André Filipe Luz Horta (born 7 November 1996) is a Portuguese 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 lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

club

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

. He made over 200

appearances for

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

, Benfica and

, winning a league and cup

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with the second of those teams in

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

as well as the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de 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 Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

and

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

with the third. He also played for a year at

Los Angeles FC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. It was establi ...

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

Club career

Vitória Setúbal

Born in

Almada Almada () is a city and a municipality in Portugal, located on the southern margin of the Tagus River, on the opposite side of the river from Lisbon. The two cities are connected by the 25 de Abril Bridge. The population of the municipality in 20 ...

Setúbal District The District of Setúbal ( ) is a district located in the south-west of Portugal. It is named for its capital, the city of Setúbal. Geography It is delimited by Lisbon District and Santarém District on the north, Évora District on the eas ...

, Horta spent eight years in Benfica's youth system, joining local Vitória at the age of 15. In late 2014, whilst still a junior, he was promoted to the first team by manager

Domingos Paciência Domingos José Paciência Oliveira, known simply as Domingos as a player (; born 2 January 1969), is a Portuguese former footballer who played as a striker, currently a manager. He achieved success with both Porto and the Portugal national te ...

. Horta made his first-team and

debut on 12 December 2014, playing the second 45 minutes of a 0–1 home loss against Boavista. He finished his first full season with 32 games – 21 starts – and two goals, helping his team narrowly avoid relegation; his goals contributed to wins at

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

and

Tondela Tondela () is a concelho, municipality in the Centro, Portugal, central Portugal, Portuguese subregion of Dão-Lafões. The population in 2011 was 28,946, in an area of 371.22 km2. History Local writer and intellectual Amadeu Ferraz de Carv ...

in December 2015.

Benfica

On 1 June 2016, Horta signed a five-year contract with defending champions Benfica. He played his first competitive match on 7 August, featuring the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 victory over

in the

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

. Six days later, on his league debut, he scored his only goal of 14 appearances that campaign, concluding a 2–0 win at Tondela. Horta joined Braga on a

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-long loan deal on 30 August 2017. He scored once in 22 competitive matches during his tenure, wrapping up a 3–1 away defeat of Boavista on 3 January 2018.

Los Angeles FC

Horta agreed to join

on 27 March 2018, as their final Designated Player ahead of their inaugural season in

. The deal was made effective on 23 June that year, and he made his league debut on 27 July when he came on as a 77th-minute substitute for scorer

Lee Nguyen Lee Nguyen (, born October 7, 1986) is an American professional soccer coach and former player who is currently an assistant coach for Seattle Reign FC of the National Women's Soccer League. Nguyen's 15-year playing career spanned the Netherland ...

against the

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

, his backpass nine minutes later resulting in Ola Kamara's 2–2 equaliser (final score).

Braga

On 10 June 2019, Horta returned to Portugal and Braga on a five-year deal, for a reported fee of $2.75 million and 50% of any future transfer. In his first games back at the club in August, he scored his first European goals in each leg of a 7–3 aggregate defeat of Brøndby in the

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of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. He made three appearances in the

for the eventual winners, scoring in the 2–1 group stage win over Marítimo. Horta played six games as Braga won the

2020–21 Taça de Portugal The 2020–21 Taça de Portugal (also known as Taça de Portugal Placard for sponsorship reasons) was the 81st edition of the Taça de Portugal, the premier knockout competition in Portuguese football. A total of 165 clubs compete in this edition, ...

, coming off the bench in four of them including the 2–0 final victory against Benfica. On 23 December, he and Abel Ruiz were

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as the team's defence of the trophy ended with a 1–0 loss at neighbours

Vizela Vizela () is a municipality in the Braga District in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 23,736, in an area of 24.70 km². The present mayor is Vitor Hugo Salgado, elected as an independent. The municipal holiday is March 19. History In Au ...

in the last 16. In June 2022, Horta extended his contract to 2027, with a

buyout clause A buyout clause or release clause refers to a clause in an employment contract. It allows the employee to terminate the contract unilaterally upon payment of a specified (usually substantial) fee to the employer. The fee may be paid by the employ ...

of €30 million. The news was announced through a video of him

conducting Conducting is the art of directing a musical performance, such as an orchestral or Choir, choral concert. It has been defined as "the art of directing the simultaneous performance of several players or singers by the use of gesture." The primary d ...

a performance of " The Show Must Go On" at

's Theatre Circo. On 20 January 2024, Horta was loaned to

Super League Greece The Super League Greece 1 (), or Stoiximan Super League for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Greece and the highest level of the Greek football league system. The league was formed on 16 July 2006 and repla ...

club

Olympiacos Olympiacós Sýndesmos Filáthlon Peiraiós (, Olympic Association of Fans of Piraeus) is a major multi-sport club based in Piraeus, Greece. Olympiacos is parent to a number of different competitive departments which participate in football, ...

until the end of the season, being reunited with his former Braga manager

Carlos Carvalhal Carlos Augusto Soares da Costa Faria Carvalhal (; born 4 December 1965) is a Portuguese former Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back, currently a Manager (association football), ...

; the deal included an optional buying clause, reported to be €6 million. He made 21 appearances during his spell, including nine in the

UEFA Europa Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual association football, football competition organised since 2021 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European foot ...

which his side won. He scored his only goals on 15 May 2024, a brace in the 2–0 home victory against

AEK Athens A.E.K. (; Athlitikí Énosis Konstantinoupόleos, ''Athletic Union of Constantinople'') is a major Greek multi-sport club based in Nea Filadelfeia, Attica. The club is more commonly known in European competitions as A.E.K. Athens. Establishe ...

in the domestic league. Horta was loaned again to Olympiacos in January 2025.

International career

Horta earned 28

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for Portugal at youth level, scoring five goals. He made his debut on 25 March 2014 in a friendly 4–2 win for the under-18 team against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

in Santarém, and scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against the same opponents two days later. While he never went to a major tournament, he scored in

2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-21 Euro 2019) was the 22nd edition of the UEFA European Under-21 Championship (25th edition if the Under-23 era is also included), the biennial international youth association ...

qualification Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

victories over

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and

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for his side in 2018.

Personal life

Horta's older brother,

Ricardo Ricardo is the Spanish and Portuguese cognate of the name Richard. It derived from Proto-Germanic ''*rīks'' 'king, ruler' + ''*harduz'' 'hard, brave'. It may be a given name, or a surname. People Given name * Ricardo de Araújo Pereira (born ...

, is also a footballer. They played together at Benfica, Vitória de Setúbal and Braga.

Career statistics

Honours

Benfica *

: 2016–17 *

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Braga *Taça de Portugal:

2020–21 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 ...

: 2019–20, 2023–24 Olympiacos *

: 2024–25 *

Greek Football Cup The Greek Football Cup (), commonly known as the Greek Cup or Betsson Greek Cup for sponsorship reasons is a Greek football competition, run by the Hellenic Football Federation. The Greek Cup is the second-most important domestic men's footba ...

: 2024–25 *

: 2023–24

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Horta, Andre 1996 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Almada Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Vitória F.C. players S.L. Benfica footballers S.C. Braga players Major League Soccer players Designated Players (MLS) Los Angeles FC players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players UEFA Conference League–winning players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the United States Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece