American football team

CF Os Belenenses

Club · Portugal · Liga 3

«Os Azuis do Restelo»

161 Matches

67 wins

40 draws

54 losses

222–201 Goals

+21 Difference

1.4 Scored per game

Form W W W W W W

SL Benfica supplied Os Belenenses with both its founders and its longest-standing grievance. Arthur José Pereira and his companions had played for Benfica and Sporting before walking away in 1919 to build a club for their own district, Belém, and the choice of name marked the break: while nearly every Portuguese club of the era called itself "Futebol Clube", they registered as "Clube de Futebol" instead. The rivalry hardened on the pitch — Benfica beat them in the 1940 Cup final, then watched Belenenses take the 1945–46 championship, the club's only league title, a year before Benfica won it themselves.

That single title sits alongside three Portuguese Cups, the last of them in 1988–89 under the Brazilian coach Marinho Peres. Vicente Lucas anchored the defence through the years in between: thirteen seasons at the club without ever wearing another shirt, third place with Portugal at the 1966 World Cup, and a compliment from Pelé, who called him the best defender he had faced. A mausoleum to him stands inside the stadium today.

In 2018 the club split in two. The professional side broke off as Belenenses SAD, taking the top-flight place and a new crest, while CF Os Belenenses kept the name, the badge and the ground — and started over in the sixth tier of Portuguese amateur football. It has since worked its way back up to Liga 3.

The ground it kept is the Estádio do Restelo, built for a crowd of up to 60,000 and reduced by later renovation to 19,856 all-seated places. Its nicknames trace the same geography as its rivalry: Os Azuis do Restelo for the blue shirts, and Os Pastéis, after the custard tarts that have been made a short walk away since long before anyone in Belém had heard of Benfica.

Latest results

All matches

13 Sep	Liga 3	Atlético CP H	1:0	W
6 Sep	Liga 3	Vitória de Sernache A	3:1	W
30 Aug	Taça de Portugal	Lusitano Évora 1911 A	2:1	W
22 Aug	Liga 3	União Santarém H	5:0	W
15 Aug	Liga 3	Louletano DC A	3:1	W
8 Aug	Liga 3	Caldas H	1:0	W