🏟️ OFFICIAL CLUB PROFILE: ESTÁDIO MANUEL MARQUES, TORRES VEDRAS

União Torreense First-Team Squad

Luís Tralhão’s history-makers are captained by experienced Cape Verde international Ianique “Stopira” and marshalled by cup-final hero goalkeeper Lucas Paes. Winger Kévin Zohi and forwards Luis Quintero and Dany Jean provide the attacking threat, with Gambian striker Musa Drammeh the club’s top scorer in the league.

Squad correct as of the summer 2026 window, which runs until 1 September — as a newly qualified European club, numbers and personnel may change significantly. Follow every Torreense fixture and prediction at AI Pro Prediction and our Europa League predictions hub.

União Torreense: The Cup Fairy Tale

Origins and a Century of History

Sport Clube União Torreense was founded on 1 May 1917 in Torres Vedras, a historic town in the Lisbon district of Portugal, famous for the defensive Lines of Torres Vedras built during the Peninsular War. For more than a century, “Torreense” have been the sporting heartbeat of their community, a proud institution representing a town that sits outside the traditional power bases of Portuguese football. The club plays in green and white and is affectionately known simply as Os Torreenses.

Home matches are played at the intimate Estádio Manuel Marques, a modest but atmospheric ground befitting a club of Torreense’s size. For most of their history, the club has competed in the lower and middle tiers of Portuguese football, making the achievements of the 2025–26 season all the more extraordinary and unforgettable for the town and its loyal supporters.

Early Top-Flight Days

Torreense’s history in the top tier of Portuguese football is a proud but distant memory. The club competed in the Primeira Liga on six occasions, their first two seasons — 1955–56 and 1956–57 — producing their best-ever league finishes, a pair of seventh places. Their most recent top-flight appearance came in the 1991–92 season, after which the club settled into the lower divisions of the Portuguese football pyramid.

The club also has a cup pedigree that stretches back decades. Torreense reached the final of the Taça de Portugal in 1956, where they were narrowly defeated 2–0 by mighty FC Porto. That appearance stood as the club’s greatest cup achievement for 70 years — until the events of 2026 rewrote the history books entirely.

2026: Making History in the Taça de Portugal

The 2025–26 season delivered the greatest triumph in the entire history of the club — and one of the most romantic stories in the history of Portuguese football. Competing in Liga Portugal 2, the country’s second tier, Torreense embarked on a remarkable run through the Taça de Portugal. Along the way they defeated higher-ranked opposition to reach the final at the iconic Estádio Nacional in Oeiras on 24 May 2026.

There, against all odds, Torreense faced Primeira Liga giants and three-time consecutive finalists Sporting CP. In an unforgettable final that went to extra time, the underdogs from Torres Vedras triumphed 2–1, lifting the Taça de Portugal for the first time in the club’s history. In doing so, Torreense became the first-ever second-tier club to win the Portuguese Cup — a historic feat that sent shockwaves through the game and sparked wild celebrations in Torres Vedras. Goalkeeper Lucas Paes was the hero with a string of crucial saves, embodying the spirit of a team that refused to be beaten.

Honours and Achievements

The Road to Glory

Torreense’s cup run captured the imagination of the entire country. Entering the Taça de Portugal in the second round, the second-tier side battled through round after round, growing in belief with every victory. In the quarter-finals they produced a statement performance, with Kévin Zohi among the goals as they advanced, before navigating the semi-finals to reach a final few outside Torres Vedras had dared to imagine.

Remarkably, the club achieved all of this while simultaneously chasing promotion in Liga Portugal 2, where they finished third and reached the promotion play-offs — a demanding schedule that makes the cup triumph all the more impressive. Just days after the final, the squad were back in action in the play-offs, a testament to the depth of character and commitment within Tralhão’s group. For the people of Torres Vedras, the achievement represents far more than a trophy: it is a source of enormous civic pride that will be remembered for generations.

While Torreense have spent most of their history outside the top flight, their record now includes one of the most cherished honours in Portuguese football:

• Taça de Portugal: Winners in 2025–26 — the club’s first-ever national trophy and a landmark moment in Portuguese football history.
• Taça de Portugal: Runners-up in 1955–56, losing to FC Porto.
• Primeira Liga: Best finish of seventh place (1955–56 and 1956–57), across six top-flight campaigns.
• Liga Portugal 2: Third-placed finish in 2025–26, reaching the promotion play-offs.
• European qualification: Qualified for the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League league phase as Portuguese Cup winners — the first European campaign in the club’s history.

The Tralhão Era and Playing Style

The mastermind behind the historic cup run was head coach Luís Tralhão, who took charge of the club on 1 January 2026, replacing Vítor Martins. Tralhão instilled a resilient, well-organised and courageous style of play that allowed Torreense to punch far above their weight against Portugal’s biggest clubs. His emotional reaction after the final — admitting the enormity of the achievement had not yet sunk in — captured the disbelief and joy of everyone connected with the club.

The squad is a cosmopolitan mix of experienced professionals and hungry talent drawn from across Portugal, Spain, South America and Africa. Veteran Cape Verde international Ianique “Stopira” — a player with genuine top-level and international experience — leads the team as captain, providing invaluable leadership. Around him, players such as Kévin Zohi, Luis Quintero, Dany Jean and cup goalkeeping hero Lucas Paes form the core of a team that achieved the impossible.

A Historic European Adventure Awaits

The reward for Torreense’s cup heroics is monumental: qualification for the 2026–27 UEFA Europa League league phase, the first time in the 109-year history of the club that Torreense will compete on the European stage. For a club from the second tier of Portuguese football, playing in a stadium that holds only a few thousand supporters, the prospect of hosting and travelling to face some of the biggest names in European football is the stuff of dreams.

The challenge ahead is enormous — Torreense will be significant underdogs in every fixture — but the club has already proven that on their day, and with the belief instilled by Tralhão, anything is possible. These European nights will be celebrated across Torres Vedras as a once-in-a-lifetime occasion. For all the latest Torreense match previews, team news and score forecasts as they embark on their historic campaign, follow our Europa League match predictions.

Looking Ahead

As União Torreense enter the 2026–27 season, the objectives blend the romantic and the practical: to enjoy and compete in their first-ever European campaign, to push for promotion to the Primeira Liga from Liga Portugal 2, and to build on the extraordinary momentum generated by their Taça de Portugal triumph. Whatever happens next, the club has already secured its place in Portuguese football folklore. For a modest club from Torres Vedras that dared to dream and toppled a giant to lift the cup, the story of União Torreense stands as a timeless reminder of the magic that makes football the beautiful game.