The victories of Benfica and Sporting in the last round of the Champions League league phase allowed Portugal to overtake the Netherlands and reach sixth place in the UEFA rankings, achieved five years ago.
With the two red triumphs over Real Madrid (4-2) ea Sporting’s victory at Athletic Bilbao (3-2)Portugal scored 1,650 points this Wednesday, while the Dutch saw Ajax and PSV lose to Olympiakos and Bayern Munich, respectively, both 2-1. Furthermore, both the Amsterdam team and the Eindhoven team fell by the wayside and can no longer contribute to countering the Portuguese growth trend.
After all, Portugal reached 67,366 points, while the Netherlands had 66,429, meaning the Portuguese already have an advantage of 0.937.
Remember the importance of 2021/22, which drops from the ranking to five years in the next season. This is because, that season, the Netherlands scored 19,200 points and Portugal only 12,916, which means that the Dutch will have a greater loss in the coefficient at the beginning of 2026/27.
Bonus points give a (big) help
Sporting contributed another 2,500 points for seventh place in the league phase and recorded another 1,500 points, for guaranteeing direct passage to the round of 16 of the Champions League. In addition to these bonus points, the Lions naturally added 2,000 points for their victory in Bilbao.
Benfica, on the other hand, accumulated 2,000 points for the triumph at Luz and also added 0.250 bonus points for 24th place in the league phase.
Dividing the total of 8,250 points between the five Portuguese clubs in UEFA in 2025/26, we obtain the 1,650 points that Portugal now has for ranking purposes.
Sporting de Braga e FC Portofifth and ninth in the Europa League, respectively, only come into action this Thursday, but they have good prospects of finishing in the top-8 and, thus, increasing Portugal’s coefficient through bonus points.
On the other hand, the Dutch have low expectations. Go Ahead Eagles, who interestingly hosts Sp. Braga, is 30th in the Europa League, while Feyenoord is 26th and Utrecht is already mathematically eliminated. Finally, AZ Alkmaar remains on the scene in the Conference League and will compete in the play-off to reach the round of 16.
Season ranking for the extra place: Portugal rises from sixth to third
Given the triumphs of Benfica and Sporting, Portugal took a big leap in the season’s ranking (which gives an extra place in the 2026/27 Champions League to the two best countries in 2025/26).
Portugal went from 13,050 to 14,700 points and thus rose to third place, when last week it was sixth. Behind were Italy, Spain and Poland, but the accounts could still change with the Europa League games.
The extra places continue to be occupied by England (20,069 points) and Germany (15,285).
Ranking of the season – Top-10:
1st: England, 20,069
2nd: Germany, 15,285
3rd: PORTUGAL, 14,700
4th: Spain, 14,375
5th: Italy, 14,250
6th: Poland, 13,625
7th: France, 12,714
8th: Cyprus, 11,906
9th: Greece, 11,400
10th: Denmark, 10,500
