[10][11]
Galp Energia acquired 💶 the naming rights to the league in 2002, titling the division SuperLiga GalpEnergia. A four-year deal with the Austrian sports 💶 betting bwin was announced on 18 August 2005 amid questioning by the other gambling authorities in Portugal (the Santa Casa 💶 da Misericórdia and the Portuguese Casinos Association), who claimed to hold the exclusive rights to legal gambling games in Portuguese 💶 national territory. After holding the name Liga betandwin for the 2005–06 season, the name was changed to bwin LIGA in 💶 July 2006.[12][13]
From the 2008–09 season to the 2009–10 season the league was named Liga Sagres due to sponsorship from Sagres 💶 beer. In 2010, they renewed the sponsorship from Sagres, but also got the sponsorship from ZON Multimédia. The league was 💶 named Liga ZON Sagres until 2013–14 after the sponsorship agreement between Sagres, ZON (now NOS) and the league ended. In 💶 2024, the league was named Liga NOS until the 2024–21 season.[14] From 2024 to 2024, it was known Liga Portugal 💶 Bwin. Since 2024, it is called Liga Portugal Betclic.
Sponsorship names for seasons
2002–2005: SuperLiga GalpEnergia
2005–2006: Liga betandwin
2006–2008: bwin LIGA
2008–2010: Liga Sagres
2010–2014: 💶 Liga ZON Sagres
2014–2024: Liga NOS
2024–2024: Liga Portugal Bwin
2024–: Liga Portugal Betclic
Official match ball [ edit ]
Competition [ edit ]
Since the 💶 2014–15 season, there are 18 clubs in the Primeira Liga, up from 16 in the previous seasons. During the course 💶 of a season, each club plays all teams twice – once at their home stadium and once at their opponent's 💶 stadium – for a total of 34 games. At the end of each season, the two lowest placed teams are 💶 relegated to the Segunda Liga and the top two teams from Segunda Liga are promoted to the Primeira Liga.
Qualification for 💶 European competitions [ edit ]
The top teams in Primeira Liga qualify for the UEFA Champions League, with the top two 💶 teams entering the group stage directly. The third placed team enters the playoffs for the group stage of the UEFA 💶 Champions League; if they fail to qualify, they enter the UEFA Europa League, along with the fourth placed team and 💶 the Taça de Portugal cup winners. If the Taça de Portugal cup winners qualify for the UEFA Champions League through 💶 league placing, the berth is given to the fifth placed team.
UEFA ranking [ edit ]
UEFA League Ranking as of the 💶 2024–24 season:[17]
Clubs [ edit ]
Attendance [ edit ]
Since the beginning of the league, there are three clubs with an attendance 💶 much higher than the others: Benfica, Porto and Sporting CP. They have also the biggest stadiums in Portugal, with more 💶 than 50,000 seats. Other clubs, such as Vitória de Guimarães and Braga, also have good attendances. Académica de Coimbra, Vitória 💶 de Setúbal, Boavista, Belenenses, and Marítimo are historical clubs, with more than 30 top-flight seasons, from the biggest Portuguese cities, 💶 and have also many supporters. However, they do not have big attendances nowadays. Their stadiums have between 10,000 and 30,000 💶 seats.
The 2024–18 season saw the following average attendance by club:[19]
List of champions and top scorers [ edit ]
Before 1995–96, the 💶 points were awarded in a format of two points for a win. In that season, Primeira Liga switched to the 💶 now standard three points for a win system.
(1) Porto saw six points subtracted for corruption allegations in the Apito Dourado,[20] 💶 but they recovered those points in July 2024.
Performance by club [ edit ]
All Primeira Liga champions have come from either 💶 Lisbon or Porto.
Club Winners Runners-up Winning seasons Runner-up seasons Benfica 38 29 1935–36, 1936–37, 1937–38, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45, 1949–50, 1954–55, 💶 1956–57, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1966–67, 1967–68, 1968–69, 1970–71, 1971–72, 1972–73, 1974–75, 1975–76, 1976–77, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1988–89, 💶 1990–91, 1993–94, 2004–05, 2009–10, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2024–16, 2024–17, 2024–19, 2024–23 1943–44, 1945–46, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1965–66, 💶 1969–70, 1973–74, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1981–82, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1995–96, 1997–98, 2002–03, 2003–04, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2024–18, 2024–20 Porto 💶 30 29 1934–35, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1955–56, 1958–59, 1977–78, 1978–79, 1984–85, 1985–86, 1987–88, 1989–90, 1991–92, 1992–93, 1994–95, 1995–96, 1996–97, 1997–98, 1998–99, 💶 2002–03, 2003–04, 2005–06, 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2010–11, 2011–12, 2012–13, 2024–18, 2024–20, 2024–22 1935–36, 1937–38, 1940–41, 1950–51, 1953–54, 1956–57, 1957–58, 1961–62, 💶 1962–63, 1963–64, 1964–65, 1968–69, 1974–75, 1979–80, 1980–81, 1982–83, 1983–84, 1986–87, 1988–89, 1990–91, 1993–94, 1999–2000, 2000–01, 2004–05, 2014–15, 2024–17, 2024–19, 2024–21, 💶 2024–23 Sporting CP 19 22 1940–41, 1943–44, 1946–47, 1947–48, 1948–49, 1950–51, 1951–52, 1952–53, 1953–54, 1957–58, 1961–62, 1965–66, 1969–70, 1973–74, 1979–80, 💶 1981–82, 1999–2000, 2001–02, 2024–21 1934–35, 1938–39, 1939–40, 1941–42, 1942–43, 1944–45, 1949–50, 1959–60, 1960–61, 1967–68, 1970–71, 1976–77, 1984–85, 1994–95, 1996–97, 2005–06, 💶 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09, 2013–14, 2024–16, 2024–22 Boavista 0 1 0 3 2000–01 1975–76, 1998–99, 2001–02 Belenenses 0 1 0 3 💶 1945–46 1936–37, 1954–55, 1972–73 Braga 0 0 0 1 — 2009–10 Vitória de Setúbal 0 0 0 1 — 1971–72 💶 Académica 0 0 0 1 — 1966–67
All-time Primeira Liga table [ edit ]
The all-time Primeira Liga table is an overall 💶 record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in Primeira Liga since its inception 💶 in 1934. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2024–23 season.[21] For comparison, older seasons have been 💶 calculated according to the three-points-per-win rule.
Records [ edit ]
Team records [ edit ]
In 1972–73, Benfica became the first team to 💶 win the Portuguese league without defeat, with 58 points in 30 games (28 wins and 2 draws), the best efficiency 💶 ever obtained (96.7%) where 2 points were awarded for a victory. In that season, Benfica set the Portuguese league and 💶 European leagues record for most consecutive victories (23) – 29 wins overall, between 1971–72 and 1972–73. Benfica also set the 💶 league record for the greatest margin of victory in points over the second-placed team (18 points) in a 2 points 💶 per win championship.
In 1977–78, Benfica completed the Portuguese league unbeaten for the second time (21 wins and 9 draws).
In 1990–91, 💶 Benfica achieved the highest number of wins in a single season – 32 (out of 38 matches).
In 1998–99, Porto became 💶 the only team to win five consecutive titles.
In 2010–11, Porto won the Portuguese league without defeat, with 84 points in 💶 30 games (27 wins and 3 draws), the best efficiency ever obtained (93.3%) where 3 points were awarded for a 💶 victory. That season, Porto also set the league record for the greatest margin of victory in points over the second-placed 💶 team (21 points) in a 3 points per win championship.
In 2012–13, Porto won the Portuguese league unbeaten for the second 💶 time (24 wins and 6 draws).
In 2024–21, Sporting CP set the record for the longest unbeaten run in a single 💶 season with 32 matches (25 wins and 7 draws) out of 34.
From 8 November 2024 to 21 April 2024, Porto 💶 set the record for the longest unbeaten run in the league: 58 matches (47 wins and 11 draws).
In 2024–22, Porto 💶 achieved a record 91 points in the Portuguese league (29 wins and 4 draws in 34 games).
Individual records [ edit 💶 ]
Player transfer fees [ edit ]
Television [ edit ]
2024–24 until 2025–26 [ edit ]
The league is currently distributed internationally by 💶 IMG.
Portugal [ edit ]
Within Portugal, Sport TV broadcasts all live Primeira Liga matches except Benfica's home matches, which are broadcast 💶 live on Benfica TV.
International broadcasters [ edit ]
See also [ edit ]
Notes [ edit ]
^ [1] In the 2024–19 season, 💶 the three lowest placed teams were relegated to the LigaPro due to the integration of Gil Vicente in the Primeira 💶 Liga in the following season. The Portuguese Football Federation appealed to proceed with this integration as soon as possible. ^ 💶 plus €5 million in bonuses ^ plus €25 million in bonuses ^ plus €25 million in bonuses ^ plus €15 💶 million in bonuses
References [ edit ]
Sources [ edit ]
