2022–23 Liga 3 (Portugal)

The 2022–23 Liga 3 is second season of Portuguese football's third-tier league, following the reorganization which saw the Campeonato de Portugal moving one level down in the Portuguese football league system. Second season, a total of 24 teams compete in this division for the final time, and reduced to 20 teams for next season.^[1]

Liga 3

Season	2022–23
Dates	21 August 2022 – 21 May 2023
Champions	União de Leiria
Promoted	União de Leiria Belenenses Länk Vilaverdense
Relegated	São João de Ver Montalegre Paredes Vitória de Guimarães B Vitória de Setúbal Real SC Fontinhas Moncarapachense
← 2021–22 2023–24 →

Format

This competition consists of a first stage with all the teams then proceed to a promotion or relegation series depending on their performance.^[2]

First Stage

In the first stage, the 24 clubs are divided in two series (Série A and B) of 12 teams, according to geographic criteria. In each series, teams play against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. The four best-placed teams of the two series will advance to the promotion series and bottom 8 teams will proceed to the relegation series.

Promotion Stage

The eight qualified teams are divided in two series of 4 teams, playing against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. The winners of each series will be automatically promoted to Liga Portugal 2 and will face each other in a neutral venue to determine the champion. The second best placed teams will face each other in a playoff, whose winner will face the 16th placed of Liga Portugal 2 for the last spot in Liga Portugal 2. On this stage teams will be divided as follows.

Promotion Series

Serie 1	Serie 2
1st A	1st B
2nd B	2nd A
3rd B	3rd A
4th A	4th B

Relegation Stage

The bottom 8 teams are divided in four series of 4 teams, playing against each other in a home-and-away double round-robin system. To account for their performance in the first stage, teams will start with bonification points, with 5th placed teams starting with 8 points and 12th placed teams starting with 1. The two bottom teams of each series will be relegated to Campeonato de Portugal for this season.

Relegation Series

Serie 1	Serie 2	Serie 3	Serie 4
5th A	6th A	5th B	6th B
7th A	8th A	7th B	8th B
9th A	10th A	9th B	10th B
11th A	12th A	11th B	12th B

Teams

A total of 24 teams contested the league, including 2 teams relegated from the 2021–22 Liga Portugal 2, 17 teams that have been in 2021–22 Liga 3 (Portugal) and 5 teams promoted from the 2021–22 Campeonato de Portugal.

Cova da Piedade failed to produce valid licensing documentation to compete in the 2022–23 season of the Liga 3, so they had been relegated by the Portuguese Football Federation to District Championships.^[3] As a result, an additional team of (2021–22 Campeonato de Portugal) will be promoted to Liga 3 for the 2022–23 season.

Stadium and locations

Académica

Alverca

Varzim

U. Leiria

Braga B

Montalegre

Caldas

Sporting B

Amora

Felgueiras

Oliv. Hospital

Anadia

V. Setúbal

Sanjoanense

Fafe

Canelas

Real

V. Guimarães B

S. João de Ver

Vilaverdense

Paredes

Moncarapachense

Belenenses

Location of teams in 2022-23 Liga 3

Fontinhas

Location of teams in 2022–23 Liga 3 (Azores)

Team	Location	Stadium	Capacity	2021–22 finish
Varzim	Póvoa de Varzim	Estádio do Varzim SC	7,280	17th (LP2)
Académica	Coimbra	Estádio Cidade de Coimbra	29,622	18th (LP2)
Alverca	Vila Franca de Xira	Complexo Desportivo do FC Alverca	7,705	2nd Promotion S1
União de Leiria	Leiria	Estádio Dr. Magalhães Pessoa	23,888	2nd Promotion S2
Felgueiras 1932	Felgueiras	Estádio Dr. Machado de Matos	7,540	3rd Promotion S1
Braga B	Braga	Complexo Desportivo de Fão	724	3rd Promotion S2
Vitória de Guimarães B	Guimarães	Pista de Atletismo Gémeos Castro	1,200	4th Promotion S1
Vitória de Setúbal	Setúbal	Estádio do Bonfim	15,497	4th Promotion S2
Fafe	Fafe	Parque Municipal dos Desportos de Fafe	4,000	1st Relegation S3
Sanjoanense	São João da Madeira	Estádio Conde Dias Garcia	15,000	1st Relegation S4
Amora	Seixal	Estádio da Medideira	1,500	1st Relegation S5
Oliveira do Hospital	Oliveira do Hospital	Estádio Municipal de Tábua	3,500	1st Relegation S6
Anadia	Anadia	Estádio Municipal Engº Sílvio Henriques Cerveira	6,500	2nd Relegation S3
São João de Ver	Santa Maria da Feira	Estádio SC São João de Ver	5,000	2nd Relegation S4
Real SC	Sintra	Estádio do Real SC	1,200	2nd Relegation S6
Canelas 2010	Vila Nova de Gaia	Estádio do Canelas Gaia Futebol Clube	10,800	3rd Relegation S3
Montalegre	Montalegre	Estádio Dr. Diogo Alves Vaz Pereira	2,000	3rd Relegation S4
Caldas	Caldas da Rainha	Campo da Mata	9,600	3rd Relegation S5
Sporting B	Alcochete	Estádio Aurélio Pereira	1,180	3rd Relegation S6
Paredes	Paredes	Cidade Desportiva de Paredes	3,000	CP Champions 1st CP Promotion North Serie
Fontinhas	Praia da Vitória	Campo Municipal Dr. Durval Monteiro	1,000	1st CP Promotion South Serie
Länk Vilaverdense	Vila Verde	Campo Cruz do Reguengo	1,000	2nd CP Promotion North Serie
Moncarapachense	Olhão	Estádio Dr. António João Eusébio	1,000	2nd CP Promotion South Serie
Belenenses	Lisbon	Estádio do Restelo	19,856	3rd CP Promotion South Serie[4]

First stage

In the first stage, the 24 clubs will be divided in two series (Série A and B) of 12 teams, according to geographic criteria.

Série A

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		FEL	LAN	SAN	BRA	VAR	CAN	SJV	PAR	FAF	ANA	MNT	VSC
1	Felgueiras 1932	22	13	5	4	32	22	+10	44	Advance to Promotion Series			1–1	1–1	1–3	2–0	2–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	2–4	0–2	3–0
2	Länk Vilaverdense	22	10	10	2	34	18	+16	40			0–2		0–0	1–0	0–0	3–0	1–1	5–1	3–2	4–0	2–1	2–1
3	Sanjoanense	22	9	9	4	28	19	+9	36			1–2	1–1		1–0	0–0	2–1	2–1	1–1	4–0	1–1	1–0	3–1
4	Braga B	22	9	8	5	29	18	+11	35			1–1	0–0	1–1		1–1	2–1	1–0	0–1	0–1	4–1	1–2	3–0
5	Varzim	22	9	6	7	23	19	+4	33	Advance to Relegation Series		3–0	2–2	0–1	1–1		1–1	0–1	1–0	1–0	1–1	2–1	2–0
6	Canelas	22	8	6	8	27	27	0	30			2–2	3–1	2–3	0–1	3–2		1–1	1–0	1–0	1–0	1–1	1–0
7	São João de Ver	22	6	11	5	22	19	+3	29			0–1	0–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	1–1		1–1	2–1	0–0	2–0	2–1
8	Paredes	22	7	7	8	17	20	−3	28			0–1	0–0	3–2	0–1	1–0	2–0	0–0		0–1	1–2	2–1	1–0
9	Fafe	22	7	4	11	18	31	−13	25			1–1	0–3	1–1	1–4	0–1	0–2	1–1	0–0		2–1	2–1	1–0
10	Anadia	22	6	5	11	25	33	−8	23			1–2	1–1	2–0	0–0	0–1	1–0	0–0	0–1	1–2		4–2	0–2
11	Montalegre	22	5	6	11	27	34	−7	21			0–2	0–1	1–0	2–2	1–2	2–2	2–2	0–0	2–0	1–0		1–2
12	Vitória de Guimarães B	22	3	3	16	18	40	−22	12			1–3	1–2	0–1	2–2	2–1	0–2	1–3	0–1	1–2	0–2	2–2

Updated to match(es) played on 5 March 2023. Source: Liga 3
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored

Série B

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Qualification		AMO	UNI	ALV	BEL	SPO	CAL	OLI	ACA	VFC	FON	REA	MNC
1	Amora	22	15	3	4	42	22	+20	48	Advance to Promotion Series			2–1	2–3	2–1	2–1	4–2	1–0	3–4	2–0	2–0	1–0	6–0
2	União de Leiria	22	15	2	5	45	22	+23	47			2–0		1–2	2–4	1–0	2–0	1–0	1–1	4–0	1–2	2–1	6–1
3	Alverca	22	11	7	4	30	18	+12	40			1–1	0–1		1–0	0–1	0–0	1–1	4–0	2–0	0–0	2–1	2–0
4	Belenenses	22	10	5	7	38	27	+11	35			3–3	1–2	1–2		0–1	1–1	4–1	2–0	2–1	6–0	1–2	2–1
5	Sporting B	22	11	1	10	28	26	+2	34	Advance to Relegation Series		0–1	0–1	1–0	0–1		3–2	2–1	1–2	1–0	2–2	1–0	2–3
6	Caldas	22	8	7	7	32	30	+2	31			0–1	0–3	2–1	0–1	0–2		0–0	1–0	1–1	4–2	2–0	3–1
7	Oliveira do Hospital	22	6	8	8	29	36	−7	26			0–2	3–4	1–1	1–1	3–2	2–2		2–2	3–1	3–2	3–4	1–0
8	Académica	22	7	5	10	22	32	−10	25[lower-alpha 1]			1–0	1–3	1–2	1–1	0–2	1–4	1–0		3–0	1–0	0–2	0–0
9	Vitória de Setúbal	22	6	5	11	31	42	−11	23			0–0	0–3	1–1	5–2	3–2	1–2	5–1	0–0		2–1	3–5	2–3
10	Fontinhas	22	5	7	10	22	35	−13	22			0–1	1–1	1–1	1–1	2–0	1–1	0–1	2–1	2–2		0–1	2–4
11	Real SC	22	6	2	14	27	30	−3	20			0–1	1–0	1–2	0–1	0–1	1–2	2–2	1–2	1–2	1–2		0–1
12	Moncarapachense	22	5	2	15	25	51	−26	17			2–4	1–2	1–2	0–2	2–3	1–1	1–2	1–0	1–2	0–1	1–6

Updated to match(es) played on 12 March 2023. Source: Liga 3
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored
Notes:

1. Académica were deducted 1 point for financial irregularities.^[5]

Second stage

In the second stage, the 24 clubs were divided in 2 promotion series (Serie 1 and 2) of 4 teams and 4 relegation series (Serie 1, 2, 3 and 4) of 4 teams.

Promotion series

Serie 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification		UNI	BRA	ALV	FEL
1	União de Leiria (C, P)	6	5	0	1	12	4	+8	15	Promotion to Liga Portugal 2			1–0	3–1	4–1
2	Braga B	6	3	0	3	5	5	0	9	Advance to Playoff		1–0		2–0	1–0
3	Alverca	6	2	1	3	7	9	−2	7			1–2	2–1		2–0
4	Felgueiras 1932	6	1	1	4	4	10	−6	4			0–2	2–0	1–1

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2023. Source: FPF.pt
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored
(C) Champions; (P) Promoted

Serie 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Promotion or qualification		BEL	LAN	SAN	AMO
1	Belenenses (P)	6	3	2	1	8	4	+4	11[lower-alpha 1]	Promotion to Liga Portugal 2			2–0	0–0	3–0
2	Länk Vilaverdense (O, P)	6	3	2	1	9	2	+7	11[lower-alpha 1]	Advance to Playoff		0–0		2–0	5–0
3	Sanjoanense	6	2	2	2	4	6	−2	8			1–3	0–0		1–0
4	Amora	6	1	0	5	4	13	−9	3			3–0	0–2	1–2

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2023. Source: FPF.pt
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored
(O) Play-off winners; (P) Promoted
Notes:

1. Belenenses were ranked ahead of Länk Vilaverdense on head-to-head points: Belenenses 2–0 Länk Vilaverdense, Länk Vilaverdense 0–0 Belenenses.

Relegation series

Serie 1

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation		VAR	FAF	SJV	MNT
1	Varzim	6	2	2	2	6	6	0	16				1–0	1–1	0–1
2	Fafe	6	3	2	1	9	6	+3	15			2–2		0–0	4–2
3	São João de Ver (R)	6	2	2	2	6	6	0	14	Relegation to Campeonato de Portugal		2–1	1–2		2–1
4	Montalegre (R)	6	2	0	4	5	8	−3	8			0–1	0–1	1–0

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2023. Source: FPF.pt
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored
(R) Relegated

Serie 2

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation		CAN	ANA	PAR	VSC
1	Canelas 2010	6	4	2	0	11	6	+5	21				3–1	2–1	1–0
2	Anadia	6	2	2	2	10	10	0	11[lower-alpha 1]			1–2		2–1	2–0
3	Paredes (R)	6	1	3	2	6	7	−1	11[lower-alpha 1]	Relegation to Campeonato de Portugal		2–2	1–1		0–0
4	Vitória de Guimarães B (R)	6	0	3	3	4	8	−4	4			1–1	3–3	0–1

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2023. Source: FPF.pt
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored
(R) Relegated
Notes:

1. Anadia were ranked ahead of Paredes on head-to-head points: Anadia 2–1 Paredes, Paredes 1–1 Anadia.

Serie 3

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation		SPO	OLI	VFC	REA
1	Sporting B	6	2	2	2	8	8	0	16				1–2	1–1	2–1
2	Oliveira do Hospital	6	3	0	3	8	8	0	15			1–3		2–0	1–0
3	Vitória de Setúbal (R)	6	3	2	1	7	6	+1	15	Relegation to Campeonato de Portugal		1–1	2–1		1–0
4	Real SC (R)	6	2	0	4	6	7	−1	8			2–0	2–1	1–2

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2023. Source: FPF.pt
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored
(R) Relegated

Serie 4

Pos	Team	Pld	W	D	L	GF	GA	GD	Pts	Relegation		ACA	CAL	FON	MNC
1	Académica	6	4	1	1	8	3	+5	18				2–1	1–0	0–1
2	Caldas	6	2	1	3	9	8	+1	14			0–2		3–0	2–0
3	Fontinhas (R)	6	2	2	2	6	8	−2	11	Relegation to Campeonato de Portugal		1–1	3–2		0–0
4	Moncarapachense (R)	6	1	2	3	3	7	−4	6			0–2	1–1	1–2

Updated to match(es) played on 6 May 2023. Source: FPF.pt
Rules for classification: 1) points, 2) head-to-head points, 3) head-to-head goal difference, 4) goal difference, 5) matches won, 6) goals scored
(R) Relegated

Third stage

Third place playoff

First leg

Braga B	0–2	Länk Vilaverdense

14 May 2023

15:00

Complexo Desportivo do Fão, Apúlia e Fão

Second leg

Länk Vilaverdense	2–1	Braga B

21 May 2023

17:00

Campo Cruz do Reguengo
Vila Verde

Länk Vilaverdense advances to Promotion play-offs.

Championship final

União de Leiria	1–0	Belenenses

20 May 2023

16:15

Estádio Nacional, Jamor

Number of teams by district

Rank	District Football Associations	Number	Teams
1	Braga	4	Braga B, Fafe, Länk Vilaverdense and Vitória de Guimarães B
	Lisbon		Alverca, Belenenses, Real SC and Sporting B
	Porto		Canelas 2010, Felgueiras 1932, Paredes and Varzim
4	Aveiro	3	Anadia, Sanjoanense and São João de Ver
5	Coimbra	2	Académica and Oliveira do Hospital
	Leiria		Caldas and União de Leiria
	Setúbal		Amora and Vitória de Setúbal
8	Angra do Heroísmo	1	Fontinhas
	Faro		Moncarapachense
	Vila Real		Montalegre

Top scorers

As of 6 May 2023

Rank	Player	Club	Goals
1	Zequinha	Vitória de Setúbal	15
2	Edmilson	Länk Vilaverdense	12
	Jair	União de Leiria
	Fausto Lourenço	Anadia
4	Rui Batalha	Oliveira do Hospital	11
	Gonçalo Gregório	União de Leiria
7	Paulo Marcelo	Amora	10
	Adilson Silva	Real SC
	Rui Areias	Varzim
10	João Costa	Belenenses	9
	Clé	Belenenses
	André Lacximicant	Braga B
	Patrick	Vitória de Guimarães B Oliveira do Hospital
	Bruninho	Montalegre
	Joel Silva	Sanjoanense

^{[6] [7]}

References

1. "Aí está a Liga 3". FPF (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-05-29.
2. "Como vai funcionar a Liga 3? Eis a explicação". Zero Zero (in European Portuguese). Retrieved 2021-05-29.
3. "Cova da Piedade SAD relegated to the District Championships". A Bola (in Portuguese). 20 May 2022.
4. "Belenenses is promoted to Liga 3". A Bola (in Portuguese). 29 May 2022.
5. "Académica and Leixões start championships with one point less for wage infringements". TSF. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
6. "Melhor Marcador :: Liga 3 Série A 2022/23 :: Zerozero.pt".
7. "Melhor Marcador :: Liga 3 Série B 2022/23 :: Zerozero.pt".