Braga were the first of the country’s elite to accept. They were followed by Sporting CP, who brought back the team that was founded in 1991 and disbanded during the tenure of club president Pedro Santana Lopes four years later, and committed to an impressive infrastructure of facilities. It took another year for Benfica to follow suit — they entered the second division but have won every Liga BPI title since their promotion. Porto finally joined the league system in 2024, initially slotting into the third tier, and their first home game of the campaign — a 9-0 win — was attended by over 30,000 people.
In 2022, pregnancy and maternity protections were put in place for players, while the following year saw strengthened workplace harassment policies, as well as more female-focused sports science and improved grass pitches. The FPF also addressed the lack of effort towards identifying and developing young talent with the creation of training centres throughout Portugal, bringing together the best players from the various regions and districts. From a 20% rise in overall participation between 2015 and 2016, more than half were in the U19 age group.
An investment of around €600,000 into the top flight in 2019 has now been tripled for the current season, according to Mary Caiado’s comprehensive book “The History of Women’s Football: The Great Portuguese Adventure.” Over 10,000 more female players have been registered in Portugal since 2011 and professional contracts in the league have risen from 41 in 2018 to over 220 now.
Meanwhile, the prize money for the domestic cup has also increased by eight times the amount that was awarded three years ago, with the winner now receiving €80,000.
International progress
Against such a backdrop of strife, it’s understandable that Portugal’s national side have struggled to progress, but things have been slowly improving for years.
“It has been going on for a while,” Jessica Silva told The Guardian ahead of their 2023 World Cup campaign. “Not only under Francisco Neto, and not only with me and the current players. But these nine years have brought success, evolution and the growth of our team. There has been investment in the women’s game in Portugal so, looking at the big picture, it has been a collective effort to get into the World Cup. We have a different mindset, a new way of playing. We believe in our abilities, in our football.”
Now into his 11th year at the helm, Neto can call upon some of the most promising young players on the scene: though 22-year-old Barcelona forward Kika will miss this summer’s Euros after suffering an ankle injury in mid-March and Gotham FC star Jessica Silva could too after suffering a freak injury to her eye in training that has ruled her out “indefinitely.”
Having been relegated from Nations League A Group 2 in 2023, Portugal had a point to prove and went unbeaten across their 12 games in 2024. “We weren’t happy in the Nations League, but that’s football,” Dolores Silva told the media last year. “But we’ll take away what we’ve worked on to grow as a team. We have a huge responsibility and what we want most is to continue putting Portugal where it should be. We have to look ahead and what’s coming, giving our all. We can’t rest on our laurels.”
The side began this year with a deserved 1-1 draw at home to defending European champions England, and a 1-0 win against Belgium. The game, watched by nearly two million fans in Portugal, revolved around keeping the opposition at bay with a solid defensive unit in a 3-4-1-2 formation before Kika’s arrival off the bench sparked a carnival-like energy into the stadium as she arrived to fire an equalizer into the top corner inside 10 minutes.
Yet Portugal are not a side built around a single player. When Barcelona recalled Kika after the England game, they still managed to beat a tough Belgium side via a Costa penalty and a compact defensive performance that saw them maintain 57% possession and not allow a single shot on target. And it’s the consistency of players and managerial personnel over the past decade which has made them so hard to play against. Seven players in the most recent squad have over 100 caps, and these are the team’s fulcrums with which Neto trusts.
As comfortable set out in a back four as they are in their usual five, often switching between them during games, Portugal are built on the bedrock of veterans Borges and Costa (who also takes penalties and scored from the spot in Friday’s 4-2 defeat by Spain) and led by the forward line of the long-standing Silvas (Jessica and Diana.) Their tactical flexibility has recently been matched by an increasing variety in the squad.
They made use of their expanding array of talent during qualification for Euro 2025, utilising 28 players, among the highest in the round. And, during their three games at the 2023 World Cup, Neto ensured all 22 players had minutes on the field to best prepare them for their final match.
“We know we are not dominant in women’s football, but we are growing,” he told FIFA after the tournament. “These are the players we want; players who can play in different roles in different structures.”
Player alterations tend to take place with an increasing depth of midfield options, including Benfica star Andreia Norton, the experienced Fátima Pinto and Tatiana Pinto, and 22-year-old Andreia Jacinto, who has started every game this season for Real Sociedad.
The balance that was lacking 11 years ago, when Neto took charge, has been addressed both institutionally and culturally. Now, hope is high that Portugal can build on their recent major tournament experience and get through a tough Group B consisting of world champions Spain, Belgium and Italy, which would undoubtedly be their crowning achievement to date.
For much of their history, the sense of optimism among the Portuguese women’s setup was non-existent. Now they are looking to make up for lost time.
