UEFA and Portuguese football: did you know?

Historic ties

As one of the historic founding members of UEFA, the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF) first hosted the governing body's Congress in 1956.

A tale of two EUROs

After suffering the heartbreak of finishing runners-up to underdogs Greece as hosts of UEFA EURO 2004, Portugal finally captured their first European Championship title 2016 – inflicting the same painful fate on hosts France in Paris. Fittingly, the same year saw the FPF move into its brand-new Cidade do Futebol (City of Football) headquarters.

Champion hosts

As well as hosting EURO 2004 and the inaugural edition of the UEFA Nations League finals in 2019, the FPF has a long history of hosting UEFA Champions League finals, stretching back to Celtic's 1967 European Cup triumph over Inter at Lisbon's Estádio Nacional – the so-called Lisbon Lions final. Since then, Portugal has hosted one edition of the women's Champions League (2014) and three more men's Champions League finals, most recently two in two seasons (2020 and 2021).

Celtic's Billy McNeill with the European Cup in 1967Getty Images

In both instances, the FPF's prowess at hosting major sporting events helped UEFA overcome extraordinary, last-minute circumstances. First, in 2020, Lisbon played host to an extraordinary final-eight tournament behind closed doors, which marked European football's return to play after the temporary halt caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Then, in 2021, UEFA moved the all-English final between Chelsea and Manchester City from its original venue of Istanbul to the Estádio do Dragão after the United Kingdom placed Turkey on its red list of restricted destinations due to rising infection rates. This ensured 6,000 fans of each team could attend the match in person.

For the record, the 1983 UEFA Cup final second leg and the 1992 European Cup Winners' Cup showpiece were held at the Estádio da Luz, while the Estádio Jose Alvalade hosted the 2005 UEFA Cup final. More recently, hosts Benfica won the 2009/10 UEFA Futsal Cup, which was held at Lisbon's Pavilhão Atlântico.

Futsal pioneers

Speaking of futsal, since the FPF set the goal of turning it into the most popular sport in school sports halls in 2016, the nation has emerged as European pioneers in the fast-growing format.

Portugal's men's national team are reigning FIFA Futsal World Cup champions as well as 2018 and 2022 winners of the UEFA European Futsal Championship. They also secured the first-ever Futsal Finalissima last September, beating Spain on penalties in the final. At club level, Sporting CP have reached five of the last six finals of the UEFA Futsal Champions League, twice emerging victorious.

Canal 11

In 2016, the FPF became the first European national association to broadcast its own television channel. Canal 11 does far more than show live matches and interview the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo, Bernardo Silva and João Félix. It promotes women's, futsal, youth and non-professional leagues as well as football social responsibility initiatives.

Focus on youth

Since claiming Portugal's first-ever national team title at the European Under-18 Championship in 1961, youth teams have added another nine men's youth European Championships to the FPF trophy cabinet – across Under-16, Under-17, Under-18 and Under-19 levels. The Under-20 side have also twice won the FIFA Under-20 World Cup, in Saudi Arabia in 1989 and on home soil two years later.

The nation's rich heritage in youth football is mirrored at club level, with Porto and Benfica capturing one UEFA Youth League title apiece since the competition's introduction in 2013. Benfica have also finished runners-up on three separate occasions.

Porto celebrate after 2019 UEFA Youth league success in Nyon, SwitzerlandSportsfile

Fitting finale

In the run-up to this year's UEFA Congress, both Lisbon teams – Benfica and Sporting – qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2022/23 Champions League and Europa League respectively. Are more chapters about to be added to Portuguese football's long list of European success stories?