S.L. Benfica

"Benfica" redirects here. For other uses, see Benfica (disambiguation) and S.L. Benfica (disambiguation).

Benfica
Looking to its right, a wingspread golden eagle stands atop a bicycle wheel's grey tire. Below, on the spoked wheel, a horizontal green and red strip reads "E PLURIBUS UNUM", and a diagonal blue strip with the golden initials "S. L. B." overlays a red and white shield with a golden football on its centre.
Full nameSport Lisboa e Benfica
Nickname(s)As Águias (The Eagles)
Os Encarnados (The Reds)
O Glorioso (The Glorious One)
Benfiquistas (supporters)
Founded28 February 1904; 120 years ago (1904-02-28) (as Sport Lisboa)
GroundEstádio da Luz
Capacity64,642[1]
PresidentRui Costa
Head coachBruno Lage
LeaguePrimeira Liga
2023–24Primeira Liga, 2nd of 18
Websiteslbenfica.pt
Current season
Active departments of S.L. Benfica
A simple outline of a person kicking a football A simple outline of a person kicking a football A simple outline of a person kicking a football
Football Football B Football U19
A simple outline of a person kicking a football A simple outline of a person kicking a football A simple outline of a person pushing along a roller hockey ball with a stick
Football
(women's)		 Futsal Roller hockey
A simple outline of a person dunking a basketball A simple outline of a person leaping with a hand raised A simple outline of a person spiking a volleyball over a net
Basketball Handball Volleyball
A simple outline of a person running A simple outline of a person leaning to dive into water A simple outline of a person holding out an arm while running and holding a ball
Athletics Swimming Rugby union
A simple outline of a person hitting a table tennis ball with a racket over a table A simple outline of a person lining up a cue on a table A simple outline of a person paddling a canoe on water
Table tennis Billiards Canoeing
Closed departments
An outline of a person drawing back a bow An outline of a person kicking a soccer ball An outline of a person riding a bicycle
Archery Beach soccer Cycling

Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨˈpɔɾ liʒˈβoɐ i βɐ̃jˈfikɐ] ⓘ), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football.

Founded on 28 February 1904, as Sport Lisboa, Benfica is one of the "Big Three" clubs in Portugal that have never been relegated from Primeira Liga, along with rivals Sporting CP and FC Porto. Benfica are nicknamed As Águias (The Eagles), for the symbol atop the club's crest, and Os Encarnados (The Reds), for the shirt colour. Since 2003, their home ground has been the Estádio da Luz, which replaced the larger, original one, built in 1954. Benfica is the most supported Portuguese club and the European club with the highest percentage of supporters in its own country, having an estimated 14 million supporters worldwide and over 250,000 members,[2][3][4] making them the largest sports club by membership in Portugal and second largest in the world. The club's anthem, "Ser Benfiquista", refers to Benfica supporters, who are called benfiquistas. "E pluribus unum" ("Out of many, one") is the club's motto; Águia Vitória, the mascot.

With 86 major trophies won, Benfica is one of the two most decorated clubs in Portugal.[5][6] They have won 83 domestic trophies: a record 38 Primeira Liga titles, a record 26 Taça de Portugal, a record 7 Taça da Liga, 9 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and 3 Campeonato de Portugal. Internationally, they won the Latin Cup in 1950 and back-to-back European Cups in 1961 and 1962 – both unique feats in Portuguese football – and were runners-up at the Intercontinental Cup in 1961 and '62, at the European Cup in 1963, '65, '68, '88 and '90, and at the UEFA Europa League (formerly the UEFA Cup) in 1983, 2013 and '14. Benfica's ten European finals are a domestic record and ranked seventh all-time among UEFA clubs in 2014.[7] Noncompetitively, Benfica is honoured with the Portuguese Orders of Christ (Commander), of Merit (Officer), and of Prince Henry.

Benfica was voted 12th in FIFA Club of the Century[8] and ranked 9th in the IFFHS Top 200 European clubs of the 20th century.[9] In UEFA, Benfica is 8th in the all-time club ranking and was 20th in the club coefficient rankings at the end of the 2023–24 season.[10][11] In the UEFA Champions League (formerly the European Cup), Benfica have the second most participations (42) and are the Portuguese club with the most wins (130).[10] In this tournament, they hold the overall record for the biggest aggregate win, achieved in 1965–66. Moreover, Benfica hold the European record for the most consecutive wins in domestic league (29), where they became the first undefeated champions, in 1972–73.

  1. ^ Cite error: The named reference seating capacity was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. ^ Cite error: The named reference fifa was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. ^ Pereira 2009, pp. 220–221.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference 14 million was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Cite error: The named reference most decorated 1 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  6. ^ Cite error: The named reference most decorated 2 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  7. ^ "Águias reforçam sétimo lugar do "ranking" de finais europeias" [Eagles reinforce seventh place in European finals ranking]. Record (in Portuguese). 1 May 2014. Archived from the original on 9 November 2018. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  8. ^ "The FIFA Club of the Century" (PDF). FIFA. Archived from the original (PDF) on 23 April 2007.
  9. ^ "Europe's Club of the Century". IFFHS. 10 September 2009. Archived from the original on 5 November 2013. Retrieved 28 May 2014.
  10. ^ a b "UEFA Champions League statistics handbook 2022–23 – All-time records 1955–2023" (PDF). UEFA. p. 1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 June 2023.
  11. ^ "Club coefficient". UEFA. 12 May 2021. Archived from the original on 28 May 2023. Retrieved 5 June 2023.