Definition of Taca de Portugal

While the Primeira Liga might be the main attraction in Portuguese football, one should certainly not turn their nose up at the premier domestic cup competition: the Taca de Portugal.

The competition was previously known as the Campeonato de Portugal (1922-38) and used to determine the national champions. However, it was changed when the Primeira Liga was introduced and the league format took precedence.

After the competition was changed, the clubs who won it changed too. Benfica dominated the competition up until the 2000s, winning 23 of their 26 trophies in the knock-out cup before the year 2000. However, since then, it has been Porto and Sporting that have won the most, with 6 and 4 respectively. This gives them both a total of 17 wins in the cup.

The latest winner of the cup to have never previously won it actually came as recently as 2018, when Desportivo das Aves won it. Before that, it was Vitoria de Guimaraes in 2013. Clearly it takes a while for clubs that aren't part of the bigger history of Portuguese football to win the competition, but it can still happen.

Since the league winners are nearly a foregone conclusion in Portugal every year (typically Benfica, Porto or in rare cases, Sporting), the cup gives smaller teams an opportunity to lift a trophy. Even though it might be rare, the fact that it has happened twice in the last decade means that the Taca de Portugal is still doing its job in that regard.