Jack Ipalibo travelled the long road through Spain, Norway, Greece, Ukraine and Hungary to reach Portuguese football, and on Sunday evening at the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras, his journey delivered something no lower league club in 88 years of the Taça de Portugal had ever achieved.
SCU Torreense, a second-division Liga Portugal 2 side based just north of Lisbon in Torres Vedras, produced one of the greatest cup shocks in the competition’s history by defeating Sporting CP 2-1 after extra time to lift the trophy, as reported by FootballInNigeria.com.ng. The victory makes them the first club from outside Portugal’s top flight to win the Taça de Portugal since the competition began in 1938, a record that had survived every previous edition of the tournament until Sunday.
Nigerian defensive midfielder Ipalibo, who joined the club on a free transfer from Hungarian side Zalaegerszegi TE in July 2025, was part of a squad that had defied every expectation across a cup campaign that few outside Torres Vedras saw coming. The 28 year old did not feature in the final itself but played 80 minutes in Torreense’s second-round 3-1 victory over Correlhã back in September, meaning his name is woven permanently into a piece of Portuguese football history.
Three Minutes In, Torreense Changed the Script
The final at the Estádio Nacional was supposed to follow a familiar pattern. Sporting CP, the dethroned Portuguese champions who had been one of the dominant forces in Liga Portugal for the past decade, came in as heavy favourites against a second division side that most neutrals expected to be overwhelmed once the occasion hit them. Instead, Torreense came out swinging.
Kévin Zohi fired them ahead inside three minutes, converting an assist from Leo Azevedo with composure that belied the occasion. Torreense then spent much of the first half pressing aggressively and defending with a collective discipline that gave Sporting no room to build rhythm. The 90 minutes belonged to the underdogs for long stretches, and even after Luis Suárez equalised for Sporting in the 53rd minute following a pass from Maximiliano Araújo, Torreense refused to retreat.
The match turned decisively in extra time. Araújo, the man who had assisted Sporting’s equaliser, received a straight red card in the 108th minute, reducing the Lisbon side to ten men. Torreense sensed their moment and pushed forward relentlessly. When they were awarded a penalty in the 112th minute, their veteran captain Stopira stepped up. The 38 year old defender converted calmly and the Torreense bench, stands and substitutes erupted. The final score of 2-1 stood through the remaining minutes, and the final whistle triggered scenes of wild celebration that will live long in the memories of everyone connected with the club from Torres Vedras. Fans wanting to back Nigerian players across European competitions can use the Bet9ja welcome offer for the best available registration bonus.
The End of a 70-Year Wait for Torreense
For Torreense, the moment carried the weight of decades. Their only previous appearance in the Taça de Portugal final came in 1956, when they lost 2-0 to FC Porto. The defeat meant they carried the near miss into football folklore without the reward, and every subsequent generation of players and supporters grew up knowing what almost was. Seventy years later, they finally have the cup.
The win also delivers something concrete beyond the silverware. Torreense have earned direct qualification for next season’s UEFA Europa League league phase, a remarkable achievement for a second division club that will transform the scale of their ambitions and their commercial reach heading into 2026-27. For a club with modest resources by Portuguese football standards, the Europa League place is potentially transformative.
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Ipalibo’s Path to This Moment
Jack Ipalibo’s story is one of quiet persistence across a decade of European football. He was born in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on April 6, 1998 and began at Diamond Football Academy in Umuahia, Abia State, the same institution that produced Samuel Chukwueze. When he joined Villarreal’s academy in September 2016, headlines in Nigerian football circles compared his physical presence and two footedness to Yaya Touré. The comparison was flattering, and the expectation it created was not always easy to carry.
He spent four seasons in Spain before signing permanently for Norwegian club Strømsgodset in 2020, where he found a consistent home and made more than 100 appearances across four seasons. Spells at Greek club Kifisia, Ukrainian side Chornomorets Odesa and Zalaegerszegi in Hungary followed before Torreense brought him to Portugal last summer. Standing 187cm tall and operating as a defensive midfielder or central midfielder, he has always been valued for his physicality, his reading of the game, and his ability to break up attacks and protect leads. At Torreense, that profile made him a squad depth option rather than a regular starter, but the squad depth turned out to matter more than anyone expected when the cups were being lifted.
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What This Means for Nigerian Football’s Global Footprint
Ipalibo is not a household name in Nigerian football. He has never been part of an Eric Chelle squad or a previous Super Eagles setup, and his career arc through the lower and mid-tiers of European football means he has operated largely away from the spotlight. But his inclusion in a squad that has just made Portuguese football history is a reminder that Nigerian footballers are present and contributing at every level of the European game, not just in the Premier League or the Bundesliga.
The Taça de Portugal triumph joins a growing list of moments in 2025-26 where Nigerian players have been part of significant European club achievements. Kelechi Iheanacho won the Scottish double with Celtic, Semi Ajayi’s Hull City won promotion through the Championship playoffs, and now Ipalibo’s Torreense have written themselves into Portuguese football history. It is a broad and compelling picture of where Nigerian football talent has reached.
📌 Did You Know?
- The Taça de Portugal was first played in the 1938-39 season, making Sunday’s edition the 88th in the competition’s history. Sporting CP are the most successful club in the tournament with 17 titles, but their defeat by Torreense denied them an 18th.
- Torreense’s winning captain Stopira, who converted the decisive penalty in extra time, is a 38 year old Cape Verdean born defender who has spent most of his career in Portugal. His composure in the defining moment of the club’s history speaks to the experience he has accumulated across more than 15 professional seasons.
- Diamond Football Academy, where Ipalibo began his career, is based in Umuahia, Abia State, and has produced some of Nigeria’s most successful footballers of the past decade, including Samuel Chukwueze, Kelechi Nwakali, and Ikenna Ofor, among others.
- Torreense’s home ground is the Estádio Municipal Dr. Carlos Osório in Torres Vedras, a city of around 80,000 people located approximately 50 kilometres north of Lisbon. The stadium has a capacity of around 4,500 spectators, making Sunday’s Estádio Nacional final the biggest stage the club has ever performed on.
- Maximiliano Araújo, who both assisted Sporting’s equaliser and then received the red card that changed the game in extra time, is a Uruguayan winger who joined Sporting from MLS side St. Louis City SC in 2023. His dismissal in the 108th minute was the pivotal moment that opened the door for Torreense’s winner.
- Ipalibo’s move to Torreense from Zalaegerszegi in Hungary was a free transfer, meaning the Nigerian midfielder arrived in Portugal with no price tag and no guarantee of regular football. His role as a squad player throughout the campaign is a reminder of how cup competitions can make every member of a squad part of something historic.
- Torreense’s Europa League qualification next season will be the first time the club from Torres Vedras has competed in a UEFA competition. They will enter the league phase directly, bypassing the qualifying rounds, as a result of winning the domestic cup as a non-top-flight club.
