The association football champions of Portugal are the winners of the top tier league in Portuguese football, currently the Primeira Liga. The league is contested in a double round-robin format and the championship title is awarded to the team with the most points, and therefore at the top of the league standings, at the end of the season.
The Primeira Liga was first established in 1934 by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF), under the name of Campeonato da Primeira Liga (Premier League Championship). It was initially created as an experimental league competition, which was contested by the top ranked teams from the different regional championships. Four years later, the Primeira Liga was officially adopted as the top level national championship, replacing the Campeonato de Portugal (Championship of Portugal), a knockout tournament that had determined the national champions since 1922.[a] The league was known as Campeonato Nacional da Primeira Divisão (First Division National Championship), or simply Primeira Divisão, until 1999, when the Portuguese League for Professional Football gave it its current naming.[b]
Benfica are the most successful team in the Primeira Liga, having won 32 titles in 79 seasons. They are followed by Porto and Sporting, with 27 and 18 titles, respectively. Together, these teams – nicknamed "The Big Three" – have won all but two titles; the exceptions were Belenenses in 1945–46, and Boavista in 2000–01. Porto are the incumbent and three-time defending champions, having won the 2012–13 competition without a single defeat. They have imposed their domestic dominance in the past decades, winning 20 titles since 1984. Porto also hold the record for the most consecutive titles, with five wins between 1994–95 and 1998–99.
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