Primeira Liga | |
![]() | |
Country | ![]() |
---|---|
Confederation | UEFA |
Founded | 1934 |
Number of teams | 18 |
Relegation to | LigaPro |
Levels on pyramid | 1 |
Domestic cup(s) | Taça de Portugal Supertaça |
UEFA cup(s) | Champions League Europa League |
Current champions | Benfica (38th title) (2022-23) |
Most successful club | Benfica (38 titles) |
TV | List of broadcasters |
Website | Official website |
![]() |
The Primeira Liga also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division of the Portuguese football league system. It is organised and supervised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional, also known as Liga Portugal. As of the 2014–15 season, the Primeira Liga is contested by 18 teams, with the three lowest placed teams relegated to the LigaPro and replaced by the top-three non-reserve teams from this division.
Founded in 1934 as an experimental (now official) league called 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 (37 wins), Porto (29 wins) and Sporting CP (19 wins) – have won all but two Primeira Liga titles; the other winners are Belenenses (1945–46) and Boavista (2000–01).
The Primeira Liga has increased its reputation in recent years, occupying the sixth place of UEFA's national league ranking, as of 2021. 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.
History[]
Before the Portuguese football reform of 1938, an experimental 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.
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.
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.
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). 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.
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.
When the Portuguese League for Professional Football took control of the two nationwide leagues in 1999, it was renamed "Primeira Liga" (Premier League).
2021–22 Clubs[]
Team | Location | Stadium | Capacity | 2020–21 |
---|---|---|---|---|
Arouca | Arouca | Estádio Municipal de Arouca | 5,000 | 3rd (LP) |
Belenenses SAD | Oeiras | Estádio Nacional | 37,593 | 10th |
Benfica | Lisbon | Estádio da Luz | 64,642 | 3rd |
Boavista | Porto | Estádio do Bessa | 28,263 | 13th |
Braga | Braga | Estádio Municipal de Braga | 30,286 | 4th |
Estoril | Estoril | Estádio António Coimbra da Mota | 8,015 | 1st (LP) |
Famalicão | Vila Nova de Famalicão | Estádio Municipal 22 de Junho | 5,307 | 9th |
Gil Vicente | Barcelos | Estádio Cidade de Barcelos | 12,504 | 11th |
Marítimo | Funchal | Estádio do Marítimo | 10,932 | 15th |
Moreirense | Moreira de Cónegos | Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaquim de Almeida Freitas |
6,153 | 8th |
Paços de Ferreira | Paços de Ferreira | Estádio Capital do Móvel | 9,076 | 5th |
Portimonense | Portimão | Estádio Municipal de Portimão | 6,204 | 14th |
Porto | Porto | Estádio do Dragão | 50,033 | 2nd |
Santa Clara | Ponta Delgada | Estádio de São Miguel | 13,277 | 6th |
Sporting CP | Lisbon | Estádio José Alvalade | 50,095 | 1st |
Tondela | Tondela | Estádio João Cardoso | 5,000 | 12th |
Vitória de Guimarães | Guimarães | Estádio D. Afonso Henriques | 30,000 | 7th |
Vizela | Vizela | Estádio do FC Vizela | 6,000 | 2nd (LP) |
External links[]
- Official webpage
- League at UEFA
- Official regulation
- Official statistics
- Resultados Ao Vivo, proximos jogos ao vivo, posicoes de Liga Sagres
- Portugal – List of Champions, RSSSF.com
- Primera liga – All matches and standings since season 08/09, SofaScore.com
Primeira Liga 2023-24 |
Arouca · Benfica · Boavista · Braga · Casa Pia · Chaves · Estoril · Estrela da Amadora · Famalicão · Farense · Gil Vicente · Moreirense · Portimonense · Porto · Rio Ave · Sporting CP · Vitória de Guimarães · Vizela |
Primeira Liga seasons |
2016–17 · 2017–18 · 2018–19 · 2019–20 · 2020–21 · 2021–22 · 2022–23 · 2023–24 · 2024–25 · |
Top level football leagues of Europe (UEFA) |
Albania · Andorra · Armenia · Austria · Azerbaijan · Belarus · Belgium · Bosnia and Herzegovina · Bulgaria · Croatia · Cyprus · Czech Republic · Denmark · England · Estonia · Faroe Islands · Finland · France · Georgia · Germany · Gibraltar · Greece · Hungary · Iceland · Israel · Italy · Kazakhstan · Kosovo · Latvia · Lithuania · Luxembourg · Malta · Moldova · Montenegro · Netherlands · North Macedonia · Northern Ireland · Norway · Poland · Portugal · Republic of Ireland · Romania · Russia · San Marino · Scotland · Serbia · Slovakia · Slovenia · Spain · Sweden · Switzerland · Turkey · Ukraine · Wales |
Football in Portugal | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
![]() |