S.C. Braga

Sporting Clube de Braga (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨˈpɔɾtĩ ˈkluβɨ ðɨ ˈβɾaɣɐ]), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, it also has departments for athletics, badminton, basketball, billiards, boccia, boxing, esports, futsal, karate, kickboxing, muay thai, swimming, taekwondo and volleyball.^[1][2]

Braga

Full name	Sporting Clube de Braga
Nickname(s)	Os Arcebispos (The Archbishops) Os Arsenalistas (The Arsenalists) Arsenal do Minho (Minho's Arsenal) Minhotos (Those from Minho) Os Guerreiros do Minho (The Minho Warriors) Braguistas (supporters)
Founded	19 January 1921; 104 years ago (1921-01-19)
Ground	Estádio Municipal de Braga
Capacity	30,286
Owner	Qatar Sports Investments (29.6%) Sundown Investments Limited (17.04%)
President	António Salvador
Manager	Carlos Vicens
League	Primeira Liga
2024–25	Primeira Liga, 4th of 18
Website	scbraga.pt
Home colours Away colours Third colours
Current season

Founded on 19 January 1921, Braga are nicknamed, Braguistas, and Os Arsenalistas (The Arsenalists) for the shirt colour that resembles English club Arsenal. Since 2003, Braga have played their home matches at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, which replaced the Estádio 1º de Maio, now used for the club's reserve team.

In the 2000s, Braga became one of Portugal's most decorated clubs (5th) and has had some success in European competitions, winning the last UEFA Intertoto Cup (the only Portuguese club to do so) in 2008, and reaching the final of the UEFA Europa League in 2011. Domestically, they have also won another 7 domestic trophies: three Taça de Portugal in 1965–66, 2015–16, and in 2020–21, and the Taça da Liga three times in 2012–13, 2019–20 and 2023–24.

The club qualified for the 2010–11 UEFA Champions League, reaching the competition for the first time in their history, by eliminating Celtic and Sevilla following a 2nd-place finish in the 2009–10 Primeira Liga season. This represented the highest finish in the league in the club's history. Moreover, in the 2010s, Braga have cultivated a reputation for spotting and developing young talent, and have remained focused on developing a youth system.

Braga have a long-standing rivalry with nearby club Vitória de Guimarães, with whom they contest the Minho derby.

History

Existing records say that in 1919, two years before the formal foundation, a group of Braga residents who were sympathisers of the Lisbon-based Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting CP) came up with the name Sporting Clube de Braga. The equipment used was also identical to that of Sporting CP. During weekend matches at Campo das Goladas, the friends from Braga wore the classic Sporting CP Stromp kit, with a green and white shirt split down the middle. Influenced by sympathisers of Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Benfica), a solution was found in 1921 to please everyone. The name remained true to Sporting CP, but the kit changed to red and white, in honour of the connection of some of the Braga fans to Lisbon's Benfica.^[3]

Until 1945, SC Braga imitated Benfica's kit. Red shirt, shorts and white socks. That year, at the end of World War II, the club adopted the Arsenal version for their second team, with white sleeves.^[3] Braga changed their kits to their current red and white during the 1945–46 season (for the reserve squad) and the 1946–47 season (for the first team). The change, according to one version of the story, was at the behest of their president, José Antunes Guimarães, who had business connections in London and was an Arsenal fan; according to an alternate version, it was József Szabó, Braga's Hungarian coach, who asked the president to change the uniform to an Arsenal-style red and white. In 1947, Braga won the Second division title in the new kit, reaching the First division for the first time. Braga even renamed their youth team Arsenal de Braga.

One of the first matches played in Arsenal-style kits against R C Celta Vigo

Braga's emblem is the city of Braga's shield with Mother Mary and baby Jesus with the blue from the city's shield changed to red. On the top of the emblem is the golden Mural Crown of Braga, with the name "Sporting Clube de Braga" on it. Many Braga fans have said that Mother Mary gives them luck. The fans of Braga are known as Arsenalistas due to their team home kit that resembles that of English club Arsenal.^[4] They are also known as Bracarenses because of being from the city of Bracari, later named Bracara Augusta, city of Portugal that is now known as Braga.

Braga's ranking in Europe since 2003

Season	UEFA Ranking	Points
2003–04	–	–
2004–05	139th	15.739
2005–06	136th	17.533
2006–07	96th	27.107
2007–08	79th	33.176
2008–09	50th	39.292
2009–10	48th	39.659
2010–11	28th	62.319
2011–12	29th	63.069
2012–13	29th	62.833
2013–14	40th	52.959
2014–15	37th	51.776
2015–16	46th	43.116
2016–17	55th	37.366

In the 1960s and 1970s, Braga began to climb up the league ladder and eventually participated in the UEFA competitions. Braga's recent run of successive European participations began in the 2004–05 UEFA Cup after finishing fifth in the league under Jesualdo Ferreira's first full season in the club. In the 2006–07 UEFA Cup, the side reached the last 16 before a 6–4 aggregate loss to Tottenham Hotspur.^[5] That summer, the club signed a three-year sponsorship deal with French insurance company Axa, who took over the naming rights for the stadium for €4.5 million;^[6] this was renewed for a further three years in 2010.^[7]

Braga won the 2008 UEFA Intertoto Cup and again reached the UEFA Cup last 16 in the 2008–09 season, where they lost by a single goal to Paris Saint-Germain.^[8]

Braga was runners-up in the league for the only time in its history in the 2009–10 season under Domingos Paciência. Entering the UEFA Champions League for the first time, in the fourth qualifying round Braga beat Sevilla 1–0 at home and 4–3 away, thus making the group stage.^[9] On 15 September 2010, Braga were heavily defeated 6–0 by Arsenal in its first group stage match.^[10] Eliminated in third place, they dropped into the Europa League and reached the final in Dublin, where they lost to a goal by FC Porto's Radamel Falcao.^[11]

Braga won the Taça da Liga for the first time in 2013 under José Peseiro, with one goal from Alan against Porto.^[12] Two years later, Sérgio Conceição's side lost on penalties to Sporting CP in the Taça de Portugal final,^[13] but Paulo Fonseca's triumphed over Porto on the same method in 2016 to win their first such cup in 50 years.^[14]

In 2019–20, Braga went through four managers over the course of the season.^[15] The second of these, Ruben Amorim, led them to a league cup victory over Porto, with Ricardo Horta scoring in added time to secure the trophy on home soil.^[16]

On 28 July 2020, Carlos Carvalhal was announced as the new head coach, after 14 years away from the club.^[17] He led the club to the league cup final again, where they lost to Amorim's new team Sporting,^[18] but won the 2021 Taça de Portugal Final 2–0 against Benfica.^[19] He would leave the club and be replaced by Artur Jorge after the 2021–22 season ended.^[20]

On 10 October 2022, 21.67% of the club shares were bought for €80 million by Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a subsidiary of Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the state-run sovereign-wealth fund in Qatar owned by Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, who is also the owner of Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain through the QSI.^[21] The season ended with third place and a return to the Champions League after 11 years, as well as club records for points (78), wins (25) and goals (75).^[22]

SC Braga's considerable success in the first quarter of the 21st century, including participations in the UEFA Champions League, winning the Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) for the second time in 2016 and the third in 2021, reaching the UEFA Europa League final in 2011, which they lost to fellow Portuguese side FC Porto and the inauguration of the Cidade Desportiva, newly built SC Braga's state-of-the-art facilities,^[23] improved it on the UEFA club rankings and Portugal's professional football landscape to such an extent that SC Braga started to be dubbed one of the fourth greatest football club in Portugal and regarded as a big club together with the well-established classic Big Three.^{[24][25][26][27][28][29]}

Finances and ownership

Results

In 2023, Sporting Clube de Braga - Futebol, SAD's net profit was 20.377 million euros and the EBITDA was 29.779 million euros.^[30]

Ownership

Sporting Clube de Braga – Futebol, SAD is listed on Euronext Lisbon.^[31] By 2023, Sporting Clube de Braga, the sports club as a whole, retained 36.99% of the football SAD (Sporting Clube de Braga – Futebol, SAD) stock, followed by Qatar Sports Investments with 29.60%, and then Sundown Investments Limited with 17.04%. Other investors held the remaining 16.37%.^[32][33]

Rivalries

Rivalry with Vitória SC

See also: Minho derby

The Minho derby is the football rivalry between Sporting Clube de Braga and Vitória Sport Clube, two of the biggest clubs in the Minho region of northern Portugal. This derby is marked by great tension and passion, reflecting not only sporting competition, but also a historical and cultural rivalry between the cities of Braga and Guimarães that began even before the formation of the Kingdom of Portugal.^[34] Since then it has been a struggle in all aspects of society, sport, culture, the economy... Football has only become a means used to transpose the rivalry. Considered to be one of the most exciting and fiercely contested matches in Portuguese football, the Dérbi Minhoto is eagerly awaited by the fans, who live intensely for the clash between these two cities traditionally known for their history and identity.^[35][36]

Other rivalries

There is also a certain rivalry between Braga, Boavista, Belenenses and Vitória SC, due to the closeness in the number of titles and because they are some of the clubs with the largest number of fans in Portugal, with many people creating arguments to determine which would be the "4th big". However, the distance between these clubs and the Big Three is considerable enough in any sport to be given such a designation.^[37]

League and cup history

See also: List of S.C. Braga seasons

Recent seasons

Season	League									Cup	League Cup	Europe (UEFA)		Notes
	Div.	Pos.	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts	Result	Result	Competition	Result
2019–20	1st	3rd	34	18	6	10	61	40	60	R5	W	Europa League	L32
2020–21		4th	34	19	7	8	53	33	64	W	RU	Europa League	L32
2021–22		4th	34	19	8	7	52	31	65	R5	R3	Europa League	QF
2022–23		3rd	34	25	3	6	75	30	78	RU	QF	Europa League Europa Conference League	GS L32
2023–24		4th	34	21	5	8	71	50	68	R5	W	Champions League Europa League	GS L32

Honours

Source:^[38][39]

National

League

• Segunda Divisão^[40]
  • Winners (2): 1946–47, 1963–64

Cup

• Taça de Portugal
  • Winners (3): 1965–66, 2015–16, 2020–21
• Taça da Liga
  • Winners (3): 2012–13, 2019–20, 2023–24
• Taça Federação Portuguesa de Futebol
  • Winners (1): 1976–77 (First Division)

International

• UEFA Intertoto Cup
  • Winners (1): 2008 (Outright Winners)

European record

Main article: S.C. Braga in European football

Overview

Fully up to date as of 2 August 2024.

SC Braga record in European football by competition^[41]

Competition	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Win%
UEFA Champions League / European Cup	28	12	3	13	39	45	−6	042.86
UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	10	6	1	3	13	11	+2	060.00
UEFA Europa League / UEFA Cup	141	63	31	47	210	174	+36	044.68
UEFA Europa Conference League	2	0	0	2	2	7	−5	000.00
UEFA Intertoto Cup	2	2	0	0	5	0	+5	100.00
Total	183	83	35	65	260	224	+36	045.36

Matches

Season	Competition	Round	Club	Home	Away	Aggregate
1966–67	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	R1	AEK Athens	3–2	1–0	4–2
		R2	Raba ETO Győr	2–0	0–3	2–3
1978–79	UEFA Cup	R1	Hibernians	5–0	2–3	7–3
		R2	West Bromwich Albion	0–2	0–1	0–3
1982–83	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	Pre	Swansea City	1–0	0–3	1–3
1984–85	UEFA Cup	R1	Tottenham Hotspur	0–3	0–6	0–9
1997–98	UEFA Cup	R1	Vitesse	2–0	1–2	3–2
		R2	Dinamo Tbilisi	4–0	1–0	5–0
		R3	Schalke 04	0–0	0–2	0–2
1998–99	UEFA Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Liepājas Metalurgs	4–0	0–0	4–0
		R2	Lokomotiv Moscow	1–0	1–3	2–3
2004–05	UEFA Cup	R1	Heart of Midlothian	2–2	1–3	3–5
2005–06	UEFA Cup	R1	Red Star Belgrade	1–1	0–0	1–1 (a)
2006–07	UEFA Cup	R1	Chievo	2–0	1–2 (a.e.t.)	3–2
		GS	AZ	–	0–3	3rd
			Slovan Liberec	4–0	–
			Sevilla	–	0–2
			Grasshopper	2–0	–
		L32	Parma	1–0	1–0	2–0
		L16	Tottenham Hotspur	2–3	2–3	4–6
2007–08	UEFA Cup	R1	Hammarby	4–0	1–2	5–2
		GS	Bolton Wanderers	–	1–1	2nd
			Bayern Munich	1–1	–
			Aris	–	1–1
			Red Star Belgrade	2–0	–
L32	Werder Bremen	0–1	0–3	0–4
2008–09	UEFA Intertoto Cup	R3	Sivasspor	3–0	2–0	5–0
2008–09	UEFA Cup	Q2	Zrinjski Mostar	1–0	2–0	3–0
		R1	Artmedia Petržalka	4–0	2–0	6–0
		GS	Portsmouth	3–0	–	3rd
			Milan	–	0–1
			VfL Wolfsburg	2–3	–
			Heerenveen	–	2–1
		L32	Standard Liège	3–0	1–1	4–1
		L16	Paris Saint-Germain	0–1	0–0	0–1
2009–10	UEFA Europa League	Q3	Elfsborg	1–2	0–2	1–4
2010–11	UEFA Champions League	Q3	Celtic	3–0	1–2	4–2
		PO	Sevilla	1–0	4–3	5–3
		GS	Arsenal	2–0	0–6	3rd
			Shakhtar Donetsk	0–3	0–2
			Partizan	2–0	1–0
2010–11	UEFA Europa League	L32	Lech Poznań	2–0	0–1	2–1
		L16	Liverpool	1–0	0–0	1–0
		QF	Dynamo Kyiv	0–0	1–1	1–1 (a)
		SF	Benfica	1–0	1–2	2–2 (a)
		Final	Porto	0–1
2011–12	UEFA Europa League	PO	Young Boys	0–0	2–2	2–2 (a)
		GS	Club Brugge	1–2	1–1	2nd
			Birmingham City	1–0	3–1
			Maribor	5–1	1–1
		L32	Beşiktaş	0–2	1–0	1–2
2012–13	UEFA Champions League	PO	Udinese	1–1	1–1 (5–4 pen.)	1–1 (5–4)
		GS	CFR Cluj	0–2	1–3	4th
			Galatasaray	1–2	2–0
			Manchester United	1–3	2–3
2013–14	UEFA Europa League	PO	Pandurii Târgu Jiu	0–2 (a.e.t.)	1–0	1–2
2015–16	UEFA Europa League	GS	Marseille	3–2	0–1	1st
			Slovan Liberec	2–1	1–0
			Groningen	1–0	0–0
		L32	Sion	2–2	2–1	4–3
		L16	Fenerbahçe	4–1	0–1	4–2
		QF	Shakhtar Donetsk	1–2	0–4	1–6
2016–17	UEFA Europa League	GS	Shakhtar Donetsk	2–4	0–2	3rd
			Gent	1–1	2–2
			Konyaspor	2–1	1–1
2017–18	UEFA Europa League	Q3	AIK	2–1 (a.e.t.)	1–1	3–2
		PO	FH Hafnarfjardar	3–2	2–1	5–3
		GS	Ludogorets Razgrad	0–2	1–1	1st
			1899 Hoffenheim	3–1	2–1
			İstanbul Başakşehir	2–1	1–2
		L32	Marseille	1–0	0–3	1–3
2018–19	UEFA Europa League	Q3	Zorya Luhansk	2–2	1−1	3–3 (a)
2019–20	UEFA Europa League	Q3	Brøndby	4–2	3–1	7–3
		PO	Spartak Moscow	1–0	2–1	3–1
		GS	Beşiktaş	3–1	2–1	1st
			Wolverhampton Wanderers	3–3	1–0
			Slovan Bratislava	2–2	4–2
		L32	Rangers	0–1	2–3	2–4
2020–21	UEFA Europa League	GS	Leicester City	3–3	0–4	2nd
			AEK Athens	3–0	4–2
			Zorya Luhansk	2–0	2–1
		L32	Roma	0–2	1–3	1–5
2021–22	UEFA Europa League	GS	Red Star Belgrade	1–1	1–2	2nd
			Ludogorets Razgrad	4–2	1–0
			Midtjylland	3–1	2–3
		KPO	Sheriff Tiraspol	2–0 (3–2 pen.)	0–2	2–2 (3–2)
		L16	Monaco	2–0	1–1	3–1
		QF	Rangers	1–0	1–3	2–3
2022–23	UEFA Europa League	GS	Malmö	2−1	2–0	3rd
			Union Berlin	1–0	0–1
			Union Saint-Gilloise	1–2	3–3
	UEFA Europa Conference League	KPO	Fiorentina	0–4	2–3	2–7
2023–24	UEFA Champions League	Q3	TSC	3–0	4−1	7−1
		PO	Panathinaikos	2–1	1–0	3–1
		GS	Napoli	1–2	0–2	3rd
			Real Madrid	1–2	0–3
			Union Berlin	1–1	3–2
	UEFA Europa League	KPO	Qarabağ	2–4	3−2	5−6
2024–25	UEFA Europa League	Q2	Maccabi Petah Tikva	2−0	5−0	7−0
		Q3	Servette	0−0	2−1	2−1
		PO	Rapid Wien	2−1	2−2	4−3
		LP	Maccabi Tel Aviv	2–1	—	25th
			Olympiacos	—	0–3
			Bodø/Glimt	1–2	—
			IF Elfsborg	—	1–1
			TSG Hoffenheim	3–0	—
			Roma	—	0–3
			Union Saint-Gilloise	—	1–2
			Lazio	1–0	—
2025–26	UEFA Europa League	Q2	Levski Sofia

Players

Current squad

As of 25 July 2025^[42]

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player 1 GK  CZE Lukáš Horníček 2 DF  ESP Víctor Gómez 3 DF  BRA Robson Bambu 4 DF  MLI Sikou Niakaté 6 MF  BRA Vitor Carvalho 7 FW  POR Roger Fernandes 8 MF  POR João Moutinho (vice-captain) 9 FW  MAR Amine El Ouazzani 10 MF  URU Rodrigo Zalazar 11 FW  ESP Ismaël Gharbi 12 GK  POR Tiago Sá 14 DF  SWE Gustaf Lagerbielke 15 DF  POR Paulo Oliveira (4th captain) 17 MF  BRA Gabriel Moscardo (on loan from Paris Saint-Germain) 18 FW  ESP Pau Víctor 19 DF  ESP Adrián Marín

No. Pos. Nation Player 20 MF  CIV Mario Dorgeles 21 FW  POR Ricardo Horta (captain) 22 MF  URU Thiago Helguera 23 FW  COD Simon Banza 26 DF  GER Bright Arrey-Mbi 27 MF  SEN Djibril Soumaré 29 MF  FRA Jean-Baptiste Gorby 33 FW  POR João Marques 36 GK  MAR Alaa Bellaarouch 39 FW  ESP Fran Navarro 50 MF  POR Diego Rodrigues 53 DF  POR Jónatas Noro 55 DF  POR Francisco Chissumba 67 FW  POR Afonso Patrão 77 FW  ESP Gabri Martínez 80 FW  POR João Vasconcelos

Out on loan

Note: Flags indicate national team as defined under FIFA eligibility rules; some limited exceptions apply. Players may hold more than one non-FIFA nationality.

No. Pos. Nation Player — DF  POL Bartłomiej Wdowik (at Jagiellonia Białystok until 30 June 2026) — MF  POR André Horta (at Almería until 30 June 2026)

Former players

Main category: S.C. Braga players

Club staff

As of 23 June 2025

Position	Staff
Manager	Carlos Vicens
Assistant Managers	Mario Enguidanos Lander García Jordi Fernández
Analyst	Guillermo Alonso
Goalkeeper Coach	Orlando Silva Eduardo Carvalho
Fitness Coach	Antonio Gómez
Chief Scout	Paulo Meneses
Scout	Ernesto Peixoto
Youth Chief Scout	José Luís Antunes
Head of Medical	Vítor Moreira

Managerial history

• József Szabó (1935–37), (1945), (1953–54)
• Mário Imbelloni (1955–56)
• Eduardo Viso (1955–56)
• József Szabó (1956–57), (1960–61)
• António Teixeira (1964–65)
• José Valle (1965–66)
• Rui Sim-Sim (1966)
• Manuel Palmeira (1966)
• Fernando Caiado (1966–67)
• José Valle (1967)
• José Maria Vieira (1967–68)
• Artur Quaresma (1968–69)
• Federico Passos (1969)
• Alberto Pereira (1969–70)
• Joaquim Coimbra (1970)
• José Carlos (1975–76)
• Mário Lino (1976–77)
• Hilário Conceição (1977)
• Mário Imbelloni (1977–78)
• Fernando Caiado (1978–79)
• Hilário Conceição (1979–80)
• Mário Lino (1980–81)
• Quinito (1981–82)
• Juca (1 July 1982 – 30 June 1983)
• Quinito (1983–85)
• Henrique Calisto (1985)
• Humberto Coelho (1 July 1985–87)
• Manuel José (1987–89)
• Raul Águas (1990)
• Carlos Garcia (1990–92)
• Vitor Manuel (1992)
• António Oliveira (1992–94)
• Neca (1994)
• Manuel Cajuda (1 July 1994 – 30 June 1997)
• Fernando Castro Santos (1997–98)
• Alberto Argibay Pazos (1998)
• Vítor Oliveira (1 July 1998–98)
• Carlos Manuel (1998)
• Manuel Cajuda (1 April 1999 – 30 June 2002)
• Fernando Castro Santos (2002–03)
• Jesualdo Ferreira (19 April 2003 – 8 May 2006)
• Carlos Carvalhal (10 May 2006 – 8 November 2006)
• Rogério Gonçalves (13 November 2006 – 19 February 2007)
• Jorge Costa (19 February 2007 – 30 October 2007)
• António Caldas (interim) (31 October 2007 – 11 November 2007)
• Manuel Machado (12 November 2007 – 21 April 2008)
• Jorge Jesus (20 May 2008 – 15 June 2009)
• Domingos (20 June 2009 – 30 June 2011)
• Leonardo Jardim (1 July 2011 – 30 June 2012)
• José Peseiro (1 July 2012 – 30 June 2013)
• Jesualdo Ferreira (1 July 2013 – 23 February 2014)
• Jorge Paixão (23 February 2014 – 23 May 2014)
• Sérgio Conceição (2014–15)
• Paulo Fonseca (2015–16)
• José Peseiro (1 July 2016 – 15 December 2016)
• Jorge Simão (17 December 2016 – 26 April 2017)
• Abel Ferreira (27 April 2017 – 30 June 2019)
• Ricardo Sá Pinto (3 July 2019 – 23 December 2019)^[43]
• Ruben Amorim (27 December 2019 – 3 March 2020)
• Custódio (3 March 2020 – 1 July 2020)
• Artur Jorge (1 July 2020 – 28 July 2020)
• Carlos Carvalhal (28 July 2020 – 15 May 2022)
• Artur Jorge (15 May 2022 – 3 April 2024)
• Rui Duarte (3 April 2024 – 18 May 2024)
• Daniel Sousa (24 May 2024 – 12 August 2024)
• Carlos Carvalhal (12 August 2024 – 28 May 2025)
• Carlos Vicens (28 May 2025 – present)