Cup draw pairs Benfica–Torreense, Porto–Paredes and Sporting–União da Serra

At Cidade do Futebol in Oeiras, Portuguese Football Federation officials held the Taça de Portugal draw on 26 October 2026. It set the fourth- and fifth-round ties, putting the leading clubs’ next knockout hurdles—and their conditional routes towards the last 16—on the calendar.

Benfica, FC Porto and Sporting cannot meet before at least the quarter-finals, but their first tests differ sharply. Benfica travel to holders Torreense; Porto host Liga 3 side Paredes, while Sporting face fourth-tier União da Serra at a disputed venue. One tie separates each from the last 16, but the draw gives them distinct challenges: Benfica face a cup-winning opponent away, Porto meet a lower-division side at home, and Sporting take on a club from two tiers below. Braga, meanwhile, face an all-Primeira Liga away derby against Vitória SC.

The draw also mapped each club’s next step, but only if it gets through its fourth-round tie. For Benfica, that would mean another home match: they would welcome the winner of AVS against Tondela, two II Liga sides. Their route would stay within the competition’s knockout format, with one tie still to win before the last 16 is secured.

Sporting would also stay at home if they advance, facing either Atlético or Casa Pia. That pairing sets up a choice between a Liga 3 opponent and a Primeira Liga club, so Sporting’s potential next hurdle depends on which side wins their fourth-round meeting. Neither route is guaranteed; both begin with Sporting first overcoming União da Serra.

Porto’s conditional path points in the opposite direction. If they beat Paredes, they will travel to face either União de Leiria, from the II Liga, or Liga 3 side Leça. While Benfica and Sporting could progress to home ties, Porto would have to go away for their next round.

Torreense arrive as holders after beating Sporting 2–1 after extra time in last season’s final at Jamor. That made them the first club from outside the top division to win the Taça de Portugal. Benfica’s trip to Torres Vedras is therefore a meeting with the side that denied Sporting the trophy, not simply an away tie against a II Liga club.

Benfica have the competition record with 26 wins, but their last triumph came in 2016/17. Last season they went out in the quarter-finals, losing 1–0 to FC Porto. The holders provide a tougher measure of this campaign’s ambitions: Benfica must clear a side that has already beaten one of the country’s leading clubs in a final, before taking any next step towards the trophy.

The historical record points the other way, though it offers little recent guidance. A Bola reports that Benfica have faced Torreense 16 times, winning 11 and drawing five; their last meeting was a 0–0 draw in 1992. Benfica also progressed in both previous Taça de Portugal knockout ties between the clubs, in 1956/57 and 1986/87. Those meetings are decades old, and the current Torreense side has already made its own place in the competition’s history.

Benfica representative Humberto Coelho welcomed the tie but stressed the cup’s capacity to unsettle expectations.

Every Taça match is extraordinary. Teams themselves want to beat the big clubs. Torreense were last season’s cup winners. Naturally, I hope Benfica win, because it is important to progress. What is certain is that there are no easy matches, especially in the cup.

União da Serra, from the Campeonato de Portugal, were fifth in Série 3 when the draw was reported, and the clubs have never played each other. The venue is less clear: some reports place the tie at Estádio José Alvalade, while others say Leiria, leaving the setting unresolved.

Porto, by contrast, will play at home against Paredes, who lead Série A in Liga 3. Their place in this round came through a 1–0 win over Famalicão, a Primeira Liga side, in the previous round. Porto representative Rui Barros urged his side to respect Paredes and be careful after that win. That result gives the visitors a recent example of a higher-level opponent they have already sent out, even as the home draw leaves Porto with a different task from Sporting’s away-or-home uncertainty.

At the time of the draw, Braga and Vitória SC were ninth and 13th respectively, so neither enters the meeting from a position near the top of the table. Unlike the other two pairings, there is no division gap to frame the test; the fourth-round hurdle is a league rival on its own ground.

For Torreense, the tie is also a chance to put its players in front of a wider audience. Coach Luís Tralhão welcomed a highly competitive match against Benfica, saying it offered his squad a platform to show their quality.

“It is an opportunity to show our players to the world.”

Paredes president Pedro Silva says his side will keep its identity and ambition against Porto, while recognising the scale of the task. He described the chance of an upset as very small, but still wants his players to make a night of the cup.

“We will try to make it a cup celebration. I believe, while clearly understanding that the probability is very small, given the difference between the two teams.”

For União da Serra, the Sporting tie could have a practical value beyond the pitch. Vice-president Nuno Neves told Record that storm damage to the club’s pavilion caused losses above €200,000. He said the club would ask Sporting to hand over the gate revenue, while acknowledging that Sporting had previously said it did not usually do so. Sporting has not directly responded to the current request.

The third round had already shown how quickly a cup tie can turn against a higher-division side. Fátima beat Académico de Viseu 1–0, Leça won 1–0 away at Penafiel, and Atlético defeated Vizela 1–0, with all three lower-division clubs advancing.

Those results give the next round a recent local precedent: Fátima, Leça and Atlético did not merely make their opponents work; they removed them from the competition. Leça’s win is especially relevant to the route ahead, as they could meet Porto in the last 16 if both sides progress.

The lesson is not that every lower-division side will repeat those results, but that the gap in league status has not prevented an upset this season. Torreense’s cup success last year offered a landmark example; the third-round ties have already supplied three more reminders that the knockout format leaves little room for a routine assumption.

At Cidade do Futebol, officials set more than the next cup ties: they also put the competition’s next dates in view. But the fourth-round weekend is not consistently reported. Maisfutebol lists 21–22 November, while O Jogo gives 22–23 November. The last 16 is scheduled for 15–17 December, though European commitments could lead to changes. The calendar is taking shape, but the first weekend still needs clarity.

• The fourth-round schedule, reported for either 21–22 or 22–23 November 2026.
• The fourth-round results: each winner will take its place in the last 16.