ARL Football Success Rankings

The ARL Football Success Ranking System for men’s European club football establishes which clubs are the most successful of each nation and in the whole of Europe.

It is a system of scoring points to clubs based on what trophies and how many have been won.

Different trophies score different points and are based on a ‘glory’ criteria.

Only ‘competitive football’ trophies are considered.

Portugal and its Primeira Liga (Jun, 2025)

Portuguese league football is dominated by the country’s three biggest clubs from its two major metropolises – Lisbon and Porto. It’s an intense, three way rivalry in a land famed for its passionate fans. These clubs have had a big impact on the history of UEFA football too, not surprising given some of Europe’s finest players have hailed from Portugal.

Competitions

Primeira Liga (1935-)

Campeonato de Portugal / Taca de Portugal (1922-46 ; 1948-1949 ; 1951-)

Taca da Liga (2008-)

• Portuguese clubs have achieved 121 success points from international competitions.

• Portuguese football ranks 7th in the UEFA Association Coefficient for 2025, making it a Tier 2 footballing nation. Clubs are therefore docked -4 Success Points per domestic competition and the domestic Super Cup is not counted.

Competition Key	Points
UEFA SC: UEFA Super Cup	4
LC: League Cup (Taca da Liga)	4
FIFA IC: Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup / FIFA Intercontinental Cup	6
NC: National Cup (Campeonato de Portugal / Taca de Portugal)	6
UEFA ECL: UEFA Conference League	8
UEFA EL: UEFA Cup / UEFA Europa League	12
UEFA CWC: UEFA Cup Winners Cup	13
C: Top Tier League Championship (Primeira Liga)	14
FIFA CWC: quadrennial FIFA Club World Cup	15
UEFA CL: UEFA European Cup / UEFA Champions League	17

Scroll to the bottom for the full table of Portugal’s 15 most successful clubs

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5. Boavista FC

Success Points:	44
First trophy won:	Taca de Portugal (TdP), 1975
Latest trophy won:	Premeira Liga (PL), 2001
Most Successful Manager:	José Maria Pedroto – 12 points (1974-1976)
Most Successful Decade:	1970s – 18 points

Founded a year before SL Benfica, ‘the Panthers’ enjoyed a golden era in the 1970s under the management of future Porto legend José Pedroto. Boavista won their first ever major trophy, a Portuguese Cup, in 1975 by beating Benfica in the final. They then retained the trophy the next year whilst coming 2nd to ‘the Eagles’ in the Premier League. Boavista won another cup in ’79.

The club won two more cups in the 1990s. In 2001, Boavista reached the summit and were crowned Portuguese champions. This is just the 2nd time a club outside ‘Os Três Grandes‘ (Big Three) have won a Premier League and Boavista won it whilst conceding just 22 goals.

4. CF Os Beleneses

Success Points:	50
First Trophy Won:	TdP, 1927
Latest Trophy Won:	TdP, 1989
Most Successful Decade:	1940s – 20 points

Before the Portuguese Premier League launched, the ‘Big Three’ had room for one more club. In the years between 1922-1938 when the Portuguese Cup was the only national competition, Beleneses won three of them within fourteen years of its formation, and that put ‘The Bethlehem’ amongst the ranks of the nation’s biggest clubs. In the 1940s, as war raged across Europe, Beleneses won another Portuguese Cup before winning their first Premier League in 1946, beating Benfica to the crown by one point.

The club steadily declined in the 2nd half of the 20th Century yet achieved two more Portuguese Cup triumphs in 1960 and 1989. CF Os Beleneses turned amateur in 2018.

3. Sporting CP

Success Points:	455
First Trophy Won:	TdP, 1923
Latest Trophies Won:	PL and TdP, 2025
Most Successful Manager:	József Szabó – 48 Success Points (1937 – 1944)
Most Successful Decade:	1940s – 112 points

In 1906 a man named Jose Alvalade and others ended their membership of the Campo Grande Football Club due to a disagreement over whether the club should focus on sports …or hosting picnics. Three months later, with the financial backing of his grandfather, the Viscount of Alvalade, he founded Sporting, declaring he wanted Sporting to be “…a great club, as great as the greatest in Europe.”

To this end he built Portugal’s most advanced football ground and the club won its first Portuguese Cup in 1923. ‘The Lions’ really came of age with a spectacular period from 1940-1954 when they went on a barnstorming run, winning nine league championships and five Portuguese Cups and spearheaded by a quintet of forwards dubbed the 5 Violins. In 1964 Sporting grabbed their first European trophy, the UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup.

Tle Lions continued to win Championships and cups throughout the ’60s and ’90s, but lost ground to their two rivals. In the 21st Century, however, the Lions won eight cups between 2002 and 2019, including a PL-Cup double to give a new generation of Sporting fans memories of glory. Sporting then achieved a PL-League Cup double in 2021 in the ‘Covid Crazy Season’, then again in 2025. Thus, Sporting has maintained their profile as one of Portugal’s ‘Big Three’.

2. FC Porto

Success Points:	644
First Trophy Won:	TdP, 1922
Latest Trophies Won:	TdP, 2024
Most Successful Manager:	Artur Jorge – 148 Success Points (1984-1987 and 1988-1991)
Most successful decade:	1990s – 180 points

After a false start in 1893, a gentleman named Antonio Almeida founded The Dragons of Porto in 1906. The club won the inaugural Portuguese Cup, defeating Lisbon rivals Sporting in the final, and they also clinched the first ever PL championship in 1935. Porto slumped during the ’40s but kicked on with filling up the trophy cabinet until the 1960s when it suffered another trophy drought. They’ve won more and more championships and cups ever since, though they’re still yet to win a league cup.

Under club legend Artur Jorge, Porto came from outside favourites to beat Bayern Munich in the 1987 final to grab their first ever European Cup. Porto had a fantastic 1990s and won a record five PLs in a row. Manager superstar Jose Mourinho joined the club in 2001. He won the club’s first ever UEFA Cup two years later and then a Champions League the year after that. That season would also see Porto win a PL and Intercontinental Cup, a spectacular achievement for a Portuguese club! Porto won a Europa League in 2011. Porto are not just giants in Portugal but in Europe too.

1. SL Benfica

Success Points:	773
First Trophy Won:	TdP, 1930
Latest Trophy Won:	Taca da Liga (TdL), 2025
Most Successful Decade:	1960s – 176 points
Most Successful Manager:	Jorge Jesus, 88 Points (2009 – 2015)

Benfica FC: Portuguese top dogs. So successful have they been, they’ve hoarded over 40% of all PL championships plus more than a quarter of all Portuguese Cups. It’s where one of Europe’s greatest players, Eusebio, made his name too.

‘The Eagles’ started out in 1904 but struggled with poor management and finances to the extent that, in frustration, eight players quit to join crosstown rivals Sporting in 1907. Benfica won their first major trophy in 1935 and has been cramming more and more silverware into its trophy room since. The club lost a bit of steam in the ’90s and 2000s and added ‘only’ four PLs and five other major trophies in that period.

Benfica achieved three PLs in a row with managing great, Lippo Hertzka from 1935-38. Under another Hungarian, János Biri, Benfica won another three PL crowns in a row, plus the first of 11 domestic doubles from 1942-45. In 1961, under Joaquim Bogalho‘s presidency and Eusebio’s arrival, Benfica reached their zenith and placed a stranglehold on Portuguese football. The Eagles clinched two European Cups from 61-62, beating Barcelona then Real Madrid. They also managed no less than four ‘Tris‘ (three consecutive PLs) from 1961-77 and five Portuguese Cups. More recently the club managed a ‘Tetra‘ (4) from 2014-17.

Competition Key	Points
UEFA SC: UEFA Super Cup	4
LC: League Cup (Taca da Liga)	4
FIFA IC: Intercontinental Cup / FIFA Club World Cup / Fifa Intercontinental Cup	6
NC: National Cup (Campeonato de Portugal / Taca de Portugal)	6
UEFA ECL: UEFA Conference League	8
UEFA EL: UEFA Cup / Europa League	12
UEFA CWC: UEFA Cup Winners Cup	13
C: Top Tier League Championships (Primeira Liga)	14
FIFA CWC: Quadrennial FIFA Club World Cup	15
UEFA CL: UEFA European Cup / Champions League	17

15 Most Successful Clubs in Portugal

Position	Club	Subpoints Totals	Total Points
1	SL Benfica	LC: 8 x 4 = 32 NC: 29 x 6 = 174 CL: 2 x 17 = 34 C: 38 x 14 = 532 +1 (Treble)	773
2	FC Porto	UEFA SC: 1 x 4 = 4 FIFA CWC: 2 x 6 = 12 LC: 1 x 4 = 4 NC: 24 x 6 = 144 EL: 2 x 12 = 24 CL: 2 x 17 = 34 C: 30 x 14 = 420 +2 (Treble)	644
3	Sporting CP	LC: 4 x 4 = 16 NC: 22 x 6 = 132 UEFA CWC: 1 x 13 = 13 C: 21 x 14 = 294	455
4	CF Os Beleneses	NC: 6 x 6 = 36 C: 1 x 14 = 14	50
5	Boavista FC	NC: 5 x 6 =30 C: 1 x 14 = 14	44
6	SC Braga	LC: 3 x 4 = 12 NC: 3 x 6 = 18	30
7	Vitória de Setúbal	LC: 1 x 4 = 4 NC: 3 x 6 = 18	22
8	AA Coimbra	NC: 2 x 6 = 12	12
=9	C.S. Marítimo C.D. Aves S.C. Beira-Mar Leixões S.C. Vitória S.C. Estrela da Amadora	NC: 1 x 6 = 6	6
15	Moreirense F.C.	LC: 1 x 4 = 4	4