FC Porto captain Diogo Costa has claimed the I Liga (Portugal's top-flight football division) goalkeeper of the month award for April 2026, narrowly edging out second-tier club Tondela's Bernardo Fontes in a tight tiebreaker decided by playing time rather than voting percentages. The announcement from Liga Portugal on May 11, 2026 highlights a month in which Costa helped secure his club's 2025-26 season championship with a series of commanding performances.
Why This Matters
• Tiebreaker drama: Costa and Fontes both earned 18.82% of coaches' votes, but Costa prevailed after playing 94 fewer minutes (403 vs. 497).
• Title clincher: Costa's four decisive saves in the April 26 match against Estrela da Amadora mathematically sealed Porto's 2025-26 championship.
• Season dominance: This marks Costa's second monthly award this season (also won in December) and his third consecutive season-end goalkeeper trophy.
The 26-year-old Switzerland-born international appeared in all four of Porto's league fixtures during April 2026, contributing to three wins and one draw under manager Francesco Farioli. Porto dispatched Estoril Praia 3-1, blanked Tondela 2-0, secured a crucial 2-1 away victory at Estrela, and drew 2-2 with Famalicão to accumulate 10 of 12 possible points in a month that ultimately decided the title race.
The Unusual Tiebreaker Mechanism
Liga Portugal's voting system for monthly individual awards relies on head coaches from all participating clubs casting ballots for the best performers in each position. When two candidates tie on voting percentage—as Costa and Fontes did—the award defaults to whichever player logged fewer minutes on the pitch during the voting period.
Fontes's total exceeded Costa's because Tondela played five league matches in April 2026 rather than four. Their additional fixture—a 2-2 draw at Sporting CP's Estádio José Alvalade on a rescheduled date from matchday 26, postponed earlier due to Sporting's UEFA Champions League commitments—inflated the Brazilian's minutes despite matching Costa's vote share.
Nacional's Kaique Pereira rounded out the podium with 14.12% of coaches' preferences, helping the Madeira-based club maintain breathing room in the relegation survival battle with four rounds remaining in the 2025-26 campaign.
What This Means for Porto Fans
Costa's April 2026 form proved instrumental in FC Porto's path to the 2025-26 season title, which they officially clinched on May 2, 2026 with a 1-0 win over FC Alverca. His standout moment came in the April 26 away fixture against Estrela da Amadora, where his four critical stops preserved a narrow 2-1 lead and guaranteed the championship with two rounds to spare.
The goalkeeper's consistency across the full 2025-26 season—65 goals scored and only 18 conceded for Porto's team record in 33 matches—anchored a defense that ended Sporting CP's title cycle. Porto's attacking prowess combined with Costa's defensive excellence, as he allowed only 18 goals across 33 league appearances. Alongside central defender Jan Bednarek, who earned the April defender of the month award for the fifth time this season with 20 ball recoveries in four league games, Costa formed the backbone of a backline that posted a league-leading defensive record.
Costa's recognition extends beyond monthly awards. He was named I Liga goalkeeper of the year for the 2024-25 season and now sits among the favorites to repeat that honor when Liga Portugal announces season-end awards for the 2025-26 campaign later this month.
Second Tier: Samu Silva's Historic Dominance
Down in the Liga Portugal 2, Marítimo goalkeeper Samu Silva secured his seventh monthly award of the 2025-26 campaign, a feat unmatched in the second tier's recent history. The 26-year-old French-Portuguese shot-stopper earned 26.45% of coaches' votes for April 2026, outpacing Felgueiras's Mateus Pasinato (25.62%) and Torreense's Lucas Paes (12.40%).
Silva's April 2026 featured two wins (1-0 over Portimonense and 2-1 at Benfica B), a goalless draw with Paços de Ferreira, and a single 1-0 loss to Torreense—results that carried the island club to the second-tier championship with multiple rounds still on the calendar.
Across 28 league appearances in the 2025-26 season, Silva posted 13 clean sheets while conceding just 21 goals, averaging under one goal per match. His consistency earned him the monthly award in November, December, February, March, and April, missing out only in January. In November alone, he kept three of four opponents scoreless, establishing a pattern that would define Marítimo's promotion campaign.
The Awards Calendar Ahead
Liga Portugal will roll out additional monthly honors over the coming days, covering defender, midfielder, forward, overall player, rising talent, coach, and goal of the month categories for both divisions. Costa and Silva headline a class of individual award winners who shaped the final stretch of a season marked by tight races at both the top and bottom of each league table.
For Costa, the April 2026 recognition caps a month in which he transitioned from Europa League elimination—FC Porto fell to Nottingham Forest 2-1 on aggregate in the quarterfinals after a 1-0 second-leg loss on April 16—to domestic glory. Porto's April 2026 league run (10 points from 12) offset European disappointment and delivered the club's first title since the 2023-24 campaign.
Silva's seven monthly awards in a single 2025-26 season set a new benchmark for consistency at the second-tier level, reinforcing Marítimo's immediate return to top-flight football after one season in the second division. His statistical profile—13 clean sheets in 28 matches—positions him as a strong candidate for the 2025-26 Liga Portugal 2 goalkeeper of the year trophy when those honors are unveiled.
Context for Expats and International Fans
Portuguese league individual awards follow a peer-voting model: active head coaches in each division cast ballots, with the highest vote-getter claiming each monthly prize. Tiebreakers default to playing time, then to age if minutes are also equal—a system that rewards efficiency and squad rotation management.
The April 2026 awards close out the penultimate month of the 2025-26 regular season, with final-round fixtures scheduled for mid-May before Liga Portugal hosts its annual gala to crown season-long winners. Costa's two monthly trophies this year, combined with his 2024-25 annual award, position him as the frontrunner for back-to-back goalkeeper of the year honors when voting concludes.
For observers tracking FC Porto's rebuild under Farioli, Costa's individual accolades underscore the club's defensive foundation—a structure that yielded the fewest goals conceded in the 2025-26 division and a seven-point margin over second-place Sporting CP by season's end. The goalkeeper's international profile with Portugal, coupled with consistent club form, keeps him in the conversation among Europe's elite shot-stoppers and a potential transfer target for top-five-league clubs monitoring the Portuguese market.
