Sporting CP (handball)

Sporting CP
Full name	Sporting Clube de Portugal
Founded	1932 (1932) (parent club in 1906)
Arena	Pavilhão João Rocha, Lisbon
Capacity	3,000
President	Frederico Varandas
Head coach	Ricardo Costa
League	Andebol 1
2024–25	Andebol 1, 1st of 16 (champions)
Club colours
Home Away
Website Official site

Sporting Clube de Portugal (Portuguese pronunciation: [sɨˈpɔɾtĩ ˈkluβɨ ðɨ puɾtuˈɣal]), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP is a professional handball club based in Lisbon, Portugal.

Created in 1932, the team competes in the Andebol 1 and plays its home matches at Pavilhão João Rocha.

Sporting CP is the most decorated handball club in Portugal, being the Portuguese team with the most titles, both domestic and international.

Handball was introduced in Sporting Clube de Portugal in 1932, under the influence of Salazar Carreira,^[1] who introduced the sport to the club. It was on 10 April that a Sporting Portugal team played its first game in the sport, then in the eleven-a-side variant, the only one practised at the time, with the team beating Centro de Armas 1-0. The first official match would take place a month later against the same opponent, on 15 May 1932.

Indoor handball, which later became known as seven-a-side handball, was approved by the International Handball Federation in 1937, but the first demonstration of this variant in Portugal only took place on 12 September 1949 at the Cascais skating rink, when a Sporting team faced and beat another from Dramático de Cascais by 25-5, setting the tone for what would become one of the most emblematic sports in Portugal: Evaristo Ribeiro; Artur Mira and Rui Lanceiro; Fernando Nunes; Pereira de Sousa; Domingos Vicente and Joaquim Chagas, with Pinto dos Santos deputising.

Officially, Sporting started seven-a-side handball in the 1950-51 season and the sport immediately took root in the club, winning the first national championship in Portugal the following season. Initially, the seven-a-side handball season began in the summer after the 11-a-side competitions had finished, which was justified by the fact that the players were practically the same.

Sporting dominated Portuguese handball, particularly in the sixties and seventies and even in the eighties, with emphasis on the period from 1966 to 1973, in which seven National Championships were won in eight possible, five of which were consecutive, with a mythical team that became known as Os Sete Magníficos (The Magnificent Seven).^[2]

In 1995, Sporting fans were forced to choose the modalities to keep in the club, due to financial problems, having chosen handball and futsal, leading to the closure of the basketball, rink hockey and volleyball sections (which in the meantime would be reactivated).^[3]

Sporting CP completed the 2023-24 league season undefeated in its 22 home and away matches and completed its first domestic triple. They completed a second domestic triple in the 2025 season surpassing their northern rivals for domestic titles won. They also achieved its highest EHF Champions League 2024-25 placing, by reaching the quarter finals.

Pavilhão João Rocha is a multi-sports arena located in Lisbon. Located next to the Estádio José Alvalade, it is the home of Sporting CP indoor sports teams and was named after former club president João Rocha.

HOME
2009–10	2017–19	2021-

AWAY
2011–12	2014–15	2021-

• EHF European Cup: 2

2009/2010, 2016/2017

• Andebol 1: 23

1951/1952, 1955/1956, 1960/1961, 1965/1966, 1966/1967, 1968/1969, 1969/1970, 1970/1971, 1971/1972, 1972/1973, 1977/1978, 1978/1979, 1979/1980, 1980/1981, 1983/1984, 1985/1986, 2000/2001, 2004/2005*, 2005/2006*, 2016/2017, 2017/2018, 2023/2024, 2024/2025

* Notes: Divisão de Elite

• Portuguese Cup: 19 - Record

1971/1972, 1972/1973, 1974/1975, 1980/1981, 1982/1983, 1987/1988, 1988/1989, 1997/1998, 2000/2001, 2002/2003, 2003/2004, 2004/2005, 2011/2012, 2012/2013, 2013/2014, 2021/2022, 2022/2023, 2023/2024, 2024/2025

• Portuguese Super Cup: 6

1998, 2002, 2014, 2023, 2024, 2025

Awards received by players while playing for the club

IHF Young Male World Player of the Year

• Francisco Costa – 2025^[4]

EHF Best Young Player of the Season

• Martim Costa – 2024^[5]

Handball Planet World Young Handball Player

• Luís Frade – 2020^[6]

IHF World Men's Handball Championship All-Star Team

• Martim Costa (Centre Back) – 2025^[7]

IHF World Men's Handball Championship Best Young Player

• Francisco Costa – 2025^[8]

European Men's Handball Championship All-Star Team

• Martim Costa (Left Back) – 2024^[9]
• Francisco Costa (Right Back) - 2026^[10]
• Salvador Salvador (Best Defender) - 2026^[11]

European Men's Handball Championship Top Goalscorer

• Martim Costa (54 goals) – 2024^[12]

European Men's Handball Championship Best Young Player

• Francisco Costa – 2026^[13]

African Men's Handball Championship

• Mohamed Aly (Best Goalkeeper) - 2026^[14]

Squad for the 2025–26 season

• Head coach: Ricardo Costa
• Assistant coach: Pedro Biscaia
• Assistant coach: Ricardo Candeias

Transfers for the 2026–27 season

Note: Sporting score is always listed first.

Season	Competition	Round	Club	1st leg	2nd leg	Aggregate
1966–67	EHF European Cup	R1	US Ivry Handball	19–22	8–25	27–47
1967–68	EHF European Cup	R2	BM Granollers	16–26	20–16	36–42
1969–70	EHF European Cup	R1	HV Sittardia	16–24	12–15	28–39
1970–71	EHF European Cup	R2	MAI Moscovo	-	-	Win Withdrew
		QF	Dukla Prague	-	-	Win Withdrew
		SF	VfL Gummersbach	17–25	11–27	28–50
1971–72	EHF European Cup	R2	VfL Gummersbach	6–38	20–20	26–59
1972–73	EHF European Cup	R1	HCB Karviná	11–24	15–16	26–40
1973–74	EHF Challenge Cup	R1	SK Avanti Lebbeke	16–16	16–9	32–25
		R2	Cervena Hezda	14–31	15–17	29–48
1975–76	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	L16	Frederiksberg IF	14–25	22–24	36–49
1978–79	EHF European Cup	R1	Stella St-Maur	18–18	12–22	30–40
1979–80	EHF European Cup	R1	Grasshoppers Zürich	23–23	19–23	42–46
1980–81	EHF European Cup	R1	BSV Bern	12–26	21–20	33–46
1981–82	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R1	USM Gagny	25–27	22–31	47–58
1987–88	EHF Cup	R1	Hershi Gellen	18–20	22–16	40–36
		L16	Hellerup Kopenhagen	19–23	19–25	38–48
1988–89	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Pfadi Winterthur	29–25	19–27	48–52
1989–90	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Hapoel Rishon LeZion	24–40	23–18	47–58
1992–93	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R1	Pallamano Trieste	20–32	30–20	50–52
1996–97	EHF Cup	R1	Montpellier HB	22–16	16–22	38–38
1997–98	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R1	ZTR Zaporizhzhia	31–25	23–24	54–49
		L16	HSG Dutenhofen	16–24	30–26	46–50
1998–99	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R1	TJ VSŽ Košice	24–22	18–24	42–46
1999–00	EHF Challenge Cup	R1	US Dunkerque HB	23–18	20–26	43–44
2000–01	EHF Cup	R2	Showbizcity Aalsmeer	31–23	30–30	61–53
		R3	SKA Minsk	31–23	18–18	49–41
		L16	CB Cantabria	29–27	30–26	59–53
		QF	Haukar Handball	21–21	32–33	53–54
2001–02	EHF Champions League	R2	Steaua București	33–24	25–25	58–49
		Group stage	Portland San Antonio	26–36	28–31	3rd place
			RK Lovćen	22–26	10–0
			Kolding IF	24–23	22–33
2003–04	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R2	HC Berchem	31–20	32–22	63–42
		R3	Portovik Yuzhny	27–25	25–21	52–46
		L16	Redbergslids IK	29–19	29–35	58–54
		QF	RK Gorenje Velenje	33–27	26–32	59–59
2004–05	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R2	Goldmann Druck Tulln	33–32	30–22	63–54
		R3	HSV Hamburg	24–28	24–25	48–53
2005–06	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R2	HC Kehra	27–33	39–19	68–53
		R3	HCM Constanta	30–32	22–28	52–60
2006–07	EHF Cup Winners' Cup	R2	SPE Strovolos Nicosia	33–20	31–24	64–44
		R3	Dinamo București	29–35	27–30	56–65
2009–10	EHF Challenge Cup Winner	L16	AO Dimou Thermaikou	39–24	34–20	73–44
		QF	CSM Bacău	30–24	23–28	53–52
		SF	RD Slovan	28–23	30–33	58–56
		F	MMTS Kwidzyn	27–25	27–26	54–51
2010–11	EHF Challenge Cup	R3	HC Polytechnik	26–21	26–30	52–51
		L16	AEK	27–23	27–32	54–55
2011–12	EHF Challenge Cup	R3	Trabzonspor	31–29	41–18	72–47
		L16	HC Zubří	23–26	25–22	48–48
		QF	CSU Suceava	33–24	30–24	63–48
		SF	Wacker Thun	31–29	26–28	57–57
2012–13	EHF Cup	R1	Ystads IF	27–22	26–37	53–59
2013–14	EHF Cup	R2	KRAS/Volendam	30–18	35–32	65–50
		R3	RK Poreč	24–24	30–25	54–49
		Group stage	Montpellier HB	27–28	31–36	2nd place
			RK Strumica	39–22	36–24
			Skjern	32–25	30–28
		QF	Pick Szeged	29–27	22–28	51–55
2014–15	EHF Cup	R2	HC Sporta Hlohovec	34–24	28–33	62–57
		R3	Fraikin BM. Granollers	27–25	23–25	50–50
2015–16	EHF Cup	R2	Team Tvis Holstebro	31–36	32–28	63–64
2016–17	EHF Challenge Cup Winner	R3	ASD Romagna Handball	32–25	37–24	69–49
		L16	RK Pelister	32–18	34–26	66–44
		QF	AC Doukas	35–23	27–25	62–48
		SF	JMS Hurry-Up	32–27	37–14	69–41
		F	AHC Potaissa Turda	37–28	30–24	67–52
2017–18	EHF Champions League	qSF	Riihimäki Cocks	31–27		31–27
		qF	Alpla HC Hard	35–34		35–34
		Group stage	Beşiktaş	30–26	34–27	4th place
			Motor Zaporizhzhia	23–31	29–32
			Metalurg Skopje	27–28	31–27
			Montpellier HB	29–33	32–33
			Chekhovskiye Medvedi	31–30	27–30
2021–22	EHF European League	Group stage	Tatabánya KC	37–23	34–26	4th place
			AEK H.C.	24–25	31–30
			Kadetten Schaffhausen	34–26	31–24
			RK Eurofarm Pelister	24–26	27–26
			USAM Nîmes Gard	32–30	27–33
		Last 16	SC Magdeburg	29–29	35–36	64–65
2022–23	EHF European League	Group stage	Alpla HC Hard	31–30	31–26	2nd place
			BM Granollers	29–32	38–31
			RK Nexe Našice	31–32	28–34
			Balatonfüredi KSE	35–32	31–25
			Skjern Håndbold	30–28	28–24
		L16	CD Bidasoa	27–30	34–28	61–58
		QF	Montpellier HB	32–32	30–31	62–63
2023–24	EHF European League	Group stage	CSM Constanța	28–29	34–28	2nd place
			Chrobry Głogów	37–20	35–22
			MOL-Tatabánya KC	29–31	36–28
		Main round	Dinamo București	35–33	31–27	1st place
			Füchse Berlin	32–31	32–28
		QF	Rhein-Neckar Löwen	29–32	29–28	58–60
2024–25	EHF Champions League	Group stage	Orlen Wisła Płock	34–29	29–29	2nd place
			Fredericia HK	37–19	32–29
			Telekom Veszprém	39–30	32–33
			RK Eurofarm Pelister	24–24	30–24
			Füchse Berlin	35–33	32–33
			CS Dinamo București	29–33	34–25
			Paris Saint-Germain	28–30	39–28
		QF	HBC Nantes	27–28	30–32	57–60

• Sporting Official Website
• Sporting CP on Facebook