The rules of the Portuguese Cup are as follows:

The Portuguese Cup consists of teams from all five groups under the jurisdiction of the Portuguese FA. The competition is divided into two stages, the group stage and the knockout stage. In the group stage, all teams are divided into five groups, each group plays a single round-robin match (each team plays the other teams twice, home and away), and the top two teams advance to the knockout stage. The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament until a winner is crowned.

The Portuguese League Cup, which features teams from the Portuguese Super League and the Portuguese Football League, is divided into two stages: the group stage and the knockout stage. The group stage is divided into eight groups of four teams each, using a round-robin system, with the top two teams advancing to the knockout stage. The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament until a winner is crowned.

History of the Portuguese Cup

The Portuguese Cup was founded in 1922 as the Portuguese Championship, which was renamed the Portuguese Cup by the Portuguese FA in 1938/39.

All soccer clubs belonging to the four leagues administered by the Portuguese FA (including the Portuguese Super League, the Portuguese First Division, the Portuguese Championship and the Portuguese C Division) are now eligible to participate in the Portuguese Cup, and the teams that finished second in the regional leagues in the previous season are also allowed to take part in the first round of the tournament.

Until 2007 and the final of the Portuguese Cup*** there were nine rounds of matches, with third division clubs joining in the second round, second division clubs joining in the third round, and top division clubs joining in the fourth round, with the semi-finals being a two-legged home-and-away affair from the 2008/09 season onwards, and one-legged finals being held at neutral national stadiums.