Benfica Campus 19 Anniversary Football

BENFICA CAMPUS

Nineteen years ago, a place was born where talent is nurtured, champions are molded, and the future of Sport Lisboa e Benfica is built. Since September 22, 2006, Benfica Campus has been more than just an infrastructure of excellence: it is a sporting, human, and educational project that has positioned the Club at the forefront of global training and has become a true symbol of identity and ambition.

Over the course of almost two decades, the Development and Training Center has established itself as an international benchmark in the development of football players, giving the world some of the biggest names in football today, from Bernardo Silva to João Félix, from Rúben Dias to João Cancelo, along with many others who proudly wear the “Made in Benfica” badge. The daily work of hundreds of athletes, coaches, and professionals from various fields has made and continues to make this space a globally recognized school of talent.

With 80 titles won since its inauguration, including the UEFA Youth League (2022) and the Intercontinental Cup Under-20 (2022), Benfica Campus is synonymous with sporting success and a continuous commitment to excellence. The numbers are impressive: around 330 people work daily at this training center, more than 190 players train on its nine fields, and almost 80 reside in the accommodation, within an ecosystem designed to nurture talent and train champions on and off the pitch.

But the greatness of Benfica Campus is not measured solely in trophies... It is also reflected in institutional achievements, such as its certification as a “5-Star” Training Entity, the international awards it has received – including Best Academy of the Year – and the recognition of CIES, which highlighted Sport Lisboa e Benfica as the club with the most valuable youth football program in the world. It is already a story of continuous growth, with expansions, new spaces, and innovation, always with the same goal: to train to win.

Today, September 22, 2025, 19 years later, Benfica Campus remains the heart of the club's youth academy and one of Sport Lisboa e Benfica's greatest sources of pride. It is a place where dreams are born, where passion is transformed into hard work, and where, every day, the future is built.

80 TITLES
(Since the inauguration of the Benfica Campus)

INTERNATIONAL TITLES (2)

UEFA Youth League: 2021/22
Intercontinental Cup Under-20: 2022

NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS – FPF (25)

Under-23 | Revelação Cup (1): 2024/25
Under-19 (4): 2012/13, 2017/18, 2021/22, 2024/25
Under-17 (9): 2007/08, 2010/11, 2012/13, 2014/15, 2017/18, 2018/19, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25
Under-17 2nd Division (1): 2023/24
Under-15 (9): 2008/09, 2009/10, 2011/12, 2013/14, 2015/16, 2016/17, 2022/23, 2023/24, 2024/25
Under-15 2nd Division (1): 2024/25

AFL DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP - 11-A-SIDE FOOTBALL (31)

Under-17 (8)
Under-15 (17)
Under-13 (6)

AFL DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP - 9-A-SIDE FOOTBALL 9 (4)

Under-13 (4)

AFL DISTRICT CHAMPIONSHIP - 7-A-SIDE FOOTBALL (18)

Under-13 (8)
Under-11 (10)

HUMAN RESOURCES

192 players working daily at Benfica Campus
78 resident players
43 coaches
46 employees in the Health & Performance Department

INFRASTRUCTURE

Area: 19 hectares
9 Football fields - 6 natural grass (11-a-side football)
2 synthetic grass (11-a-side football)
1 synthetic grass (covered | reduced dimensions – adjacent to the 360s)
Field No. 1: 2644 spectators (1466 covered seats)
Field No. 7: 604 spectators
Residence with 86 rooms
2 gyms (523 m², 475 m²)
28 dressing rooms
360s Space
5 equipment rooms
3 physical therapy rooms
2 treatment and consultation rooms
2 physical assessment rooms
2 auditoriums
55 Work offices
8 Meeting rooms
5 social lounges
Games and recreation room
2 bars
Secretariat
Study room
Laundry
Kitchen
2 dining rooms

HISTORY AND FACTS

2000 | "First stone" – Symbolic act marking the start of construction of the project
2001 | Official approvals from the Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning and the Ministry of Sport and Youth
2003 | Start of construction
September 22, 2006 | Inauguration
2007 | Reforestation, with the planting of 1,500 trees
2008 | First national title won at Caixa Futebol Campus –Under-17s
2012 | Rebirth of the Team B project
2013 | "First stone" laid for the expansion of Caixa Futebol Campus
2013 | Inauguration of the new grandstand at Field No. 1, increasing capacity from 1,520 to 2,721 spectators
2014 | Benfica reaches final of first edition of UEFA Youth League
2014 | Best Implementation of the UEFA Youth League Values Award
2014 | Expansion of the Caixa Futebol Campus, from 15 to 19 hectares, from 3 to 6 grass pitches
2014 | Inauguration of Espaço 360s
2015 | Awarded Best Academy of the Year by Globe Soccer Awards
2016 | Certification of SL Benfica as a Training Entity by the FPF
2016 | Renato Sanches wins Golden Boy award, presented by Italian newspaper Tuttosport
2017 | Benfica reaches UEFA Youth League final
2018 | Birth of the Under-23 team
2019 | Name change: from Caixa Futebol Campus to Benfica Campus
2019 | SL Benfica certified as a “5-Star” Training Entity by the FPF, a status it maintains to this day
2019 | Awarded Best Academy of the Year by Globe Soccer Awards
2019 | Expansion and renovation of Benfica Campus facilities (expansion and renovation of the residence, new three-story building, remodeling of team facilities, new dining area)
2019 | João Félix wins Golden Boy award, presented by Italian newspaper Tuttosport
2020 | Benfica reaches UEFA Youth League final
2021 | Certification of the “Training for the Future” project with the Ethics Flag, by the National Plan for Ethics in Sport (PNED) and the Portuguese Institute for Sport and Youth (IPDJ)
2022 | UEFA Youth League winners
2022 | Winners of the Intercontinental Cup Under-20 (1st edition of the trophy)
2022 | Awarded Best Youth Team of the Year by Globe Soccer Awards
2023 | CIES (Football Observatory) study concludes that SL Benfica's youth academy is the most valuable in the world
2025 | SL Benfica wins all three national youth football titles (Under-15, Under-17, and Under-19) in the same season for the first time
2025 | First title won in the Under-23 category – Revelação Cup