The last afternoon of Série A of Liga 3 was a celebration for Vitória de Guimarães B, Varzim and Trofense. The three teams left no credit in the hands of others and joined Amarante, Belenenses, Mafra, Académica and União de Santarém in the group of teams qualified for the champion qualification phase of the competition, which also assigns two promotion places to League 2 (and one more in the play-off).
Trofense only needed one point to guarantee qualification, but came close to securing three at Amarante’s home, in a duel between the top two classified heading into the final round. Joel Oliveira put the Trofa men ahead in the 37th minute, but Eduardo Aguiar tied the scores in the 76th minute.
The result pleased Trofense, who reached the promotion stage for the first time since returning to League 3 in 2023, but also Vitória SC B who finished series A at the top. The Victorian secondary team won 3-2 at Sanjoanense, thanks to a goal from Rodrigo Duarte (8′) and a brace from Miguel Vaz (44′ and 61′).
Edu Pinheiro (45+2′) and Federico Cezar (88′) placed the last placed team in the discussion of the result throughout the match, but the Victorians held on for a very important victory for the second consecutive climb.
Varzim also did it, in Marco de Canaveses, but even started with the left foot. Valentim Sousa still advanced Marco 09, at 7′, but Francisco França equalized five minutes later, with a penalty. Pedro Nuno, at 45+1′, and Miguel Rebelo, at the final whistle, sealed qualification for Nuno Capucho’s men.
The big loser of the afternoon was Paredes, who even won in São João de Ver by 2-1, but, due to the combination of results, they were one point behind top-4. SC Braga B and Fafe also had a chance of guaranteeing access to the promotion phase, but the draw ruined the accounts of both teams (2-2).
Vitória SC B thus finished Series A in the lead with the same 29 points as Amarante. Varzim closed the podium with the same 28 points as fourth-placed Trofense.
Final classification Series A
Final classification Series B
