Guilherme Ferreira Pinto Basto was born in Santa Catarina, a district of the Portuguese capital Lisbon, to a wealthy and aristocratic family.

This was held at the spot in Lisbon where the Campo Pequeno Bullring is now located, being won 2–1 by Portugal, with Pinto Basto apparently playing in goal.

Pinto Basto accepted the invitation, but not on the scheduled day, because it would not have been possible "to gather, choose the group and arrange the departure in such a short space of time".

[7] In the meantime, however, Pinto Basto made the same invitation to Hugh Ponsonby, the then secretary of the Oporto Cricket and Lawn Tennis Club, who at the time also had his own football team due to its rapid growth in England, the homeland of the company's workers.

[8] Pinto Basto did this because, unlike FC Porto, the Oporto Cricket owned a football field, Campo Alegre.

Ponsonby accepted Pinto Basto's invitation, and together they organized this meeting, which was held a few months later, on 2 March 1894, between Club Lisbonense and Oporto Cricket.

[6][9] The patronage and sponsorship of the King was pivotal to attract a significant number of spectators, as football was practically an unknown sport in Portugal at the time.

Later, he organised regular international tournaments at the Cascais Sporting Club, the first being held in 1902, when he reached the quarter-finals at the age of 37.

When Portugal required a national association in order to compete in the Davis Cup, Pinto Basto was one of the founders of the Portuguese Tennis Federation in 1925, and he also became the first president.

He followed the Royal Carriage on foot and was one of the closest people to the King when he and his elder son, Luís Filipe, were assassinated.