On 22 May, the Estádio Nacional will once again host the final of Portuguese football's premier cup competition: the Taça de Portugal Placard. FC Porto, for the thirty-second time in their history, and CD Tondela, making their debut, are the two teams who will fight for the most prestigious piece of silverware in domestic football — currently held by Sporting de Braga, who beat Benfica in last season's final at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra.

Stories like CD Tondela's, preparing to play in their first-ever final, are the lifeblood that feed the magic making the Taça de Portugal Placard not only the most democratic of all national football competitions, but also the one that makes players, coaches and, above all, football fans across the country dream the most.

A brief history of the Taça de Portugal Placard

Using the same trophy and format as its predecessor, the Campeonato de Portugal (created in the 1921–22 season), the Taça de Portugal Placard held its inaugural edition in the 1938-39 season, featuring 15 clubs and played in a concentrated format (14 May 1939 – 25 June 1939), as would remain the case for decades, at the end of the sporting season.

After getting past the round of sixteen, the quarter-finals and the semi-finals — always played over two legs — Académica de Coimbra and Benfica reached the final, which was played at the historic Campo das Salésias in Lisbon. In a match marked by uncertainty right to the end, Académica edged Benfica 4-3 and thus lifted, for the first time — both for the club and in the history of Portuguese football — the iconic trophy.

Regarding the trophy presented to the winners, it is worth noting that the official prize, dating from 1922, belongs to the Portuguese Football Federation, weighs 20 kg and consists of a chiselled silver cup richly decorated in Manueline style, featuring a silver body adorned with caravels and frigates in the background.

Although this is the official trophy, each edition's winner receives a replica — equally ornate but smaller than the original — on whose base silver plates are engraved with the names of all Taça de Portugal Placard winners, as well as all Campeonato de Portugal winners from 1921–22 to the present day.

Over the following seasons — with the exception of 1946-47 due to scheduling constraints, and 1949-50 due to the Taça Latina being held at the Estádio Nacional — the Taça de Portugal Placard continued to bring together teams from all levels of Portuguese football, and even from African football. African? Yes, African. For 16 years, various teams from Angola, Mozambique, Guinea-Bissau and Cape Verde were invited to participate.

Some matches between African teams and those from the then so-called "mainland" were played on African soil, making the Taça de Portugal Placard, during those 16 years, not just a national competition but also an "intercontinental" one.

Venues for the Taça de Portugal Placard Final

Although in the minds of supporters the Taça de Portugal Placard final is indelibly associated with the Estádio Nacional, this has not always been the case. As mentioned, the first of the competition's 82 editions was won by Académica de Coimbra in a final against Benfica played at the old Campo das Salésias. Both that ground and the Campo do Lumiar served as the final's venue until 1946, when the match moved to the newly opened Estádio Nacional.

It was not until 1961 that the final was played at a different stadium. On 9 July 1961, Leixões SC and FC Porto contested the cup final at the Estádio das Antas, at Porto's request, given that both clubs were from the north.

Between 1975 and 1977, following the FPF's rule that the final be held at the ground of the previous year's winners, the 1975 decider moved to Estádio José de Alvalade, since Sporting CP had lifted the trophy in 1974.

In the last final held under this federation rule, the Estádio das Antas hosted the decider for the second consecutive time, as FC Porto beat Sporting de Braga 1-0. It is worth noting that Porto's coach was José Maria Pedroto, who in doing so won the Portuguese cup for the third consecutive time.

Before the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 editions were played at the Estádio Cidade de Coimbra, the last final not held at the Jamor took place in 1983, when FC Porto faced Benfica at the Estádio das Antas — a match Benfica won 1-0 to bring the trophy back to Lisbon.

Winners of the Taça de Portugal Placard

We said the Taça de Portugal Placard is the most democratic competition in Portuguese football, and nothing could be truer. Since 1939, every edition of the national cup has brought together teams from all divisions — including some from district leagues — who keep alive the dream of one day reaching the Jamor final and lifting the trophy.

For example, in the 2021-2022 edition, 154 clubs took part, and Leça FC — a team from the Campeonato de Portugal (4th tier) — reached the quarter-finals. This run by the Matosinhos club is just one of many examples of smaller, lower-profile teams claiming the right to dream and inspire their supporters.

Fun fact: the first final without Sporting CP, Benfica or FC Porto was held in 1942 between CF Belenenses and Vitória SC. The Restelo side won 2-0.

CD Aves in 2017-2018 (against Sporting CP), SC Beira-Mar in 1998-1999 (against SC Campomaiorense) and CF Estrela da Amadora in 1989-1990 (against SC Farense) are just three examples of dreams coming true — but despite all that magic, the so-called big clubs remain dominant in the Taça de Portugal Placard: Benfica have 27 trophies, while FC Porto and Sporting CP have 17 each.

Fun fact: in the 1952–53 season, Benfica became the only club to win four consecutive Portuguese Cups.

In the positions that follow, it is worth noting the 5 trophies won by Boavista FC and the 3 each claimed by Vitória FC, CF Belenenses and Sporting de Braga. Académica de Coimbra with 2, and Vitória SC, Leixões SC, SC Beira-Mar, CF Estrela da Amadora and CD Aves with 1 each complete the list.

Fun fact: in the same season SC Beira-Mar won their only Taça de Portugal in a final against SC Campomaiorense, the club was relegated and ended up playing in the UEFA Cup while competing in the second division.

Beyond the thirteen clubs that have taken the trophy home, it is worth noting that a further dozen teams have reached the Jamor final — some on more than one occasion — without managing to claim the coveted prize: Atlético de Lisboa, Marítimo and Rio Ave on two occasions; Estoril Praia, SC Olhanense, SC Farense, SC União Torreense, SC Covilhã, SC Campomaiorense, UD Leiria, FC Paços de Ferreira and GD Chaves on one occasion each.

A word too for the managers, for whom — as can be gathered from comments by well-respected coaches such as Jorge Jesus and Sérgio Conceição — the Taça de Portugal Placard represents not only the chance to win another trophy, but above all the fulfilment of a childhood dream.

In total, since its creation, 58 managers have won the Taça de Portugal Placard. This distinguished list is led by Otto Glória and José Maria Pedroto with 4 trophies each, followed by another pairing — Hungarian János Biri and Portuguese Fernando Vaz — with three each.

Fun fact: Jesualdo Ferreira, Paulo Bento, Fernando Santos and Rui Vitória are the currently active managers with the most Taças de Portugal Placard on their CVs, with two each.

Goals are the lifeblood of football and the Taça de Portugal Placard final is the ultimate proof of that. In 84 years of history, only once has the decisive match ended without a goal. That happened in 1993-1994 when FC Porto and Sporting CP drew 0-0 after extra time, forcing a replay that Porto would eventually win 2-1 after extra time.

Fun fact: the replay — a tiebreaker method used for decades that involved playing an entirely new match — was abolished at the start of the 2001-2002 season.

Despite Eusébio being the player with the most winning goals (two) and the only one to score a hat-trick in Taça de Portugal Placard finals, the all-time top scorer in finals of the competition remains the legendary Rogério "Pipi" of Benfica, with 15 goals across 6 matches.