The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the

Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional The Liga Portugal (Portugal League), also known by its acronym LPFP, is a governing body that manages professional football club competitions in Portugal. It was founded in 1978 as Liga Portuguesa dos Clubes de Futebol Profissional and works as an ...

(LPFP) for teams competing in the

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

and LigaPro, the top two tiers of

Portuguese football Association football ( pt, futebol), the most popular sport in Portugal, has a long and storied history in the country, following its introduction in 1875 in cities such as Funchal, Lisbon, Porto and Coimbra by English merchants and Portuguese ...

. Unlike Portugal's other domestic cup competition, the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 sea ...

, the winners do not qualify for European competitions. The Taça da Liga was established in the 2007–08 season, thus becoming the third official competition for professional clubs in Portugal, after a proposal by Sporting and Boavista was approved by LPFP members on 28 November 2006. For sponsorship reasons, it is currently known as Allianz Cup (with the English word ''cup''). Benfica are the most decorated team, having won a record seven trophies, four of which consecutively. The current holders are Sporting who defeated Benfica in the 2022 final to secure their fourth title in the competition, making Sporting the second most successful club in the competition after Benfica.

Format

The Taça da Liga format has suffered changes throughout the competition's history in order to increase the number of matches and also revenue for both clubs and LPFP. Starting in the 2021–22 season, the format is the following: * First round – One-legged ties between all Segunda Liga teams (except reserve or B teams), the ten

teams ranked 7th–16th in the previous season, and the two teams promoted from the Segunda Liga, with the winner advancing to the next round. * Second round – One-legged ties between the first-round winners and the two

teams ranked 5th and 6th in the previous season. The winners advance to the next round. * Third round – Four groups of three teams played in a single round-robin format, each containing two second-round winners and one of the four top-placed Primeira Liga season teams of the previous season. The group winners advance to the next round. * Knockout phase – Semi-finals and final played as one-legged fixtures played in a neutral ground. For 2022-23, due to fixture congestion surrounding the 2022 FIFA World Cup, all Segunda Liga and Primeira Liga teams (except reserve or B teams) were placed into 8 groups (6 groups of 4 teams and 2 groups of 5 teams), with the group winners advancing to the knockout phase, consisting of quarter-finals, semi-finals and the final. All knockout stage games are one-legged fixtures, with the semi-finals and finals still played in a neutral ground. All group stage games and the quarter-finals were played during the international break surrounding the World Cup.

Finals

Performance by club

Participating clubs

Players statistics

Appearances

Bold = Still active and playing in Portugal

Goalscorers

All-time top scorers

Bold = Still active and playing in Portugal

Goalscorers by seasons

Sponsorship

Since its inception (except in the period between 2011–15) the Taça da Liga has had the following naming sponsors meaning it has been known by different names:

Records

*Most tournament wins (team): 7 wins, Benfica *Most final appearances (team): 8, Benfica *Most tournament wins (individual): 7,

Luisão Ânderson Luís da Silva (born 13 February 1981), known as Luisão, is a Brazilian former professional footballer who played as a centre back. Luisão started his career at Juventus-SP in 1999 before moving to Cruzeiro the year later, where h ...

for Benfica; Rúben Amorim for Benfica (5) as a player, and for Braga (1) and Sporting CP (2) as a manager *Most final appearances: (individual): 6,

for Benfica (2009–11, 2014–16) *Most matches (team): 62, Benfica *Most matches (individual): 43, Jardel *Most game wins (team): 40, Benfica *Most goals (team): 123, Benfica *Highest goalscorer (career): 12 goals, Tozé Marreco &

Paulinho Paulinho is a Portuguese nickname for people named ''Paulo'' (Paulo -inho, little Paulo). People known as Paulinho include: Music *Paulinho da Costa (born 1948), Brazilian percussionist *Paulinho da Viola (born 1942), Brazilian sambista *Paulinho ...

*Highest goalscorer (season): 5 goals, by

Matheus Matheus is a Portuguese given name: Notable people with the name include: * Matheus Aiás (born 1996), Brazilian footballer * Matheus Alessandro (born 1996), Brazilian footballer * Matheus Pucinelli de Almeida (born 2001), Brazilian tennis player ...

for

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

(2007–08),

Hugo Vieira Hugo Filipe da Costa Oliveira (born 25 July 1988), known as Hugo Vieira, is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward. He had four spells with Gil Vicente F.C., Gil Vicent ...

for

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often ref ...

(2010–11) and

Jonas Jonas may refer to: Geography * Jonas, Netherlands, Netherlands * Jonas, Pennsylvania, United States * Jonas Ridge, North Carolina, United States People with the name * Jonas (name), people with the given name or surname Jonas * Jonas, one of ...

for Benfica (2014–15) *Most goals scored in a match (individual): 4 goals, by Rabiola for Desportivo das Aves vs Trofense, 29 July 2012 *Biggest win:

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

6–0

União da Madeira União is the Portuguese word for Union. It may refer to: *the Brazilian federal government *União do Vegetal, a church known for its usage of Hoasca as tea * Brazilian frigate ''União'' (F45), a general-purpose ''Niterói'' class frigate launc ...

, third round, 20 December 2017 *Biggest win in a final: Marítimo 2–6 Benfica, 20 May 2016 *Highest scoring game: 8 goals, Belenenses 5–3

Leixões The Port of Leixões ( pt, Porto de Leixões, ) is one of Portugal's major seaports, located 4 km north of the mouth of the Douro River, in Matosinhos municipality, near the city of Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city i ...

, first round, 7 August 2011 and Marítimo 2–6 Benfica, final, 20 May 2016 *Most penalties in a deciding penalty shoot-out: 20 –

Vitória de Guimarães Vitoria or Vitória may refer to : People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Steven Vitória ...

6–7

(27 September 2007) *Youngest goalscorer in the final: Bruno Pereirinha, 20 years and 19 days, for

vs Benfica, 2009 *Youngest player in the final: Nuno Mendes, 18 years, 7 months and 5 days for

Braga Braga ( , ; cel-x-proto, Bracara) is a city and a municipality, capital of the northwestern Portuguese district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality has a resident population of 193,333 inhabitants (in ...

, 2021 *Youngest captain in the final:

João Moutinho João Filipe Iria Santos Moutinho (; born 8 September 1986) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Wolverhampton Wanderers and the Portugal national team. Moutinho began his professional career ...

, 21 years, 6 months and 14 days for

, 2008

References

External links

*
Portugal - List of League Cup Finals
RSSSF.com {{DEFAULTSORT:Taca Da Liga 2 National association football league cups Recurring sporting events established in 2007 2007 establishments in Portugal