Liga de Elite

Liga de Elite (lit. 'Elite League'), previously known as Campeonato da 1ª Divisão do Futebol, is the top division of the Macau Football Association, created in 1973. The league features local players and professional foreign players. Due to the lack of football fields in Macau, most matches are played at the Estádio Campo Desportivo. As with Hong Kong, the league is separate from the mainland Chinese football league system. The league is generally played between January and July of each calendar year.

Liga de Elite

Founded	1973; 52 years ago (1973)
Country	Macau
Confederation	AFC
Number of clubs	10
Level on pyramid	1
Relegation to	2ª Divisão de Macau
Domestic cup(s)	Taça de Macau
International cup(s)	AFC Challenge League
Current champions	Benfica de Macau (6th title) (2024)
Most championships	Lam Pak (9 titles)
Top goalscorer	William Carlos Gomes (220 goals)
TV partners	FIFA+
Website	macaufa.com
Current: 2024 Liga de Elite

History

In the inaugural 2014 edition, Lam Pak, Lam Ieng and Kuan Tai all forfeited from the First Division before the start of the competition.^[1] Lam Pak and Lam Ieng withdrew due to the lack of backing from sponsors and Kuan Tai cited budget issues and could no longer afford to pay some of its players.^[1] To solve the problem of three sudden vacancies, the Macau Football Association clarified that the two clubs that were relegated in 2013, Kei Lun and MFA Development, were invited to remain, and an additional third team would come from the Second Division.^[2] After careful consideration by the MFA, no team from the Second Division was picked, being deemed not competitive enough for the First Division.

Previous season

10 teams will contest the 2024 Liga de Elite. Gala and University Of Macau were promoted from last season's 2ª Divisão de Macau.

3km
2miles

3

2

1

  

Location of the three stadiums where all matches are played.

1 Centro Desportivo Olímpico - Estádio 2 Lin Fong Sports Centre 3 Campo Desportivo da Universidade de Ciência e Tecnologia de Macau

Club	Year Founded	Shirt Sponsor	Position Last Season
Gala			Promoted (1st)
Cheng Fung	1988		4th
Hang Sai			6th
University Of Macau			Promoted (2nd)
Ka I	1985		7th
Monte Carlo	1984		3rd
Chao Pak Kei	2008		1st
Lun Lok	1985		5th
Benfica de Macau	1951		2nd
Sporting Clube de Macau	1926		8th

Previous winners

Winners were:^[3]

• 1949: Polícia de Segurança Pública
• 1950: Sporting Clube de Macau
• 1951–60: unknown
• 1962: Sporting Clube de Macau
• 1963: Sporting Clube de Macau
• 1964: Hong Lok
• 1965: Macao Post Office
• 1965–72: unknown
• 1973: Polícia de Segurança Pública
• 1974–84: unknown
• 1985: Wa Seng
• 1986: Hap Kuan
• 1987: Hap Kuan
• 1988: Wa Seng
• 1989: Hap Kuan
• 1990: Hap Kuan
• 1991: Sporting Clube de Macau
• 1992: Lam Pak
• 1993: Leng Ngan
• 1994: Lam Pak
• 1995: GD Artilheiros
• 1996: GD Artilheiros
• 1997: Lam Pak
• 1998: Lam Pak
• 1999: Lam Pak
• 2000: Polícia de Segurança Pública
• 2001: Lam Pak
• 2002: Monte Carlo
• 2003: Monte Carlo
• 2004: Monte Carlo
• 2005: Polícia de Segurança Pública
• 2006: Lam Pak
• 2007: Lam Pak
• 2008: Monte Carlo
• 2009: Lam Pak
• 2010: Ka I
• 2011: Ka I
• 2012: Ka I
• 2013: Monte Carlo
• 2014: Benfica de Macau
• 2015: Benfica de Macau
• 2016: Benfica de Macau
• 2017: Benfica de Macau
• 2018: Benfica de Macau
• 2019: Chao Pak Kei
• 2020: Benfica de Macau - non oficial championship due to covid
• 2021: Chao Pak Kei
• 2022: Chao Pak Kei
• 2023: Chao Pak Kei
• 2024: Benfica de Macau

Champions

Club	Titles
Lam Pak	9
Benfica de Macau	6
Monte Carlo	5
Polícia Segurança Pública
Sporting de Macau	4
Hap Kuan
Chao Pak Kei
Windsor Arch Ka I	3
Wa Seng [pt]	2
GD Artilheiros [es]
Hong Lok	1
Macau Post Office
Leng Ngan

Best player

Season	Best Player	Team
2010	Geofredo Cheung	Monte Carlo
2011	Leong Ka Hang	MFA Development
2012	Cesinha Barbieri	Ka I
2013	Leong Ka Hang	Monte Carlo
2014	Bruno Brito	Sporting de Macau
2015	Diego Patriota	Chao Pak Kei
2016	Chan Man	Benfica de Macau
2017	Pan Chi Hang	Benfica de Macau
2018	Diego Patriota	Chao Pak Kei
2019	Filipe Duarte	Benfica de Macau
2020	Diego Patriota	Chao Pak Kei
2021	Diego Patriota	Chao Pak Kei
2022	Jackson Sousa	Monte Carlo*
2022	Niki Torrão	Chao Pak Kei*
2023	Jackson Sousa	Monte Carlo
2024	Chan Man	Benfica

• The edition of the 2022 championship, two best player was chosen.

Top goalscorers

Season	Goalscorers	Team	Goals
2001	Beto	Monte Carlo	19
2005	Cheang Chon Man	Polícia de Segurança Pública	20
2010	Lee Keng Pan	Hoi Fan	10
2011	Kamilo Silva	Monte Carlo	38
2012	Gustavo Silveira Avelino	Windsor Arch Ka I	17
2013	Niki Torrão	Windsor Arch Ka I	23
2014	William Carlos Gomes	Benfica de Macau	16[4]
2014	Francisco do Carmo Rodrigo	Monte Carlo	16[5]
2015	William Carlos Gomes	Benfica de Macau	19[6]
2016	Carlos Leonel	Benfica de Macau	24[7]
2017	Carlos Leonel	Benfica de Macau	21[8]
2018	William Carlos Gomes	Windsor Arch Ka I	41[9]
2019	William Carlos Gomes	Cheng Fung	19
	Diego Patriota	Chao Pak Kei
2020	Carlos Leonel	Benfica de Macau	23
2021	Carlos Leonel	Benfica de Macau	35
2022	Niki Torrão	Chao Pak Kei	32
2023	Jackson Sousa	Monte Carlo	25
2024	William Gomes	Gala	22

Record season goalscorers

• 5 times
  • William Carlos Gomes (2014, 2015, 2018, 2019,2024)
• 4 times
  • Carlos Leonel (2016, 2017, 2020, 2021)

Most goals by a player in a single season

• 41 goals:
  • William Carlos Gomes (2018).

Most goals by a player in a single game

• 8 goals:
  • William Carlos Gomes (Windsor Arch Ka I) 1-12 against Hang Sai, 16 June 2018.

All-time goalscorers

Rank	Player	Games	Goals	Years	Goals per game
1	William Carlos Gomes	188	220	2013-present	1.15
2	Niki Torrão	191	214	2011−present	1.11
3	Diego Patriota	165	151	2013- present	0.92
4	Carlos Leonel	81	117	2015−2022	1.44

Multiple hat-tricks

Rank	Country	Player	Hat-tricks
1		William Carlos Gomes	23
2		Carlos Leonel	20
3		Niki Torrão	18
4		Jackson Sousa	9
5		Ho Man Hou	4
6		Diego Patriota	3
7		Alison Brito	2
		Bruno Araujo
		Iun Cheong Fai
		Gregory
		Cheng Hui
		Danilo Lins
		Bruno Martinho
		Jose Ranieri
		Vernon Wong
16		Daniel Adade	1
		Alexandre de Jesus
		Hugo Almeida
		Eder Aruda
		Iuri Capelo
		Lei Cheng Lam
		Ut Cheong Kou
		Lei Chi Seng
		Leung Chi Seng
		Chocolate
		Chi Hang Fong
		Lek Hang Jeung
		Chi Hang Pan
		Hussaini Hassan
		Gao Jia Liang
		Mustapha Jibrin
		Leong Ka Hang
		Mok Kin Fong
		Chan Kin Seng
		Lin Lei Yi
		In Leong Hou
		Zheyu Liang
		Chan Man
		William Maronesi
		Rafael Medeiros
		Yan Pen Feng
		Nuno Peres
		Rodrigo
		Maycol Savinio
		Adilson Silva
		Roni Silva
		Gu Six Hou
		Leong Tak Wai
		Leandro Tanaka
		Ka Un Sio
		Tai Wang Chang
		D Wong
		Jia Yi Li

Most hat-tricks in a single season

• 24 hat-tricks (2021).

Most hat-tricks by a player in a single season

• 7 hat-tricks
  • Carlos Leonel (2021).

References

1. "Lam Pak, Kuan Tai e Lam Ieng não se vão inscrever na Liga de Elite". jtm.com.mo. 2014-01-03. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
2. "Quem perde é o futebol de Macau". pontofinalmacau.wordpress.com. 2014-01-06. Archived from the original on 2014-01-08. Retrieved 2014-01-08.
3. "Macao – List of Champions". RSSSF. Archived from the original on 22 July 2022. Retrieved 30 September 2011.
4. "2014 Macau First Division Football Star Election Result" (PDF). Macau Football Association. 10 July 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
5. "2014 Macau First Division Football Star Election Result" (PDF). Macau Football Association. 10 July 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 March 2017. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
6. "2015 甲組聯賽神射手". Macau Football Association. 18 June 2015. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
7. "2016 甲組聯賽神射手". Macau Football Association. 15 June 2016. Archived from the original on 13 September 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
8. "2017 甲組聯賽神射手". Macau Football Association. 26 June 2017. Archived from the original on 12 March 2019. Retrieved 16 August 2018.
9. "2018 甲組聯賽神射手". Macau Football Association. 26 June 2018. Archived from the original on 26 July 2018. Retrieved 16 August 2018.