Sporting twice came from behind before Alisson Santos netted an added-time winner as they beat Athletic Bilbao 3-2 away to reach the last 16 of the Champions League after a frenetic final group game on Wednesday.
Sporting finished seventh with 16 points, while Bilbao ended in 29th place with eight points and were eliminated.
With the top eight going through and the next 16 teams headed for the knockout round playoffs, Sporting needed a win to give them a chance of qualifying directly, but Oihan Sancet got the home side off to a perfect start with a third-minute goal.
The visitors levelled nine minutes later through Ousmane Diomande's unstoppable header from Maximiliano Araujo's corner.
Sporting went behind again after 28 minutes when Gorka Guruzeta won the ball and stormed into the box, firing home the rebound after his initial shot hit the inside of the far post.
Sporting refused to lie down and equalised once more through a brilliantly-worked move, Francisco Trincao slicing through the middle and steering the ball past goalkeeper Unai Simon.
Luis Suarez thought he had given Sporting the lead in the 72nd minute when he ghosted in to score at the far post but the goal was ruled out for offside and a decision to award Sporting a penalty in the 78th was overturned after a VAR review.
Subbed on → Scored → Qualification secured 🔒
— Sporting CP (@SportingCP) January 28, 2026
ALISSON CLUTCH SANTOS 🌟 pic.twitter.com/NTOUnAPmnF
The Lisbon outfit looked set for the playoffs until they broke deep into second-half stoppage time and though Suarez had his shot blocked by Simon, Santos followed up and rifled the ball home to see his side safely through.