First football match in Portugal

The first football match in mainland Portugal took place in Campo Pequeno, Lisboa on 22 January 1889. Three months earlier, on October 1888, a test match had already been held in Cascais contested between members of the Sporting Club of Cascais, one of the first clubs dedicated to football in Portugal. However, the one held in January was the first proper match in Portuguese football history, since the pitch had markings and goalposts, and the match followed the rules and lasted 90 minutes. It was also more competitive because the match was contested between Portuguese noblemen and a group of English workers living in Portugal, and thus it can be considered as one of the first ‘international’ matches in the history of the sport. Furthermore, the one held in January was a public event, and Lisbon's high society turned out in force to see what the game was like. Both games were held at the initiative of Guilherme Pinto Basto, one of the members of Cascais club.

Among the figures who played in the test match, there was a count, viscounts, other prominent members of Lisbon's high society, and several members of the Cascais Club, including four members of the Pinto Basto family, such as Guilherme and his two brothers, Eduardo and Frederico, who had brought balls back from England, where they were studying. The best players from the first exhibition game made up a selection of the Portuguese team that played against the British at the Campo Pequeno. Consequently, football started attracting the attention of high society, distinguished by the Luso-British rivalry.