What's changing already this season?
The Portugal Football League has started the new season with significant changes, going beyond the teams and players who changed clubs. One of the main priorities of the Portugal Football League for this season is to increase the useful time of the game. The idea is to reduce interruptions and make the matches more fluid, a concern that integrates the 'Meta 2028' program. Among the measures is the use of the multiball system, which allows several balls to be available near the lines of the field. When the ball goes out, there is a faster replacement, avoiding that players or external elements have to cover longer distances to recover the ball.
More players on the bench
One of the most noticeable novelties for fans is the benches of substitutes. Each team can now present 12 substitutes on the game sheet, instead of the nine previously allowed. The change increases the range of options for coaches and allows for a more extensive management of teams during the 90 minutes.
Fines increase
One of the areas where the change will be felt the most is disciplinary. The sanctions are increased for various behaviors, including situations related to offenses to honor and reputation, insults, protests directed at the refereeing teams, aggression, lack of collaboration with the sports justice and delays in the start or restart of the games. The fines suffer, on average, an increase of around 25%.
Changes in arbitration
As already happened in the 2026 World Cup, the VAR will have a more extensive intervention in certain situations, namely in corner kicks and identity changes, or when a red card is attributed to the wrong player. In addition, the replacements of the ball, lateral throws and corner kicks will have to be executed within the maximum of five seconds.
Under-23 players
Changes have also been introduced in the rules related to the composition of teams and the use of under-23 players. In the 2026/27 season, clubs can include up to 22 under-23 players in the team from the satellite club or the founding club, from the Junior A or Junior B formation categories and/or from clubs participating in the under-23 championship.
What does this mean for Portuguese football?
These changes aim to make Portuguese football more competitive and increase the useful time of the game. In addition, the Portugal Football League aims to recover space in the European panorama and increase the number of Portuguese teams participating in European competitions to six.
What's next?
The Portugal Football League will continue to monitor the situation and adjust the rules as needed. In addition, clubs and coaches will need to adapt to the new rules and procedures.
Current context
The Portugal Football League is currently in 2nd place in the World Cup, with 5 points, 1 win, 2 draws and 0 losses in 3 games. The title of the competition is currently 2 points behind the leaders of Colombia. The last match of the Portuguese team was against Spain on July 6, 2026, with a result of 0-1. The next match will be against Wales on September 24, 2026, at home. The Portuguese team has currently scored 6 goals and conceded 1, with a goal difference of +5. The recent form of the team is 2 wins, 1 draw and 2 losses in the last 5 games.
