Vitória de Guimarães won the football League Cup for the first time, in an unprecedented final with neighbors Sporting de Braga, and won the third national trophy in its history, after the 1988 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and the 2012/13 Portuguese Cup.
Thousands of Vitória de Guimarães fans gathered this morning at Praça do Toural, in the city center, to celebrate a victory in the football League Cup in which they have always believed.
After lifting the trophy at the Estádio Municipal Dr. Magalhães Pessoa, in Leiria, by defeating Minho rival Sporting de Braga, 2-1, in the final of the competition, the team arrived in the ‘cradle city’ at around 3:30 am this Sunday, in an open-top bus despite the rain, and encountered a crowd as soon as they entered Rua Paio Galvão, heading to Toural.
Among the thousands of fans who awaited the arrival of the winners of the League Cup, children, adults and older people, Luna Oliveira was already at Toural as soon as the game ended, with a flag from the municipality of Guimarães on her back, and could not hide her joy at the outcome of the race.
“We were confident that it was going to be a winnable game, but Braga scored first and we were a little doubtful. In the end, everything went well. We were very happy, we screamed a lot. We had a lot of faith that we would win. As soon as the game ended, I put up the flag and came to Toural”, the 17-year-old fan describes to Lusa.
Next door, José Silva, also 17 years old, had just returned from Leiria, after a game where he experienced a carousel of emotions, without ever stopping believing in the triumph.
“I felt like we were going to turn the result around, like in the game against Sporting. We started to lose and turned it around at the end. I’ve always believed in Vitória. It’s a pride to be a Victorian”, he stressed.
After eliminating FC Porto in the quarter-finals (3-1), with a turnaround, Guimarães’ team turned negative results again against Sporting (2-1), in the semi-final on Tuesday, and, on Saturday, with goals from Samu, in the 59th minute, from a penalty, and Ndoye, in the 83rd, reversing the disadvantage caused by the goal from Braga’s Dorgeles, in the 17th.
The most memorable moment of the final for José Silva was, however, goalkeeper Charles’ save from a penalty taken by Zalazar, a Sporting de Braga midfielder, practically sealing the result, at 90+11 minutes.
“When Charles saved the penalty, the stadium collapsed. Before the referee blew the whistle for the end, I felt a lot of nerves. Tears came to my eyes. In the end, it was total euphoria”, he confesses.
Upon arrival at Toural, the Vitória bus was greeted with noisy chants, scarves in the air and pyrotechnics, with the coach, Luís Pinto, giving a brief celebratory speech, recalling what he said at the team’s presentation at the start of the season, on July 28, 2025.
“I said, at the time, that we were going to achieve many things that those who were present did not believe in. We are all to be congratulated. What I ask of you is that you continue to support the team”, he stressed.
Vitória de Guimarães won the football League Cup for the first time, in an unprecedented final with neighbors Sporting de Braga, and won the third national trophy in its history, after the 1988 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira and the 2012/13 Portuguese Cup.
