In the 1987–88 campaign, in one of his three spells at the club, he had one of his best years in the Primeira Liga, appearing in 34 games and only being booked seven times, even though the Minho team could only finish in 11th position.

[5] Immediately afterwards, Carvalhal joined Porto,[6] but was released after only one year,[7] going on to represent in the following nine seasons – until his retirement at the age of 32 – Beira-Mar,[8] Braga, Tirsense, Chaves and Espinho.

He led the Sadinos to the sixth position in the league – with the subsequent UEFA Cup qualification and with the team posting one of the best defensive records in Europe that year – and victory in the inaugural edition of the Taça da Liga, against Sporting CP.

[12] In May 2008, Carvalhal accepted the first foreign job of his career at Asteras Tripolis of Super League Greece, signing a two-year contract worth an annual salary of €500,000.

[13] He left by mutual consent in November with the club in 12th, having been warned by compatriot José Peseiro about the precarious nature of management in the Mediterranean country.

[9][15] As originally intended, Carvalhal left his post at the end of the season, with Sporting finishing in fourth position, 28 points behind champions Benfica.

[16] On 2 August 2011, Carvalhal was appointed as caretaker manager of Beşiktaş from Turkey, as incumbent Tayfur Havutçu resolved his legal issues stemming from the 2011 Turkish sports corruption scandal.

[17][18] At the start of the following April, with the team trailing Galatasaray by 20 points and him having fallen out with compatriot star player Ricardo Quaresma, he was relieved of his duties and replaced by his predecessor.

[27] On 28 December 2017, four days after leaving Sheffield Wednesday, Carvalhal moved to the Premier League with Swansea City following the sacking of Paul Clement the previous week.

[34] Carvalhal returned to Portugal one year later, being named Rio Ave's coach,[35] In his only season, he led the team from Vila do Conde to Europa League qualification in fifth place, along with a best-ever points tally of 55.

[38] He also reached the decisive match in the other domestic cup, winning 3–2 at Porto in the semi-finals second leg in spite of playing more than one hour with one player less;[39] the final was a 2–0 victory over Benfica on 23 May.

[55] In the January transfer window, sporting director Pedro Alves brought in six compatriots; the coach was removed from his position on 8 February 2024 after winning five and losing three of his eleven games, culminating in a 2–0 defeat to Panathinaikos in the Derby of the eternal enemies after the rivals had already eliminated them from the last 16 of the Greek Football Cup.