[edit] History
Football started to gain popularity in Portugal in the late 19th century, brought by Portuguese students who returned from England.
The first organised game of football took place in 1875 in Camacha, Madeira. Organised by the Madeira born Harry Hinton. This being the first organised game of football anywhere in Portugal
The first person responsible for its implementation in mainland Portugal would have been Guilherme Pinto Basto (according to some people, his brothers Eduardo and Frederico would have brought the ball from England). It was he who had the initiative to organise an exhibition of the new game, which took place in October 1888, and it was also him who organized the first football match on mainland Portugal in January of the following year. The match, played where today the Campo Pequeno bullring is located, involved opposing teams from Portugal and England. The Portuguese won the game 2-1. Consequently, football started attracting the attention of the high society, being distinguished by the Luso-British rivalry.
Later, the game spread, being practised in colleges and leading to the foundation of clubs all over the country. Until the end of the century, associations such as Clube Lisbonense, Carcavelos Sport Club, Braço de Prata, Real Ginásio Clube Português, Estrela Futebol Clube, Futebol Académico, Campo de Ourique, Oporto Cricket, and Sport Clube Vianense were founded to practise this sport or created sections for competing.
The first match, between Lisbon and Porto, took place in 1894, attended by King Carlos.
Clube Internacional de Futebol (founded in 1902) was the first Portuguese team to play abroad, defeating Madrid Fútbol Clube in 1907; the game took place in Madrid, Spain.
On the 31st of March 1914, the 3 regional associations that existed in Portugal (Lisbon, Portalegre and Porto), merged to create a national association called "a União Portuguesa de Futebol" which is the ancestor of the current national association "Federação Portuguesa de Futebol" which was formed on the 28th of May 1926.
The main domestic football competition is the Primeira Liga, where the dominating teams are Futebol Clube do Porto, Sporting Clube de Portugal, and Sport Lisboa e Benfica.
Currently, the oldest team is Académica, which was founded in 1876. Futebol Clube do Porto, after an unsuccessful attempt in 1893, appeared in 1906, stimulated by José Monteiro da Costa, among others. Sporting Clube de Portugal was founded in 1906 by the Viscount of Alvalade and his grandson José de Alvalade. Sport Lisboa e Benfica was born in 1904 (the club maintained the foundation date of Sport Lisboa, founded in 1904, when in 1908, the two assimilated into the Grupo Sport Benfica, founded in 1906). They are all clubs that traditionally have several sports activities but they give great distinction to football, making use of teams of professional players, which frequently participate in European competitions.
[edit] National team
As of 26 May 2010, the Portuguese national team is currently ranked third in FIFA world ranking, which is their highest ever. Their lowest rank was 43rd overall in 1998.
Portugal hosted UEFA Euro 2004, but were defeated in a huge upset to champions Greece in the final. The Portuguese national team also reached the semi-finals of the FIFA World Cup twice; in 1966, when Eusébio was the top scorer, with nine goals, and also in 2006, with Cristiano Ronaldo and Luís Figo. This was the first time since 1966 that the Portuguese football team had advanced to a such a high qualifying round in a World Cup tournament.
[edit] See also
