A Portuguese club has reached the semi-finals of a European competition for the first time in 12 years, ending a long run of near misses for national teams.
SC Braga secured their place in the last four of the UEFA Europa League by defeating Real Betis in the quarter-finals on Thursday evening, repeating a feat last achieved by a Portuguese side in the 2013/14 season. After a 1-1 first leg draw in Braga, Carlos Vicens’ men pulled off an amazing 2-4 away win in Seville after being down 2-0 in the first half.
The northern Portuguese side will now face German club Freiburg in the semi-finals, with hopes of reaching its second European final in its history. In the 2010/11 season, SC Braga made the UEFA Europa League final after eliminating fellow Portuguese side SL Benfica in the semi-finals, going on to face FC Porto in the final – the only European final ever between Portuguese clubs. FC Porto came out on top, however, thanks to a lone goal by Radamel Falcão in Dublin.
The last time a club from Portugal reached a European semi-final was in the 2013/14 Europa League, when SL Benfica overcame Juventus in the semi-finals to reach the final, eventually losing to Seville FC.
Since then, Portuguese teams have regularly reached the quarter-finals, with FC Porto, Benfica, Braga and Sporting CP all maintaining a steady presence in European knockout stages.
Between the 2014/15 and 2025/26 seasons, Portuguese clubs reached the quarter-finals on 15 occasions across different competitions. However, progression beyond that stage has proved difficult – as FC Porto proved again last night, losing in the quarter-finals of the Europa League to Nottingham Forest.
