FC Porto hold the edge over Sporting in the head-to-head | OneFootball

FC Porto have seven more wins than Sporting in the head-to-head record going into the 257th clássico, to be played on Wednesday at the Dragão, with the winner securing a place in the Portuguese Cup final.

Counting matches in the league, Portuguese Cup, League Cup, Super Cup and the now-defunct Campeonato de Portugal, the dragons have 94 wins, compared to 87 for the lions, who still lead in goals scored (358 to 343), in a rivalry that has also produced 75 draws.

The two teams meet again 1 month and 19 days after their clash at Alvalade in the first leg of the Portuguese Cup semi-finals, a match that ended in a 1-0 win for Rui Borges’ side.

A penalty converted by Colombian Luis Suárez in the 62nd minute secured the lions’ 87th win over the dragons and gave Sporting the edge in the race to Jamor, scheduled for 24 May.

At the Dragão, the two clubs last met on 9 February, in a game where debutant Seko Fofana put the dragons ahead in the 76th minute before Luis Suárez levelled from the rebound after a penalty saved by Diego Costa, in the 90+10th minute, deep into stoppage time.

With that draw, Sporting stayed in the hunt for a third straight title, although that campaign had started to become complicated precisely against FC Porto when, on 30 August 2025, at the José Alvalade Stadium, they lost 2-1 in a fourth-round match.

Dutchman Luuk de Jong, in the 61st minute, and Brazilian William Gomes, in the 64th, scored for the side coached by Francesco Farioli, while the lions pulled one back through an own goal by Argentine Nehuén Pérez in the 74th.

After the three matches of 2025/26, there has been one win for each side and one draw, as well as three goals scored by each team, so the clash at the Dragão could tip the balance or keep it level, with a draw being enough for Sporting to go through.

Last season, Sporting came out on top, winning at home in the league 2-0, with goals from Gyokeres, from the penalty spot, and Geny Catamo, and also beating Porto 1-0 in the League Cup semi-final in Leiria, again with a goal from the Swede.

Before that, in the Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup in Aveiro, Sporting raced to a 3-0 lead with goals from Gonçalo Inácio, Pedro Gonçalves and Geovany Quenda in the opening 24 minutes, but FC Porto completed a remarkable and unlikely comeback.

A brace from Brazilian Galeno, in the 28th and 66th minutes, and a goal from Spaniard Nico González in the 64th, sent the match into extra time, where Spaniard Iván Jaime decided it in the 101st minute, completing the turnaround for a 4-3 win.

In the fourth clássico of the season, at the Dragão in the league, Spaniard Fresneda put the lions ahead in the 42nd minute, but the dragons rescued a draw in the 90+4th through substitute Danny Namaso.

In 2023/24, the green-and-whites had ended a run of eight matches without a win and five straight defeats by beating FC Porto 2-0 in the 14th round of the Primeira Liga, with goals from Gyökeres in the 11th minute and Pedro Gonçalves in the 60th, in a game where Porto centre-back Pepe was sent off in the 51st.

In the second half of the Primeira Liga season, the dragons also went 2-0 up, with goals from Brazilians Evanilson in the seventh minute and Pepê in the 41st, but near the end the inevitable Gyokeres, brought on at half-time, struck twice in the 87th and 88th minutes.

The last word, however, went to FC Porto, who beat the lions 2-1 after extra time in the Portuguese Cup final, with the decisive goal scored by Iranian Taremi in the 100th minute, after Evanilson had cancelled out Dutchman St. Juste’s opener in the 25th minute, after he had scored in the 20th.

Sporting therefore hold a slight edge since 2023/24, with four wins, three defeats and three draws, but the dragons lead in the current decade with eight wins, seven draws and five defeats, as well as four more goals scored, 28 to 24.

The blue-and-whites were also superior in the previous four decades, posting eight more wins between 1980/81 and 1989/90 (13/5), nine more between 1990/91 and 1999/2000 (14/5), one more between 2000/01 and 2009/10 (11/10), and five more between 2010/11 and 2019/20 (11/6).

Before that, the dominance belonged to Sporting, who by the end of the 1970s had 19 more wins (56 to 37) and a 52-goal advantage (237 to 185).

FC Porto also hold the edge overall in the Portuguese Cup, with 17 wins to Sporting’s 14. In a rivalry that has produced 13 draws, the dragons also lead in goals scored, 61 to 56.

The 257th official match between FC Porto and Sporting, the second leg of the 2025/26 Portuguese Cup football semi-finals, is scheduled for Wednesday at 20:45 at the Dragão Stadium in Porto.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇵🇹 here.