2014–15 Taça de Portugal
Round Teams remaining Teams involved Winners from the previous round New entries in this round Leagues entering in this round
First round 135 99 none 99 Campeonato Nacional de Seniores District Football Associations ( District Cup winners )
Second round 110 92 74 18 Segunda Liga
Third round 64 64 46 18 Primeira Liga
Fourth round 32 32 32 none none
Fifth round 16 16 16 none none
Quarter-finals 8 8 8 none none
Semi-finals 4 4 4 none none
Final 2 2 2 none none
Format
As in the previous season , the competition format was organised in a knockout system consisting of seven rounds before the final match . A total of 99 teams – 79 competing in the third-tier Campeonato Nacional de Seniores ( excluding Marítimo C ) and the 20 District Cup winners – enter the tournament in the first round , with 49 of them receiving a bye to the next round . In the second round , these teams are joined by the 18 teams competing in the second-tier Segunda Liga ( excluding B teams ) and the 25 winners of the first round . In the third round , the 18 top-tier Primeira Liga teams enter the competition for the first time , playing against the 46 winners of the second round . Unlike the previous rounds , which are contested as one-legged fixtures , the semi-finals are played over two legs in a home-and-away basis . The final is played at a neutral venue , traditionally the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras .
The 2014-15 Taça de Portugal was the 75th season of the Taça de Portugal, the premier Portuguese football knockout cup competition organised by the Portuguese Football Federation. The competition was contested by a total of 135 clubs, comprising teams from the top three tiers of Portuguese football and the winners of the District Cups. It began with the first-round matches on 6 September 2014 and concluded on 31 May 2015 with the final at the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, where Sporting CP defeated Braga 3-1 on penalties, after a 2-2 draw at the end of extra-time. This was the first time that the competition's final was decided by a penalty shootout. With this victory, Sporting CP secured their 16th title in the competition and ended a seven-year run without winning official competitions, following their win at the 2008 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira. The title holders were Benfica, who beat Rio Ave 1-0 in the 2014 final to win the competition for a record 25th time. They were not able to defend their title after being defeated 1-2 by eventual finalists Braga in the fifth round. As the winners, Sporting CP earned the right to play in the 2015-16 UEFA Europa League group stage. However, since they qualified for the 2015-16 UEFA Champions League play-off round through their league placing, their cup winners place in the 2015-16 UEFA Europa League group stage was transferred directly to the highest-placed team in the league qualified for the UEFA Europa League (Braga) - instead of being given to the cup runners-up, as in previous seasons -, with the highest-placed team in the league that did not qualify to European competitions (Belenenses) receiving a place in the third qualifying round.