As this website has attested to since it was founded two decades ago, for a relatively small nation Portugal hugely overachieves in the world’s most popular sport.

By far the most loved game among the planet’s eight billion inhabitants, it is truly remarkable how a country that comprises just 0.13% of the human population has impacted football, both in terms of the success of its national team and the achievements of its individual players and clubs.

Well, you can say the exact same thing when it comes to the tourism industry.

Portugal is one of the preferred destinations for holidaymakers worldwide. Its hospitable people, rich culture and history, security, diverse landscape, favourable climate and wonderful food are just a few of the factors that make visitors fall in love with the country.

In a new PortuGOAL section, we combine the two facets of the country that are held up as sources of pride by the Portuguese people themselves: football and tourism.

Check out the new Football and Tourism in Portugal section by clicking here.

Benfica made light work of qualifying for this season’s group stage of the Champions League by beating Dynamo Kyiv 3-0 to complete a 5-0 aggregate victory over the Ukrainian team.

First-half goals by Nicolas Otamendi, Rafa Silva and David Neres had the near 60,000 crowd in good voice as the Eagles kept up their perfect start to 2022/23 under German coach Roger Schmidt: 6 games, 6 victories. 

The Liga Bwin new season saw its first Clássico this weekend as defending champions Porto comprehensively saw off Sporting in a typically fiery encounter at Estádio do Dragão.

Elsewhere, league newcomers Casa Pia achieved a historic first top division victory in 83 years, defeating Boavista 2-0.

Arouca and Portimonense both continued positive starts, each registering their second victories of the campaign against Santa Clara and Vitória Guimarães respectively.

For the second week running though it is Braga in focus for the PortuGOAL Figure of the Week, and on this occasion it’s their new manager Artur Jorge who earns the plaudits as he guided his team to a 5-0 thumping of Marítimo, maintaining his excellent start to his tenureship. 

• Chaves
• Talk of the Town

PortuGOAL is today launching its “Talk of the Town” feature, in conjunction with the new Football and Tourism section of the website.

Over the coming months and years we will work through every football town and city in Portugal, delving into the history and current prospects of the club in question. With the help of local experts and travel writers, we shall also provide tips on watching football there, in addition to tourism info. 

For no particular reason, we have decided to begin at the northernmost tip of mainland Portugal, with Grupo Desportivo de Chaves.