The title holders were Primeira Liga side Vitória de Guimarães who entered the 2013–14 competition in the third round, together with the Primeira Liga teams, advancing as far as the next round, where they lost 2–0 to Porto.
In the final, Benfica defeated Rio Ave 1–0, courtesy of a first-half goal by Nicolás Gaitán, and won the competition for a record 25th time. In doing so, they also established a new Portuguese record of doubles (10) and became the first club to win the domestic treble of Primeira Liga, Taça de Portugal and Taça da Liga.
As in the previous season, the competition format was organized in a knockout system consisting of seven rounds preceding the final match. The 79 teams competing in the newly formed Campeonato Nacional de Seniores (third tier), the 26 best relegated teams from the 2012–13 Third Division (extinct fourth tier) and the 18 champions of the District cups will enter the first round, with 35 of those teams receiving a bye. In the second round, Segunda Liga teams will join the first-round winners and the remaining teams that received a bye in the previous round. The second-round winners will advance to the third round, where they will meet the top tier Primeira Liga teams for the first time.[2]
Unlike the previous rounds, which are contested as one-legged fixtures, the semi-finals were played over two legs in a home-and-away basis. The final will be played at a neutral venue, the Estádio Nacional in Oeiras.
A total of 123 teams from the Campeonato Nacional (CN) and District Leagues (D) entered this round. The draw was held on 29 July 2013 and determined the 88 teams contesting this round and the remaining 35 teams receiving a bye. Matches were played on 1 September 2013.[6]
Seventeen teams from the Segunda Liga (II) joined the 44 first-round winners and the 35 teams given a bye into the second round. The draw was made on 9 September 2013 and matches were played on 21 and 22 September.[7]
The 16 teams from the Primeira Liga (I) joined the 48-second-round winners in the third round. The draw was held on 30 September 2013 and matches were played on 19 and 20 October 2013.[8]
The semi-final pairings were determined on 9 January 2014, following the draw for the quarter-finals. This round was played over two legs, with the first leg played on 26 March and the second leg played on 16 April 2014.[12]