After a long tour of Rio de Janeiro and Portugal, Constantino Paiva and Joaquim Martins Leal, businessmen in the empty and used bag business, were invited to play a football match at the organized Portuguesa Santista against their colleagues and employees from the Santos area.

The result was 1-1 and the two Cariocas, who had Portuguese ancestry and were passionate about Portugal, returned to Rio de Janeiro and told other businessmen about their journey.

After this trip, Constantino and Joaquim convinced Rio de Janeiro's bag traders to such an extent that they decided to create Associação Atlética Portuguesa.

Its first headquarters were at Rua Visconde de Itaúna, 201, in the city center, a street that would be demolished in the 1940s for the opening of Avenida Presidente Vargas.

In 2016, the club once again competed in a national championship, the Brasileirão Série D. In the same year, Lusa won the Rio Cup for the second time at Luso, beating Friburguense 4-3.