Existing records say that in 1919, two years before the formal foundation, a group of Braga residents who were sympathisers of the Lisbon-based
Sporting Clube de Portugal (Sporting CP) came up with the name Sporting Clube de Braga. The equipment used was also identical to that of Sporting CP. During weekend matches at Campo das Goladas, the friends from Braga wore the classic
Sporting CP Stromp kit, with a green and white shirt split down the middle. Influenced by sympathisers of
Sport Lisboa e Benfica (Benfica), a solution was found in 1921 to please everyone. The name remained true to Sporting CP, but the kit changed to red and white, in honour of the connection of some of the Braga fans to Lisbon's Benfica. Until 1945, SC Braga imitated Benfica's kit. Red shirt, shorts and white socks. That year, at the end of
World War II, the club adopted the
Arsenal version for their second team, with white sleeves. They are also known as
Bracarenses because of being from the city of
Bracari, later named
Bracara Augusta, city of Portugal that is now known as Braga. In the 1960s and 1970s, Braga began to climb up the league ladder and eventually participated in the
UEFA competitions. Braga's recent run of successive European participations began in the
2004–05 UEFA Cup after finishing fifth in the league under
Jesualdo Ferreira's first full season in the club. In the
2006–07 UEFA Cup, the side reached the last 16 before a 6–4 aggregate loss to
Tottenham Hotspur. That summer, the club signed a three-year sponsorship deal with French insurance company
Axa, who took over the naming rights for the stadium for €4.5 million; this was renewed for a further three years in 2010. Braga won the 2008
UEFA Intertoto Cup and again reached the UEFA Cup last 16 in the 2008–09 season, where they lost by a single goal to
Paris Saint-Germain. Braga was runners-up in the league for the only time in its history in the 2009–10 season under
Domingos Paciência. Entering the
UEFA Champions League for the first time, in the fourth qualifying round Braga beat Sevilla 1–0 at home and 4–3 away, thus making the
group stage. On 15 September 2010, Braga were heavily defeated 6–0 by Arsenal in its first
group stage match. Eliminated in third place, they dropped into the Europa League and reached
the final in
Dublin, where they lost to a goal by
FC Porto's
Radamel Falcao. Braga won the
Taça da Liga for the first time in
2013 under
José Peseiro, with one goal from
Alan against Porto. Two years later,
Sérgio Conceição's side lost on penalties to Sporting CP in the
Taça de Portugal final, but
Paulo Fonseca's triumphed over Porto on the same method
in 2016 to win their first such cup in 50 years. In 2019–20, Braga went through four managers over the course of the season. The second of these,
Ruben Amorim, led them to a league cup victory over Porto, with
Ricardo Horta scoring in added time to secure the trophy on home soil. On 28 July 2020,
Carlos Carvalhal was announced as the new head coach, after 14 years away from the club. He led the club to the league cup final again, where they lost to Amorim's new team Sporting, but won the
2021 Taça de Portugal Final 2–0 against Benfica. He would leave the club and be replaced by
Artur Jorge after the 2021–22 season ended. On 10 October 2022, 21.67% of the club shares were bought for €80 million by
Qatar Sports Investments (QSI), a subsidiary of
Qatar Investment Authority (QIA), the state-run sovereign-wealth fund in
Qatar owned by
Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the
Emir of Qatar, who is also the owner of
Ligue 1 side Paris Saint-Germain through the QSI. The season ended with third place and a return to the Champions League after 11 years, as well as club records for points (78), wins (25) and goals (75). SC Braga's success in the first quarter of the 21st century, including participations in the
UEFA Champions League, winning the
Taça de Portugal (Portuguese Cup) in 2016 and 2021, reaching the
UEFA Europa League final in 2011, which they lost to
FC Porto and the inauguration of the
Cidade Desportiva, improved it's position on the
UEFA club rankings. In Portugal, SC Braga managed to establish themselves as one of the top teams of the league. == Finances and ownership ==