List of S.L. Benfica players

This article is about S.L. Benfica players with at least 100 appearances. For a list of all Benfica players with a Wikipedia article, see Category:S.L. Benfica footballers. For the current Benfica squad, see S.L. Benfica § First-team squad.

A smiling man wearing a red shirt
Eusébio is Benfica's all-time top goalscorer.

Sport Lisboa e Benfica is a Portuguese professional football team based in São Domingos de Benfica, Lisbon.[1][a] The club was formed in 1904 and played its first competitive match on 4 November 1906, when it entered the inaugural edition of the Campeonato de Lisboa.[4][5] They won their first title in 1910,[6] and their first nationwide club competition in 1930, the Campeonato de Portugal, a knockout competition which determined the Portuguese champion among the winners of the regional championships.[7][8] In 1934, an experimental league competition known as Primeira Liga was introduced in Portuguese football. Due to its success among the clubs, it became the official top-tier championship in 1938, in place of the Campeonato de Portugal.[7] Since its first edition, Benfica have won a record 38 titles.[9] Internationally, they won the European Cup twice, in 1961 and 1962.[9]

Since their first competitive match, more than 750 players have appeared in first-team matches for the club, and almost 150 have made at least 100 appearances. Six former players went on to be first-team managers: Fernando Caiado, José Augusto, Toni, Artur Jorge, Shéu, and Fernando Chalana.[10] Benfica's record appearance maker is Nené, who played 575 matches during his record 18-year career at the club; he is followed by António Veloso and Luisão, each with 538 appearances in 15 seasons.[11] Manuel Bento, who appeared 465 times for the club, is the oldest player to have played for Benfica. He was 41 years and 298 days when he played against Belenenses on 20 May 1990.[12]

Eusébio is the club's top goalscorer with 474 goals in 15 seasons, 317 of which were scored in league matches.[13][14] Ten players have made more than 400 appearances, including four members of the 1961 European Cup-winning team.[11][15] Other than Eusébio, only two players, Nené and José Águas, have scored more than 300 goals for the club.[11]

  1. ^ "Sport Lisboa e Benfica, Futebol, SAD". Liga Portugal (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  2. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 15.
  3. ^ "História de São Domingos de Benfica" [History of São Domingos de Benfica]. Junta de Freguesia de São Domingos de Benfica (in Portuguese). Retrieved 20 April 2016.
  4. ^ Pereira 2014, p. 19.
  5. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 18.
  6. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 37.
  7. ^ a b Claro, Paulo (19 May 2016). "Campeonato de Portugal 1921–1938". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  8. ^ Tovar 2012, p. 104.
  9. ^ a b "Honours". Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional. Retrieved 3 August 2016.
  10. ^ Pereira 2014, p. 78.
  11. ^ a b c Tovar 2012, p. 770.
  12. ^ Pereira 2014, p. 87.
  13. ^ Pereira 2014, p. 135.
  14. ^ Pereira 2014, p. 45.
  15. ^ "400 jogos oficiais de Luisão de "águia ao peito"" [400 official games for Luisão with the Benfica shirt] (in Portuguese). SL Benfica. 25 February 2014. Archived from the original on 5 July 2014. Retrieved 20 April 2016.


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