Taça sends Primeira Liga clubs away to lower-division sides
Primeira Liga clubs enter in the third round and travel to lower-division opponents. This round, six were eliminated through late goals, comebacks and extra-time wins.
At Estádio João Cardoso in Tondela, the scoreboard stayed 0-0 through regulation time as the home side and Alverca failed to find a goal. Extra time broke the deadlock twice: Tondela scored two goals to win 2-0 on 18 October 2026, ending Alverca’s Taça de Portugal run. Tondela, relegated from the top flight the previous season, had eliminated a Primeira Liga opponent in its own stadium. Six Primeira Liga clubs have now been eliminated, while their lower-division opponents advance to the fourth round.
The six exits did not share one script: some were narrow defeats, others stretched beyond 90 minutes. But the draw creates the same starting disadvantage for each top-flight entrant. Since 2015/16, Primeira Liga clubs have joined the Taça in the third round and had to travel to lower-division opponents. That leaves room for a single goal, a red card or a carefully prepared plan to reshape a tie before the top-flight side can impose its usual advantage.
Three ties decided by a single goal
The first three exits came by the narrowest margin. Sanjoanense, from the Campeonato de Portugal, beat Nacional 1-0 at home on 17 October, with Baba Dabo scoring the winner in the 81st minute. The goal came late, but it settled the tie: Sanjoanense moved into the fourth round and Nacional were out.
AVS needed only three minutes to take the lead against Moreirense. Rodrigo Pinho scored early in the second-tier side’s 1-0 home win, then AVS held on as Moreirense tried to find an equaliser late in the match. The result sent AVS through to the fourth round for the third consecutive year.
Fátima’s win over Académico de Viseu also came down to a late goal. At Estádio Municipal Papa Francisco on 18 October, the Campeonato de Portugal side won 1-0, with Lucas Russo scoring its only goal near the end.
Mafra turns a numerical advantage into a comeback
Santa Clara’s defeat unfolded differently: the Primeira Liga side led twice away to Liga 3’s Mafra, but finished the match beaten 3-2 after extra time on 18 October. Djé Tavares put Santa Clara ahead, Rodrigo Matos levelled for Mafra, and Fernando restored the visitors’ lead. The home side equalised in stoppage time, then scored again in extra time to complete the comeback.
The turning point came before the interval. Tavares was sent off after receiving a second yellow card, leaving Santa Clara to play the entire second half with ten men. Mafra had an extra player for the long stretch that followed, but still needed a stoppage-time goal to take the match beyond regulation.
The extra period did not stay eleven against ten: Mafra’s Lénio Neves was also dismissed for a second yellow card. Even so, Santa Clara could not recover the advantage. The result ended an unbeaten league start that had lasted eight matches; Santa Clara were fourth in the table when they travelled to Mafra.
Paredes makes its chance count
Paredes were top of Liga 3’s Série A when they hosted Famalicão, and made their opportunity count. Miguel Moreno scored in the 40th minute at Estádio Municipal das Laranjeiras on 18 October, giving the Liga 3 side a 1-0 win and eliminating another Primeira Liga club.
The scoreline was narrow, but Record’s match report described a performance that went beyond simply protecting a lead. It said Paredes defended their goal well and pushed forward, while Famalicão began with little pressure, gave up the initiative and threatened only intermittently.
Record’s account was critical of Famalicão; no response from the club is reported.
Preparation, not just chance
For Tondela coach Ricardo Costa, the win over Alverca was also the product of a week’s work. He told O Jogo that his players believed the plan was right, while stressing that Alverca’s quality made the task harder.
We worked on all of this for a week and they believed the strategy for the match was the most suitable.
Paredes coach Agostinho Bento was pleased with his side’s cup progress, but told Maisfutebol that it should not distract from the league campaign or the club’s priority of survival. He had already discussed the next match with his players.
Our main objective continues to be the league. We have already been talking about the next match, because we cannot lose focus. The virtual world does not deceive me: our world is the next match.
A difficult round by design
Six Primeira Liga exits are rare, but not unprecedented. A Bola’s comparison of the 11 editions since the format changed found this was the third-highest total: five top-flight sides went out in 2017/18, seven in 2019/20 and eight in 2022/23. The away draw against lower-division opposition has produced shocks before, including in 2022, when Liga 3 side Varzim beat Sporting 1-0. That tie was moved to Barcelos because renovation work was under way at Varzim’s ground; João Faria, the home side’s captain, scored the winner. It was Sporting’s third Taça elimination by a third-tier club, after earlier defeats to Tirsense and Alverca. The five clubs competing in Europe did not face the same route into the competition. FC Porto, Sporting, Benfica, Braga and cup holders Torreense were not involved in the third round and are due to enter in the fourth, scheduled for the weekend of 21–22 November. The next round will therefore bring the eliminated sides’ successors into the same draw as the clubs that had a bye.
At Estádio João Cardoso, the extra-time finish has closed Alverca’s cup story. Four of the eliminated sides are due back in league action within days, so their immediate test comes outside the Taça. For now, each club’s attention turns to its next league opponent.
- 24 October: Alverca host Arouca.
- 25 October: Nacional host SC Braga, while Moreirense visit Estoril.
- 26 October: Santa Clara host Benfica.
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