Portuguese football: historical teams and key players to follow in 2025

Liga Portugal in its ninety-year long history became one of the most important authorities in European football. Led by the ideals of integrity and spectacle, the Portuguese Football League transformed itself from being a substitute to a superstar striker. It is a non-profit private association that consists of four other leagues: Liga Portugal, Liga Portugal 2, Liga 3 and Championship of Portugal.

The most attention always goes to Liga Portugal, Primeira Liga (First Division), or, for sponsorship purposes Liga Portugal Betclic, which is made up of eighteen teams. Three teams have dominated in terms of becoming champions, and are famously dubbed “The Big Three”: Sporting CP, Benfica, and Porto. Each one is either a favourite or strong contender to win the title. So, let’s dive in to see what they have in store for the coming season.

Sporting CP

Sporting Club of Portugal is a Lisbon-based club that defines the story of going from riches to rags, only to rise again in recent years. It’s still far from its glory days of fifty years ago, but nowadays it’s certainly one of the forces to be reckoned with. Its motto “Effort, Dedication, Devotion and Glory” was smeared in the early 2000’s with money constraints and mismanagement. Despite all that’s happened in the past, Sporting proved in 2024 that they are still capable of being champions. Finishing the year as the number one in the league for the second time in four years, the club regained some of its financial stability and announced it would be overhauling its Jose Alvalade stadium in Lisbon. It’s an ambitious initiative that will take place in the next ten years and the purpose of the whole transformation is for the club to become a recognizable name worldwide, under the brand of the Sporting.

The project involves adding 2000 seats and upgrading a VIP section with displays. Also, the club has recently changed coach with a different philosophy to his predecessor, meaning the squad is likely to undergo significant changes. This is even before we factor in the almost certain sale of star names such as Viktor Gyökeres, Morten Hjulmand and Ousmane Diomande in the near future. On the flip side, youngster João Simões is making his mark and could be a staple in midfield for the coming years.

Benfica

Sport Lisboa e Benfica, nicknamed The Eagles, is Portugal’s most popular and historically most successful club. With too many trophies to count, the famous club has been voted 12th in FIFA Club of the Century. At the moment, Benfica is languishing in third place, but the recent triumph in the Taça da Liga and an upturn in form shows that the renowned team has a lot more to offer. Based on what we have seen this season, the smart money is on another close championship race with Benfica and city rivals Sporting CP vying for top spot.

Porto

The club was founded in 1893, making it the oldest of the big three football clubs in Portugal. Its glory years came after the dominance of the clubs from the capital, triggered by the presidency of Jorge Nuno Pinto da Costa that started in the early 1980s. Decades of success followed, but one of the most memorable eras was with José Mourinho who led the team to the UEFA Cup and UEFA Champions League titles in consecutive years.

As of 2024, the club has a new president, André Villas-Boas, who promised to install some changes in order to get the team back to its glory days. In Liga Portugal, Porto finished third last season and although the team is a far cry from the brilliant sides of recent years, Porto remain in the top twenty European clubs as ranked by UEFA. Surely, Porto has a lot more to offer its supporters and to the sport in general and will be one of the teams to watch next year as AVB gets to grips with the presidency.

When it comes to players, there is a lot to be on the lookout for in the next season. Some new talents emerged under the Portuguese flag. Here are some who definitely deserve attention. If you have some hunches you can test them at online sports betting.

Samu Aghehowa

The 20-year-old striker from Spain left Atletico Madrid to join Porto this past summer. With an amazing result of 18 goals in nineteen matches, this talented player is someone many coaches have their eyes on. A deal with Chelsea fell apart earlier last year, and Samu blossomed in Porto.

Manu Silva

The rough beginnings of this player did not stop him from becoming one of the gems outside of the big three. The 23-year-old centre-back was one of the biggest surprises of the past year. His talents, speed and cool head at the critical moments made him one of the most interesting players to watch. Currently, he is playing in Vitoria SC, but the rumours have been swirling that he might end up in Atletico Madrid. At the moment, the price for this player on the market is around 13 million euros.

Gabriel Silva

Santa Clara has been the team to watch this past year mostly thanks to the talented right winger. The speed and focus that this player has shown on the field have been unmatched. His aggressiveness with the ball didn’t go unnoticed by many European clubs. Lyon is supposedly considering paying for his transfer.

Roger Fernandes

Even though this player is only 19 years old, he has considerable experience as a full back since he has been playing professionally since he was 15. Fernandes has not played as many minutes as he would have liked this season, but he still is already making a name for himself with many clubs around Europe keeping tabs on him. Currently, his market value is standing at 15 million euros.

Gustavo Sá

At only 20 years old, this young talented midfielder has caught the eyes of Europe. Even though his team, Famalicão are not enjoying a good season, this player is a force to reckon with. His ability to be strong and fast as well as an amazing dribbler, marks him out as a star of the future.

Patrick Sequeira

The 25-year-old goalkeeper from Costa Rica has had a great season with Casa Pia. Towering at 1.9m tall, Sequeira is a phenomenal shot-stopper and could be one of the best bargains for an amazing goalkeeper with his market price being only 5 million euros. It might be a good time to get into some sports betting for this young player.

John Mercado

The 22-year-old left winger has shown some impressive talent on the field. With his speed and technical talents, he is definitely one of the players who can aspire to a spot in the big three. None of them have registered any interest so far, so his future might lie in one of the well-known European clubs. As of now, his transfer would cost 12.5 million euros. One of the most overlooked gifted players in the Primeira Liga.

Ricardo Velho

Without a doubt the best goalkeeper in Portugal. This 26-year-old has put his talents on full display week after week for Farense. Not to anyone’s surprise, he was called to join Portugal's national team by coach Roberto Martínez. His current club want around 15 million euros for him, and top clubs from around Europe may be willing to pay the fee given the form, agility and calm he has shown. Velho is in a strong position to pick and choose his next team since many have shown interest in his transfer.

Viktor Gyökeres

A 100 million buyout clause for his transfer out of Sporting will likely not put anyone off making an offer the Swedish phenomenon in the summer. A strong chunky build is not common among top footballers, but it is precisely his physical attributes that stand out as the strength, speed and agility are put to devastating use.

Gyökeres has scored an astonishing 75 goals in 80 appearances for the Lions, and the message to Sporting fans is clear. Enjoy him while you can because he will be playing for one of Europe’s biggest clubs next season for sure.

Being that football is a very dynamic sport, new players keep popping up from around the globe. Sure, Portugal is a port of entry for many players from Latin America, but also from Africa and some European countries from where the excellence of the scouting departments of Portugal’s clubs often discover new talents to be honed in the Primeira Liga. Besides the footballers discussed here, some teenagers are coming into the spotlight. You can check them out at Stake.com, but to make some honourable mentions: Rodrigo Mora at Porto, Tomás Araújo at Benfica and Geovany Quenda at Sporting are three players starting out in the professional game who have the world at their feet and everything to become global superstars. In any case, we have an amazing season ahead of us. Enjoy!