It has been another exemplary year of trophy success for Portugal’s contingent of players and coaches across the world. From Jose Mourinho leading the managerial achievements which spread across four continents, to Rafael Leão inspiring Milan to glory in Italy and Manchester City’s Portuguese trio conquering England yet again, Portuguese excellence remains ubiquitous.
Luso representatives have won trophies in 30 different countries over the last 12 months, with more up for grabs in the coming weeks. We track them all in this full round-up to celebrate the ever-increasing influence Portugal holds overseas.
Continental success
José Mourinho became the first manager to win European trophies with four different clubs as his AS Roma, with Rui Patrício and Sérgio Oliveira, lifted the Europa Conference League with a 1-0 win over Feyenoord in Tirana. There was also Portuguese representation with the Europa League winners Eintracht Frankfurt, who had Gonçalo Paciência in the ranks when lifting the trophy thanks to a penalty shootout win over Rangers in Sevilla following a 1-1 draw.
Abel Ferreira conquered South America with Palmeiras for the second year running; the Brazilian side edged Flamengo 2-1 after extra time at Estadio Centenario in Montevideo to write Abel’s name into the record books. Leonardo Jardim had done the same in the Asian Champions League just a week earlier, with Saudi Arabians Al Hilal defeating Pohang Steelers of South Korea 2-0 on home soil.
The league titles
Rafael Leão was one of the standout Portuguese players this term, earning the Player of the Season award after helping AC Milan to their first Scudetto in eleven years. Leão bagged 11 goals and 8 assists – by far the best return of his career, including some highly influential performances towards the crucial final weeks of the season.
In England, another league title for Manchester City and their Portuguese trio of Rúben Dias, João Cancelo and Bernardo Silva, all of whom impressed again for Pep Guardiola’s side. Nuno Mendes marked his debut campaign with Paris Saint-Germain with the Ligue 1 title, helped by an impressive goalscoring season by Danilo Pereira who managed five from his deep midfield position.
Pedro Martins and Olympiacos are once again champions in Greece, securing a third-straight Super League title and medals for Rúben Semedo, Rony Lopes and João Carvalho. On-loan Benfica forward Jota was an inspirational figure behind Celtic’s Scottish Premiership and League Cup double, contributing 13 goals in all competitions.
Lech Poznan won the Polish Ekstraklasa with their Portuguese quartet, comprising of defenders Joel Pereira and Pedro Rebocho, as well as midfielder Pedro Tiba and João Amaral. In Romania, veteran naturalised Portugal-born stopper Mario Camora won the title with CFR Cluj – his sixth Romanian league championship.
Bulgaria crowned Ludogorets champions for the 11th time in a row in April, giving former Gil Vicente midfielder Claude Gonçalves his league title with the club to add to the Bulgarian Super Cup won last summer. Dudelange, led by Portuguese coach Fangueiro, won the Luxembourg title with Miguel Palha, Jocelino Silva, Ninte Junior and Mohcine Hassan in the squad. There were also league titles for Hugo Firmino and Carlitos in Armenia for record-setting Pyunik and for well-travelled veteran striker Hugo Vieira with Maltese champs Hibernians, while Cascais-born Bernardo Lopes won a league and cup double with Lincoln Red Imps in Gibraltar.
There were league title wins outside Europe, led by former Benfica B coach Renato Paiva winning Independiente del Valle their first-ever Ecuadorian Serie A title. Further success was achieved on the African continent, with former Alverca boss Alexandre Santos leading Petro de Luanda to the Angolan Girabola title with Sérgio Santos and Pedro Pinto in his ranks, while in Sudan João Mota guided Al-Hilal Omdurman to the league championship.
Cup success in Germany, England, Spain and beyond
Domestic cups were also popular with Luso players this season. Diogo Jota landed both the League Cup and FA Cup on penalties at Liverpool in England, scoring himself in both shootouts, while André Silva was part of the RB Leipzig team which overcame Freiburg in the DFB Pokal on penalties after a 1-1 draw in Berlin. William Carvalho lifted the Spanish Copa del Rey to reward a fantastic personal season with Real Betis, who were held 1-1 by Valencia in the final but prevailed on spot kicks.
José Fonte, Tiago Djaló, Renato Sanches and Xeka followed up their French title win from last season by beating Paris Saint-Germain 1-0 in the Trophée des Champions, with Xeka scoring the winner. In the English equivalent, Leicester City stunned Manchester City 1-0 at Wembley with Ricardo Pereira playing the full ninety minutes.
Portugal winger Bruma won the Dutch Cup with PSV under incoming Benfica manager Rodger Schmitt, beating Ajax 2-1 in the final, to add to their 4-0 win over the same opponents in the Super Cup. Ferro marked his first season on the books of Hajduk Split by winning the Croatian Cup, and the defender scored in the 3-1 final win over Rijeka.
In Poland, Lech Poznan’s Portuguese contingent were denied a double after they were beaten 3-1 in the cup final by Fábio Sturgeon’s Rakow Czestochowa. Former Portugal U20 international Hugo Sousa’s Sepsi OSK won the first major trophy in their history by capturing the Romanian Cup, while Portuguese duo Hélder Lopes and André Martins lifted the Israeli State Cup with Hapoel Be’er Sheva.
Former Vitória Setúbal defender Kiko landed the Cypriot Cup with Omonia on penalties against Ethnikos Achna. Also victorious on penalties were Paulo Mendes’ Connah’s Quay in the Welsh League Cup final against Cardiff MU. Elsewhere, ex-Leiria man Rúben Brígido won the Kazakhstan Super Cup with Tobol; Diogo Izata clinched the Slovenian Cup playing for league runners-up Koper; Rui Modesto was part of the Honka squad which won the Finnish League Cup 3-1 against Inter Turku; Lisbon-born striker José Embaló won the Armenian Super Cup with Alashkert.
On the managerial front, Abel Ferreira’s trophy haul was boosted further at Palmeiras with the additions of the Recopa Sudamericana and the Campeonato Paulista. Leonardo Jardim also added the Saudi Super Cup with Al-Hilal, while Luís Castro won the Emil of Qatar Cup with Al-Duhail before departing for a new adventure in Brazil with Botafogo. Young coach Mário Lemos won both the Independence Cup and the Federation Cup with Dhaka Abahani of Bangladesh.
Promotion dreams come true
Arguably the most emotional ends to the season come in the form of promotion play-offs, and Portuguese were at the centre of some fabulous stories. Things were straightforward for Marco Silva’s Fulham, who secured the English Championship with Fábio Carvalho in fine form to earn their place back in the Premier League. Ivan Cavaleiro also picked up a medal for Silva’s side, who scored a remarkable 106 goals in England’s second tier.
There were also automatic promotions for Emmen as winners of the Dutch Eerste Divisie, with Portuguese forward Rui Mendes having his breakthrough season and returning 15 league goals. In Turkey, Ankaragücü are back in the Super Lig after winning the 1 Lig, helped by long-serving Portuguese left-back Tiago Pinto in his seventh season with the club.
The biggest emotional high inevitable comes from play-off promotion, and there were some truly special causes for celebration. Dany Mota played a starring role to help Monza to their first-ever promotion to Italy’s Serie A – the forward scored in the opening leg of their play-off final against Pisa before providing two assists in the return meeting. Monza progressed 6-4 on aggregate to win the play-offs and end their record-high of 41 years in the second tier without ever being promoted. Pedro Pereira was also part of the Monza story.
Similar emotions in England, where Nottingham Forest ended their 23-year wait to return to the Premier League. The two-time European Cup winners beat Huddersfield 1-0 in the play-off final at Wembley, having endured a nerve-wrecking penalty shootout victory over Sheffield United in the semis. Portuguese midfielder Cafú converted his penalty in the semis shootout win, while Tobias Figueiredo and Xande Silva have also featured for Forest during the historic campaign.
Full honours list:
Managers:
Continental: José Mourinho [Roma] UEFA Europa Conference League winner. Abel Ferreira [Palmeiras] Copa Libertadores winner, Recopa Sudamericana winner. Leonardo Jardim [Al-Hilal] Asian Champions League winner.
Brazil: Abel Ferreira [Palmeiras] Campeonato Paulista winner.
Greece: Pedro Martins [Olympiacos] Greek Super League winner.
Ecuador: Renato Paiva [Independiente del Valle] Serie A winner.
Saudi Arabia: Leonardo Jardim [Al Hilal] Saudi Super Cup winner.
Qatar: Luís Castro [Al-Duhail] Emil of Qatar Cup winner.
Angola: Alexandre Santos [Petro de Luanda] Girabola winner.
Luxembourg: Fangueiro [Dudelange] National Division winner.
Sudan: João Mota [Al-Hilal Omdurman] Premier League winner.
Bangladesh: Mário Lemos [Dhaka Abahani] Independence Cup winner, Federation Cup winner.
Players:
Continental: Goncalo Paciência [Eintracht Frankfurt] UEFA Europa League winner. Sergio Oliveira, Rui Patricio [Roma] UEFA Europa Conference League winners.
Italy: Rafael Leão [AC Milan] Serie A winner. Dany Mota, Pedro Pereira [Monza] Serie B play-off winners.
England: João Cancelo, Rúben Dias, Bernardo Silva [Manchester City] Premier League champions. Diogo Jota [Liverpool] FA Cup winner, League Cup winner. Ricardo Pereira [Leicester City] Community Shield winner. Fabio Carvalho, Ivan Cavaleiro [Fulham] Championship winner. Tobias Figueiredo, Cafú, Xande Silva [Nottingham Forest] Championship play-off winners.
France: Nuno Mendes, Danilo Pereira [Paris Saint-Germain] Ligue 1 winners. José Fonte, Renato Sanches, Xeka, Tiago Djaló [Lille] Trophée des Champions winners.
Spain: William Carvalho [Real Betis] Copa dey Rey winner.
Germany: André Silva [RB Leipzig] German Cup winner.
Netherlands: Bruma [PSV] Dutch Cup, Dutch Super Cup winner. Rui Mendes [Emmen] Dutch Eerste Divisie winner.
Greece: Rúben Semedo, Rony Lopes, João Carvalho [Olympiacos] Greek Super League winners.
Scotland: Jota [Celtic] Premiership winner, League Cup winner.
Poland: Pedro Rebocho, Joel Pereira, João Amaral, Pedro Tiba [Lech Poznan] Ekstraklasa winners. Fábio Sturgeon [Raków Częstochowa] Polish Cup winner.
Romania: Mário Camora [CFR Cluj] Romanian Lig I winner. Hugo Sousa [Sepsi] Romanian Cup winner.
Turkey: Tiago Pinto [Ankaragücü] 1 Lig winner.
Croatia: Ferro [Hajduk Split] Croatian Cup winner.
Bulgaria: Claude Gonçalves, Josué Sá [Ludogorets] Bulgarian First League winners, Bulgarian Super Cup winners.
Israel: Hélder Lopes, André Martins [Hapoel Be’er Sheva] Israeli State Cup winners.
Luxembourg: Miguel Palha, Jocelino Silva, Ninte Junior, Mohcine Hassan [Dudelange] National Division winners.
Kazakhstan: Rúben Brígido [Tobol] Kazakhstan Super Cup winner.
Slovenia: Diogo Izata [Koper] Slovenian Cup winner.
Angola: Sérgio Santos, Pedro Pinto [Petro de Luanda] Girabola winners.
Cyprus: Kiko [Omonia] Cypriot Cup winner
Armenia: Hugo Firmino, Carlitos [Pyunik] Armenian Premier League winners, José Embaló [Alashkert] Armenian Super Cup winner.
Finland: Rui Modesto [Honka] Finnish League Cup winner.
Wales: Paulo Mendes [Connah’s Quay] Welsh League Cup winner.
Malta: Hugo Vieira [Hibernians] Maltese Premier League winner.
Gibraltar: Bernardo Lopes {Lincoln Red Imps] Premier Division winner, Rock Cup winner.
By Sean Gillen