The Liga 3, also known as Liga 3 Placard for sponsorship reasons, is the third-level football league in the Portuguese football league system, starting in 2021–22. It is a semi-professional national league organized by the Portuguese Football Federation (FPF).

The creation of this league is part of a restructuring of the Portuguese third tier, with Campeonato de Portugal, which saw the number of teams reduced, being relegated to fourth tier and the top teams competing there advancing to this new competition. In its first season, a total of 24 teams competed in the Liga 3, 2 of which were relegated from 2020–21 Liga Portugal 2 and 22 others which were promoted from 2020–21 Campeonato de Portugal. This number is set to be reduced to 20 teams from the 2023–24 season.

History In the 1990-1991 season, with the creation of the nationwide Liga de Honra (second professional division or D2), the regionalized Segunda Divisão (Second Division) championship, created in 1934, was relegated to the third division (D3). It was then renamed Segunda Divisão B (Second Division B).

From 1990 to 2005, the championship was divided into 3 groups by geographical division: Norte (North), Centro (Centre) and Sul (South). In 2005, the championship was split into 4 groups: Serie A, Serie B, Serie C and Serie D. But in 2009, the 3-group formula was reinstated.

In 2013, the championship underwent a major reorganisation, merging with the old Terceira Divisão (Third Division (D4)), and went from 48 to 80 teams. It was renamed the National Senior Championship and took place in eight 10-team series.

In the 2021-22 season, the Portuguese Football Federation created the Liga 3 to replace the former iteration of the third tier of Portugal's football league system (D3) which was at the time the Campeonato de Portugal (from then on D4). Both competitions (D3 and D4) remained two events organised by the federation. The Liga 3 was initially contested by 24 clubs in the first two seasons, and in the 2023–24 season the number of participants was reduced to 20.

Format This competition consists of a first stage with all the teams then proceed to a promotion or relegation series depending on their performance.

First Stage

In the first stage, the 20 clubs are divided in two series (Serie A and B) of 10 teams, according to geographic criteria. In each series, teams play against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. The four best-placed teams of the two series will advance to the promotion series and bottom six teams will proceed to the relegation series.

Promotion Stage

The eight qualified teams of each series will playing against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. The winners and runner-ups of the series will be automatically promoted to Liga Portugal 2. The third placed team will face the 16th placed of Liga Portugal 2 for the last spot in Liga Portugal 2. On this stage teams will be divided as follows. Promotion Series 1st A 2nd A 3rd A 4th A 1st B 2nd B 3rd B 4th B

Relegation Stage

The bottom 12 teams are divided in two series of 6 teams, playing against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. To account for their performance in the first stage, teams will start with bonification points, with 5th placed teams starting with 8 points and 10th placed teams starting with 1. The bottom two teams of each series will be relegated to Campeonato de Portugal.

+ Relegation Series Serie 1 Serie 2 5th A 5th B 6th B 6th A 7th B 7th A 8th A 8th B 9th A 9th B 10th B 10th A

Seasons - league tables

Decade1st2nd3rd4th5th6th 2020s: — 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25 2025-26 2026-27

List of champions

SeasonChampionship Final Promotion play-offs Champions Score Runners-up 2021–22 Torreense 1–1 , (5–4 p) Oliveirense Alverca failed to obtain promotion. 2022–23 União de Leiria 1–0 Belenenses Vilaverdense succeeded in obtaining promotion.SeasonLeague – Promotion Stage Promotion play-offs Champions Runners-up Third place 2023–24 Alverca Felgueiras Lusitânia Lourosa Lusitânia Lourosa failed to obtain promotion. 2024–25 Lusitânia Lourosa Sporting B Belenenses Belenenses failed to obtain promotion. 2025–26 Amarante Académica de Coimbra Belenenses Belenenses failed to obtain promotion.

Performance by club ClubWinnersRunners-upWinning seasonsRunner-up seasons Torreense 1 0 2021–22 União de Leiria 1 0 2022–23 Alverca 1 0 2023–24 Lusitânia Lourosa 1 0 2024–25 Amarante 1 0 2025–26 Oliveirense 0 1 2021–22 Belenenses 0 1 2022–23 Felgueiras 0 1 2023–24 Sporting B 0 1 2024–25 Académica de Coimbra 0 1 2025–26

All-time table The all-time Liga 3 table is an overall record of all match results, points, and goals of every team that has played in Liga 3 since its inception in 2021. Championship/Third place playoff matches are included. Bonification points are not counted. The table is accurate as of the end of the 2025–26 season.

1 Braga B 5 216 146 56 48 42 172 154 49 – – – 2 2 2021–22 2025–26 2 Fafe 5 204 144 55 34 55 172 187 -15 – – – – – 2021–22 2021–22 3 Caldas 5 192 140 50 37 53 171 186 -15 – – – – – 2021–22 2021–22 4 Académica 4 186* 120 69 40 31 172 137 35 – 1 – – 1 2022–23 2025–26 5 Sanjoanense 5 182 140 45 45 50 180 189 -9 – – – – – 2021–22 2025–26 6 Sporting B 4 181 116 49 28 39 151 128 23 – 1 – – 1 2021–22 2024–25 7 Varzim 4 181 124 51 28 45 151 134 17 – – – 1 1 2022–23 2022–23 8 Alverca 3 163 90 46 18 20 129 88 41 1 – 1 – 2 2021–22 2023–24 9 Belenenses 3 159 93 43 30 20 139 95 44 – 1 2 – 3 2022–23 2024–25 10 Felgueiras 3 159 88 47 18 23 127 83 44 – 1 – – 1 2021–22 2023–24 11 Lusitânia Lourosa 3 157 92 45 22 25 129 96 33 1 – 1 – 2 2021–22 2024–25 12 Amora 4 156 112 44 21 47 140 143 -3 – – – – – 2021–22 2025–26 13 São João de Ver 4 144 112 33 45 34 124 130 -6 – – – – – 2021–22 2024–25 14 Anadia 4 138 112 37 24 51 127 153 -26 – – – – – 2021–22 2024–25 15 Oliveira do Hospital 4 133 112 30 39 43 130 154 -24 – – – – – 2021–22 2024–25 16 Atlético CP 3 128 92 35 24 34 111 100 11 – – – – – 2023–24 2023–24 17 União de Leiria 2 124 59 38 10 11 107 52 55 1 – – 1 2 2021–22 2022–23 18 Canelas 2010 3 123 84 31 24 29 98 108 -10 – – – – – 2021–22 2023–24 19 Trofense 3 117* 88 30 26 32 95 90 5 – – – – – 2023–24 2023–24 20 União de Santarém 3 107 88 27 26 35 96 103 -7 – – – – – 2021–22 2024–25 21 Amarante 2 103 64 29 16 19 71 61 10 1 – – – 1 2024–25 2025–26 22 Vitória de Guimarães B 3 102 88 27 21 40 94 114 -20 – – – – – 2021–22 2025–26 23 Sporting da Covilhã 3 101 88 24 29 35 94 114 -20 – – – – – 2023–24 2023–24 24 1º Dezembro 3 101 88 25 25 38 84 111 -27 – – – – – 2023–24 2025–26 25 Vitória de Setúbal 2 75 56 21 12 23 76 84 -8 – – – – – 2021–22 2022–23 26 Paredes 2 73 56 17 22 17 57 49 8 – – – – – 2022–23 2025–26 27 Vilaverdense 2 72 58 18 18 22 66 61 5 – – 1 – 1 2022–23 2024–25 28 Real 2 63 56 17 12 27 60 66 -6 – – – – – 2021–22 2022–23 29 Montalegre 2 57 56 14 15 27 68 89 -21 – – – – – 2021–22 2022–23 30 Torreense 1 54 29 17 3 9 40 30 10 1 – – – 1 2021–22 2021–22 31 Oliveirense 1 51 29 14 9 6 51 38 13 – 1 – – 1 2021–22 2026–27 32 Mafra 1 51 32 14 9 7 45 43 2 – – – 1 1 2025–26 2025–26 33 Lusitano Évora 2 43 31 12 7 12 32 31 +1 – – – – – 2025–26 2025–26 34 Marco 09 1 33 28 7 12 9 23 31 -8 – – – – – 2025–26 2025–26 35 Cova da Piedade 1 31 28 8 7 13 31 40 -9 – – – – – 2021–22 2021–22 36 Fontinhas 1 30 28 7 9 12 28 43 -15 – – – – – 2022–23 2022–23 37 Lusitânia dos Açores 1 23 28 4 11 13 25 42 -17 – – – – – 2024–25 2024–25 38 Moncarapachense 1 22 28 6 4 18 28 58 -30 – – – – – 2022–23 2022–23 39 Vianense 1 22 28 5 6 17 20 36 -16 – – – – – 2023–24 2026–27 40 Oriental Dragon 1 21 28 2 15 11 25 37 -12 – – – – – 2021–22 2021–22 41 Pêro Pinheiro 1 21 28 5 4 19 24 57 -33 – – – – – 2023–24 2023–24 42 Pevidém 1 12 28 2 6 20 21 49 -28 – – – – – 2021–22 2021–22 43 Leça 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – – – – 2026–27 2026–27 44 Louletano 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – – – – 2026–27 2026–27 45 Paços de Ferreira 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – – – – 2026–27 2026–27 46 Vitória de Sernache 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 – – – – – 2026–27 2026–27

Primeira Liga Liga Portugal 2 Liga 3 Campeonato de Portugal Portuguese District Championships Clubs no longer in competition

See also Portuguese Third Division, third tier of Portuguese football between 1948 and 1990 Portuguese Second Division, third tier of Portuguese football between 1990 and 2013 Campeonato de Portugal, third tier of Portuguese football between 2013 and 2021

References

External links FPF official webpage Próxima Jornada