Portugal second in UEFA ranking on 8.900 points

Four Portuguese clubs came through the European round reported on 6 November with wins: Sporting CP and FC Porto in the Champions League, Benfica and Torreense in the Europa League. Braga were the exception, drawing 0-0 away to Aarhus in Denmark in the Conference League. By the time the results were counted, Portugal had returned to second place in UEFA’s season ranking, a position that currently carries the prospect of an extra Champions League place. But one draw and four wins are only a week’s contribution to a race still being played out.

UEFA awards those European Performance Spots to the two associations with the highest season averages, calculated from their clubs’ European results. That makes the table more than a snapshot: Portugal receives the extra place only if it remains in the top two when the competitions end. Its current standing is provisional, and results in the remaining European matches will continue to shape the ranking. The final position, not today’s table, will determine whether Portugal’s place counts.

The latest reported table, published by Record on 5 November, put Portugal back in second on 7.900 points, with England leading on 8.611.

A win for a Portuguese club adds to Portugal’s season coefficient, but the calculation does not simply total every point earned. UEFA divides an association’s points by the number of its clubs competing in Europe, so results from all five Portuguese sides feed into one national average. A European win is worth two points before that calculation.

The denominator matters. Portugal’s total is divided by five clubs this season; in a calculation reported on 14 October, England’s points were divided by nine. Each result therefore contributes to a country’s average, rather than counting as a separate place in the ranking.

That system made the latest round unusually productive for Portugal. Maisfutebol, A Bola and CNN Portugal reported that the country added more ranking points than any other, ahead of Belgium and France, and climbed two places.

Spain and Germany also added fewer points than Portugal that week, according to reports. Spain’s 0.625-point gain came despite two wins and a draw, alongside five defeats, the reports said.

The table after the round reported on 6 November put Portugal second on 8.900 points, with England narrowly ahead on 9.166. Portugal’s margin over third-placed Belgium was 0.500 points, so the places around it were separated by less than a point.

That small gap gives each country’s next results weight, but the reports do not agree on how much Portugal gained in the latest week. Maisfutebol, A Bola and CNN Portugal put the increase at 1.800 points. O Jogo reported a gain of 1.000, saying Portugal’s total rose from 7.900 to 8.900.

The two versions cannot both describe the same increase: the reported starting and ending totals differ by 1.000 points, not 1.800. The outlets agree on Portugal’s second place and the 8.900 total, but the published accounts leave the week’s precise contribution disputed. The ranking position is clear; the route to that number is not.

The remaining European matches will keep changing the coefficient, and the key question is how many Portuguese clubs can stay in the competitions. A Bola’s assessment singled out FC Porto and Torreense: it said their chances of progressing beyond their league phases were slim. If they go no further, Portugal will have fewer opportunities to add points in the later rounds.

Last season shows how a strong total can still fall short. Portugal were fourth on 18.900 points on 19 March, according to Maisfutebol, but by 30 April the country was mathematically out of the extra-place race. Its final 20.100 points were reported as a national UEFA record, above the previous high of 18.800 in 2010/11.

The scale of that total did not save Portugal’s position: the ranking depends on how its points compare with other associations, not on reaching a particular score.

The current table gives Portugal a place in the top two; a forecast cited by A Bola is much less confident that it will stay there. Football Meets Data put Portugal’s chance of finishing in the top two at 8.4 per cent. Its estimate for England was 81.7 per cent, while Belgium, currently third, stood at 14.4 per cent. The same estimate put Spain at 37.4%, Germany at 35.9% and Italy at 15.5%.

That makes the gap between Portugal’s present position and its projected finish stark: the model gives Belgium a better chance despite Portugal’s lead in the table. A Bola linked Portugal’s low estimate in large part to its assessment of whether FC Porto and Torreense can progress beyond their league phases.

Portugal already has three Champions League places for 2027/28, based on its sixth place in UEFA’s five-year ranking: two clubs enter directly and one starts in the third qualifying round. Finishing among the top two in this season’s ranking would add a fourth place, changing which Portuguese league positions reach Europe’s top competition.

Under the reported allocation, the league’s third-placed club would then enter the Champions League directly, while the fourth-placed side would have a qualifying route. The extra place would therefore shift the direct-entry line down one position and give another club a chance to qualify.

The reward has gone to different associations in recent seasons. Italy and Germany finished first and second in the 2023/24 season ranking, earning extra places for 2024/25; Bologna and Borussia Dortmund took them after finishing fifth domestically. England and Spain finished in the top two the following season, securing the additional places for 2025/26, according to UEFA.

The remaining European fixtures will keep changing the season coefficient, and the final table will decide whether second place turns into an extra Champions League entry for 2027/28.

• FC Porto and Torreense when their league phases end, and whether either progresses beyond them.
• The final UEFA season ranking, when the 2026/27 European competitions are complete; it will decide the additional place for 2027/28.