Football league
The Campeonato Nacional Feminino (English: Women's National Championship), also known as Liga BPI for sponsorship reasons, is the top-tier
S.U. 1º de Dezembro
, with 12 titles.
History
One of the first women's football national championship in Portugal began in 1985, under the title Taça Nacional. It included all clubs interested in participating and comprised two stages, in the first stage clubs were divided in different zone groups with the top clubs from each zone advancing to the second stage to decide the champion.
UEFA Women's Cup was created with the previous season winners of this competition qualifying to play on it. The
Portuguese cup started on the 2003–04 season with all clubs competing on it.
In 2005, the
Campeonato Nacional II Divisão was created, leaving only the top 6 teams on the first tier, each one playing the others 4 times with the bottom team being relegated. The competition was expanded for the 2009–10 season to 10 teams, playing each other twice, with top clubs advancing to a championship group and bottom teams to a relegation group. A
supercup, played between the championship winners and cup winners, started in 2015.
For the 2016–17, the
Braga became the first professional women's football teams in Portugal. That same season, the format was reverted to a single stage, where the 14 teams (reduced to 12 on the following season) play each other twice. The
league cup was introduced for the
2019–20 season with teams qualifying through mid-season standings on the championship. That season was interrupted due to the
COVID-19 pandemic in Portugal with no title awarded and no teams relegated. This was the first time no title was awarded since the creation of the competition. This led to a total of 20 teams on the first tier on the following season, requiring a format change for that season, with a first stage where teams are divided in two groups playing each other once with top teams advancing to a championship group and bottom teams to relegation groups.
Competition format
Competition
As of 2016–17, there are 12 clubs in the Campeonato Nacional. During the course of a season (from September to May) each club plays the others twice (a double
Campeonato Nacional II Divisão
, and the top two teams from the Campeonato Nacional de Promoção are promoted in their place.
Qualification for European competitions
The winner of Campeonato Nacional qualifies for the UEFA Women's Champions League qualifying round.
Teams
Location of teams in
2023–24 Campeonato Nacional Feminino. (Mainland)
