Diogo Meireles da Costa (; born 19 September 1999) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

who plays as a

goalkeeper In many team sports which involve scoring goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or intercepting o ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal, ...

club

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

and the Portugal national team. Coming through

's youth system, Costa won the

UEFA Youth League The UEFA Youth League is an annual club football competition organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) since 2013. In its current format, it is contested by the youth teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions League ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

. He was promoted from the reserve side to the first-team in 2019, winning a domestic double of the

and the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; "Cup of Portugal") is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Placard since the 2015–16 seaso ...

in his first season. He broke into the starting line-up in 2021, aged 22, helping Porto to a second domestic double and being named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year. Born in Switzerland to parents from

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

, Costa represented Portugal at various youth levels, being part of the under-17 team that won the 2016 European Championship, the under-19 team that won the 2018 European Championship and the under-21 team that finished as runners-up at the 2021 European Championship. He made his senior international debut in 2021, representing Portugal at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

Rothrist Rothrist is a municipality in the district of Zofingen in the canton of Aargau in Switzerland. History Originally an Alamanni settlement, the modern village of Rothrist is first mentioned in 1263 as ''Routris''. The ''Herrschaft'' rights were ...

Canton of Aargau Aargau, more formally the Canton of Aargau (german: Kanton Aargau; rm, Chantun Argovia; french: Canton d'Argovie; it, Canton Argovia), is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of eleven districts and its capita ...

to Portuguese parents, Costa relocated to

Santo Tirso Santo Tirso () is a city and municipality located in the north of Porto Metropolitan Area, 25 km from central Porto, Portugal. In the region, the Ave Valley, there is a large center of textile industry. The population in 2011 was 71,530, in ...

at the age of 7. In his childhood, he played football with his cousin Vitor, with their idol being

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, MHIH, OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portu ...

legend

Vítor Baía Vítor Manuel Martins Baía, OIH (; born 15 October 1969) is a Portuguese retired footballer who played as a goalkeeper. One of the most decorated goalkeepers of all time, his career was intimately connected with FC Porto, which he started re ...

, whom they looked to emulate. He started playing football at a local academy AMCH Ringe, and later began going through some training sessions with Benfica, being integrated into one of their feeder club's Póvoa de Lanhoso, where he stayed for two years, standing out alongside future teammate Vitinha, before joining FC Porto's academy in 2011, following the consent of his parents.

Porto

2017–2021: Youth career and reserves

Costa made his senior debut with the reserve team on 6 August 2017, in a 1–2 home loss against

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

for the

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal 2 SABSEG for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division of the Portuguese football league system. At the end of each season, the two top-finishing teams are promoted to the top-tier Prim ...

. He finished the season with a further 31 appearances, helping to a seventh-place finish, and on 15 May he renewed his contract until June 2022. In September, he was named the club's Newcomer of the Year; late in the same year, Spaniard

Iker Casillas Iker Casillas Fernández (; born 20 May 1981) is a Spanish former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper and currently works as a football commentator. Popularly dubbed "''San Iker''" ("Saint Iker") for his ability to produce spectac ...

– who started for the first team – heaped praise upon him, regarding him as his "successor". Costa won the

2018–19 UEFA Youth League The 2018–19 UEFA Youth League was the sixth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. The final was played on 29 April 2019 at the Colovray Stadium in Nyon, Switzerland, between English side ...

with Porto, defeating

Chelsea Chelsea or Chelsey may refer to: Places Australia * Chelsea, Victoria Canada * Chelsea, Nova Scotia * Chelsea, Quebec United Kingdom * Chelsea, London, an area of London, bounded to the south by the River Thames ** Chelsea (UK Parliament consti ...

3–1 in the final in

Nyon Nyon (; outdated German language, German: or ; outdated Italian language, Italian: , ) is a Municipalities of Switzerland, municipality in Nyon District in the Cantons of Switzerland, canton of Vaud in Switzerland. It is located some 25 kilomet ...

, Switzerland on 29 April. Days later, after Casillas suffered a heart attack,

Vaná Vanailson Luciano de Souza Alves (born 25 April 1991), commonly known as Vaná, is a Brazilian footballer who plays as goalkeeper for Cypriot First Division club Aris Limassol. After starting his professional career at Coritiba, he spent severa ...

replaced him as starting goalkeeper and Costa was called up to the bench for the final three games of the season, starting with a 4–0 win at Desportivo das Aves on 4 May. On 25 September 2019, Costa made his first-team debut in the opening group match of the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual football club competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the Primeira Liga and LigaPro, the top two tier ...

, keeping a

clean sheet In team sports, a shutout ( US) or clean sheet ( UK) is a game in which one team prevents the other from scoring any points. While possible in most major sports, they are highly improbable in some sports, such as basketball. Shutouts are usuall ...

in a 1–0 home victory over Santa Clara. His first

appearance took place on 10 November in a 1–0 away defeat of Boavista, as the habitual starter

Agustín Marchesín Agustín Federico Marchesín (; born 16 March 1988) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Spanish club RC Celta de Vigo and the Argentina national team. He began his career with Lanús, making 222 appearances a ...

was suspended internally after a breach of discipline. He made a further two until the end of the campaign for the eventual champions, as well as all seven

matches as they secured the

double A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another. Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to: Film and television * Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character * Th ...

. At the start of the 2020–21 season, Costa inherited Porto's 99 shirt, made famous by goalkeeper and club legend

. He remained Marchesín's backup, only appearing in one league game, and made his Champions League debut on 9 December 2020; he kept a clean sheet in a 2–0

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concent ...

win at Olympiakos.

2021–Present: First-choice goalkeeper and domestic double

At the start of the 2021–22 season, Costa had a run as first-choice goalkeeper when Marchesín was sidelined with an injury. He was September 2021's Goalkeeper of the Month, receiving 25% of the votes while Benfica's

Odysseas Vlachodimos Odysseas Vlachodimos (Greek: Οδυσσέας Βλαχοδήμος, born 26 April 1994) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Primeira Liga club Benfica. Born in Germany, he plays for the Greece national team. Club career ...

received 22%. On 16 October, he agreed to a contract extension to 2026, increasing his

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in a contract that imposes an obligation on another organisation wishing to acquire the services of the employee under contract to pay the (usually substantial) fee of the clause to the organisati ...

from €30 million to €60 million. After helping Porto to an unbeaten run of sixteen consecutive league games, during which he kept eight clean sheets, he was named the league's Goalkeeper of the Month for four consecutive months from December to March 2022. He would then be part of five more victories that would seal Porto a second domestic double of the

and the

, after keeping a clean sheet in the 1–0 victory of ''

O Clássico O Clássico ("The Classic") is the name given in football to matches between Portuguese clubs S.L. Benfica and FC Porto. Originally, the term ''O Clássico'' only referred to games played in the league, but now tends to include matches that take p ...

'' against rivals Benfica. Despite finishing the season with 15 clean sheets, the second-highest total behind

Antonio Adán Antonio Adán Garrido (; born 13 May 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP. A youth product of Real Madrid, where he acted mainly as a backup, he spent most of his career with ...

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal, founded Sporting Club de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP, often known abroad as Sporting Lisbon , is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Lisbon. It is best known for the professional foot ...

, Costa was still named in the Primeira Liga Team of the Year ahead of them. On 12 October 2022, Costa managed to provide an assist to a goal from

Galeno Wenderson Rodrigues do Nascimento Galeno (born 21 October 1997), commonly known as Galeno or Wenderson Galeno, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a left winger for Portuguese club FC Porto. He spent most of his career in Portu ...

, then saved a penalty from

Kerem Demirbay Kerem Demirbay (born 3 July 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen. A former youth international for Turkey, Demirbay switched to represent Germany. Early life and career Demirba ...

, and preserved a clean sheet in a 3–0 away win over

Bayer Leverkusen Bayer 04 Leverkusen Fußball GmbH, also known as Bayer 04 Leverkusen (), Bayer Leverkusen, or simply Leverkusen, is a professional football club based in Leverkusen in the state of North Rhine-Westphalia. The club competes in the Bundesliga, th ...

in the Champions League, becoming the first goalkeeper to achieve that feat. On 26 October, Costa managed to save two consecutive penalties from Hans Vanaken and

Noa Lang Noa Noëll Lang (born 17 June 1999) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a winger for Belgian Pro League club Club Brugge and the Netherlands national team. Club career Ajax On 1 December 2019, Lang became the first Ajax player to s ...

, becoming the first goalkeeper to save three consecutive penalties in the competition's history. His form throughout the club's Champions League group stage campaign, saw him help his side qualify to the round of sixteen, as group winners, following a 2–1 home win over

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), known simply as Atleti in the Spanish-speaking world and commonly referred to at international level as Atlético Madrid, is a Spanish profess ...

on 1 November, amassing 43 saves, and a man of the Match award, during the group stages.

International career

2014–2021: Youth career

Costa started all of

's matches in the

2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship The 2016 UEFA European Under-17 Championship was the 15th edition of the UEFA European Under-17 Championship (34th edition if the Under-16 era is included), the annual European international youth football championship contested by the men's under- ...

. In the final against

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

, he saved

Manu Morlanes Manuel "Manu" Morlanes Ariño (born 12 January 1999) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for La Liga club Mallorca. Club career Born in Zaragoza, Morlanes represented local Real Zaragoza as a youth before swi ...

' spot kick in a 5–4 penalty shoot-out victory after a 1–1 draw, helping his team win the tournament for the sixth time. With the under-19s, he participated in the 2017 European Championship, playing four out of five matches as they lost in the final to

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. He represented

the nation ''The Nation'' is an American liberal biweekly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper tha ...

at the

2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 21st edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 as ...

, starting in all the matches in a quarter-final exit. In July 2018, Costa played four matches out of five at the

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply UEFA Under-19 Championship or the UEFA Euro U-19, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain and England ...

in Finland, helping

win the tournament for the first time, but missed the final due to a muscle injury. Previously, on 25 May, the 18-year-old won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. Caps typically have a visor, or no brim at all. They are popular in casual and informal se ...

for the under-21 side, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–2 friendly win over

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

. In March 2021, Costa played all of Portugal's matches in the

2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2021) was the 23rd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (26th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth football ch ...

, as Portugal finished the tournament as runners-up, losing the final 1–0 to

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

2021–Present: Senior career

Costa was called up to the senior team for the first time on 26 August 2021, for

qualifiers against the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ga, Éire ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 counties of the island of Ireland. The capital and largest city is Dublin, on the eastern side of the island. A ...

and

Azerbaijan Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...

and a friendly with

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it sh ...

. He made his debut on 9 October against the last of those opponents, in a 3–0 victory at

Algarve Stadium The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has its ...

. Costa was chosen as the first-choice goalkeeper by the head coach Fernando Santos for the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification play-offs, relegating usual starter

Rui Patrício Rui Pedro dos Santos Patrício (; born 15 February 1988) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Serie A team Roma and the Portugal national team. He is often nicknamed "São Patrício" (''Saint Patrício'') for ...

to the bench. On 24 March, at his club ground, he played his first competitive game in a 3–1 win over

Turkey Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...

in the play-off semi-finals; he featured again five days later in a 2–0 victory over

North Macedonia North Macedonia, ; sq, Maqedonia e Veriut, (Macedonia before February 2019), officially the Republic of North Macedonia,, is a country in Southeast Europe. It gained independence in 1991 as one of the successor states of Socialist Feder ...

that sealed a place for the tournament. Costa was called up for the final 26-man squad for the

in Qatar. On 25 November, he played his first World Cup match, a 3–2 group stage win against

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. This made him the youngest Portuguese goalkeeper to play in a major international tournament, at age 23. He played every minute of the campaign, as they were knocked out of the tournament after losing in the quarter-finals to

Morocco Morocco (),, ) officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is the westernmost country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It overlooks the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to ...

, where he misjudged a cross when coming for the ball, and

Youssef En-Nesyri Youssef En-Nesyri ( ar, يوسف النصيري; pronounced ; born 1 June 1997) is a Moroccan professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Sevilla and the Morocco national team. En-Nesyri has spent his entire senior football ...

headed the only goal of the game.

Personal life

Costa and his wife Catarina Machado have a son born in November 2022, named Tomás Costa.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Porto Youth *

: 2018–19 Porto *

: 2019–20, 2021–22 *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen b ...

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese football match played since 1979 between the winners of the Portuguese League (Primeira Liga) and Portuguese ...

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

Portugal U17 *

UEFA European Under-17 Championship The UEFA European Under-17 Championship or simply UEFA Under-17 Championship, is an annual football competition contested by the European men's under-17 national teams of the member associations of UEFA. Spain is the most successful team in this ...

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses during the 2016 Nagorno-Karabakh ...

Portugal U19 *

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

; runner-up:

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

Portugal U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the compe ...

runner-up:

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

Individual * Primeira Liga Goalkeeper of the Month: September 2021,

December 2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October 2021 coup in Sudan; Crowd shortly after t ...

January 2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

February 2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

, March 2022, October/November 2022, December/January 2023 * Primeira Liga Goalkeeper of the Season: 2021–22 *Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2021–22 * UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament:

* UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament:

Team of the Tournament:

*Dragão de Ouro – Newcomer Athlete of the Year: 2018 Orders * POR Ordem do Merito Medalha BAR

Medal of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit (french: link=no, Ordre du Mérite) is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or for the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by K ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Costa, Diogo 1999 births Living people People from Zofingen District Swiss people of Portuguese descent Portuguese footballers Association football goalkeepers Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto B players FC Porto players Portugal youth international footballers Portugal under-21 international footballers Portugal international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players