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 ]
