António João Pereira de Albuquerque Tavares da Silva (; born 30 October 2003) 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

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

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 Benfica and the Portugal national team. Coming through Benfica's youth system, Silva impressed during his time with the reserve side, winning 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 under-19 teams of the clubs competing in the UEFA Champions Le ...

in 2021–22, being instrumental part of Benfica's first European trophy in 60 years. He was subsequently promoted to the first-team, making his professional debut at age 18, where he helped Benfica win the league title in his first season with them. Silva is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at various levels. He made his senior international debut in 2022, being part of the squad at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

and

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

Club career

Benfica

Early career

Born in

Viseu Viseu () is a city and municipality in the Centro Region of Portugal and the capital of the Viseu District, district of the same name, with a population of 100,105 inhabitants in the entire municipality, and center of the Viseu Dão Lafões Interm ...

, Silva began his youth career with hometown club Viseu United, aged 11, and also had spells at Penalva do Castelo and Repesenses. He quickly stood out, subsequently began having multiple training sessions with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, while

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

also showed an interest in signing him, but he ended up joining their

rivals A rivalry is the state of two people or Social group, groups engaging in a lasting competitive relationship. Rivalry is the "against each other" spirit between two competing sides. The relationship itself may also be called "a rivalry", and each ...

and his boyhood club Benfica's youth academy in 2016. Struggling with

homesickness Homesickness is the distress caused by being away from home.Kerns, Brumariu, Abraham. Kathryn A., Laura E., Michelle M.(2009/04/13). Homesickness at summer camp. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 54. Its cognitive hallmark is preoccupying thoughts of home ...

, Silva returned to his hometown to spend time with his family, but with the help of the club's

psychologist A psychologist is a professional who practices psychology and studies mental states, perceptual, cognitive, emotional, and social processes and behavior. Their work often involves the experimentation, observation, and explanation, interpretatio ...

, he managed to overcome his mental health problems and went back to Benfica a year later, after adjusting to life in

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

2021–22: Youth League and development

On 28 November 2021, Silva signed his first professional contract with Benfica B. He made his professional debut with Benfica B in a 2–1

LigaPro The Liga Portugal 2 (), also known as Liga Portugal Meu Super 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 ...

loss to

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on 2 April 2022. During that season, Silva played a major role in the

2021–22 UEFA Youth League The 2021–22 UEFA Youth League was the eighth season of the UEFA Youth League, a European youth club football competition organised by UEFA. Real Madrid, having won the title in 2019–20, were the title holders, since the 2020–21 edition w ...

, where Benfica U19 topped their

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

against

Dynamo Kyiv The Football Club 'Dynamo Kyiv', also known as Dynamo Kyiv, or simply Dynamo, ( ) is a Ukrainian professional football club based in Kyiv. Founded in 1927 as a Kyivan football team of republican branch of the bigger Soviet Dynamo Sports Society ...

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

. In the final phases, he scored the equaliser in a 3–2 win over

Midtjylland The Central Denmark Region (), or more directly translated as the Central Jutland Region and sometimes simply Mid-Jutland, is an administrative region of Denmark established on 1 January 2007 as part of the 2007 Danish municipal reform. The refo ...

, after his side were two goals behind and in the final, he helped his side keep a clean sheet in a 6–0 win over Red Bull Salzburg to help Benfica win their first Youth League title, and their first title in European football since the

1961–62 European Cup The 1961–62 European Cup was the seventh season of the European Cup, UEFA's premier club football tournament. The competition was won by Benfica for the second time in a row, beating Real Madrid 5–3 in the final at the Olympisch Stadion, ...

2022–23: First-team breakthrough and league title

Having appeared for the club's B team, it was expected that Silva would spend the

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 ...

season continuing his development there, but he began training with the first team, after impressing newly arrived coach Roger Schmidt, which led him to progress in the team's

s ranks, ahead of Tomás Araujo and

Jan Vertonghen Jan Bert Lieve Vertonghen (; born 24 April 1987) is a Belgian former professional footballer who played as a defender. Mainly a centre-back, he also played as a left-back. Vertonghen began his senior career at Dutch club Ajax in 2006, and total ...

, who was away on international duty for Belgium. Following the suspension of

Nicolás Otamendi Nicolás Hernán Gonzalo Otamendi (born 12 February 1988) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre back, centre-back for Primeira Liga club S.L. Benfica, Benfica, which he Captain (association football) ...

, he was given his first start by the new coach on 27 August, being entrusted in the centre defence, alongside

Morato Morato or Morató is a surname. It is most prevalent in Brazil, followed by Spain and the Philippines. Notable people with this surname include: * Andrew Eric Feitosa (born 1992), Brazilian footballer commonly known as Morato * António Henriques ...

, and putting a strong performance, in a 3–0 away win over Boavista in the

. He subsequently became a starter following an injury crisis at the club, leading Silva to fill the void alongside Otamendi, who was the only fit centre-back available. On 5 September, he agreed to a contract extension to 2027, increasing his

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 ...

to €100 million. The following day, Silva made his

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

debut, partnering with Nicolás Otamendi in the centre of defence, keeping a clean sheet in a 2–0 home win over

Maccabi Haifa Maccabi Haifa () is one of the biggest sports clubs in Israel and a part of the Maccabi association. It runs several sports clubs and teams in Haifa which have competed in a variety of sports over the years, such as Football, Basketball, Weightl ...

. Silva was named the league's Defender of the Month for September, after helping Benfica maintaining their unbeaten run, which included three clean sheets. On 25 October, Silva scored his first goal for the club, opening Benfica's 4–3 home victory over

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

in a

2022–23 UEFA Champions League The 2022–23 UEFA Champions League was the 68th season of Europe's premier club Association football, football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 31st season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions ...

group stage match. 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 6–1 away win over Maccabi Haifa on 2 November. Four days later, Silva scored his first league goals, netting a brace in a 5–1 victory against

Estoril Estoril () is a town in the civil parish of Cascais e Estoril of the Portuguese Municipality of Cascais, on the Portuguese Riviera. It is a popular tourist destination, with hotels, beaches, and the Casino Estoril. It has been home to numero ...

. This saw him being the league's Defender of the Month for the months of October and November. Over the course of the domestic campaign, Silva started and completed almost every minute for Benfica, playing a major part in their campaign, sealing Benfica's first title in four years on the final day of the league campaign, following a 3–0 win over Santa Clara.

2023–Present: Dip in form

In the 2023–24 season, Benfica endured a difficult start of the new campaign, after a 2–0 home loss to Red Bull Salzburg in a Champions League group stage match, where Silva was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

for the first time in his career for a second bookable offense at the start first half for an handball, after Roko Šimić's shot touched his hand. His performances recovered later in the season with Silva being named the defender of the month for the months of October and November, but he was sent off for the second time in the Champions League, receiving a straight red card for a two-footed challenge on

Nicolò Barella Nicolò Barella (; born 7 February 1997) is an Italian professional association football, footballer who plays as a central midfielder for club Inter Milan and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. Known for his technical abili ...

during a

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

counter-attack in their 3–3 home draw on 29 November. The booking meant that Silva would miss Benfica's last group stage match away against Red Bull Salzburg, which they eventually won 3–1, qualifying to the UEFA Europa League knock-out round play-offs. Over the course of the 2023–24 campaign, Silva started and completed almost every minute for Benfica, as they were knocked out in the UEFA Europa League quarter-finals to

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

on penalties following a 2–2 draw on aggregate and finished as the league runners-up to crosstown rivals Sporting CP. The following season, with the arrival of new manager Bruno Lage, Silva lost his place in Benfica's starting XI to Tomás Araújo, primarily due to tactical considerations by his manager, as Araújo's superior passing ability in building play from the back and speed, despite Silva remaining a strong option for his manager.

International career

Silva represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

at under-16, under-17, under-18 and under-19, for a total of 18

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

, serving as captain for the latter. On 24 September 2022, Silva made his under-21 debut, replacing André Amaro in a 4–1 friendly defeat of

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. In October 2022, he was named in Portugal's preliminary 55-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

in Qatar, being included in the final 26-man squad for the tournament. He made his senior international debut in a friendly against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

on 17 November, starting in Portugal's 4–0 win. With Portugal having secured qualification from their group, he started in the last fixture, featuring in the 2–1 loss to

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

Al Rayyan Al Rayyan (; also spelled ''Ar Rayyan'') is the third-largest municipalities of Qatar, municipality in Qatar. Its primary settlement is the Al Rayyan (city), city of the same name, which occupies the entire eastern section and is a part of the Do ...

. In doing so, he became the youngest player ever to represent Portugal at the World Cup at 19 years, one months and three days old. On 21 May 2024, he was selected in the 26-man squad for the

. After Portugal secured qualification from their group, he made his debut in the competition, starting in the last fixture against

. In the match, he committed an error leading to Georgia's first goal before he conceded a penalty, resulting in a 2–0 for Portugal, earning various criticisms for his performance. He would not feature for Portugal in the knockout stage as they were eliminated from the tournament in the quarter-finals after losing to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

5–3 in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

Style of play

A hard-tackling and versatile defender, Silva is a physically strong, right-footed

, he his known for his precise tackling, tactical intelligence, and ability to read the game. Comfortable with both feet, he excels at distributing the ball, whether maintaining possession, switching play, or breaking lines with vertical passes. His defensive strengths include anticipation, marking, and positional awareness, while his mobility and technical skills enable him to contribute effectively both defensively and in transition. Silva is also recognized for his leadership qualities, with former Portuguese international Abel Xavier noting his "security, maturity, game vision, assertiveness, aggression, and leadership". Xavier emphasized that, regardless of his age, Silva has the potential to be the future captain of Benfica. Silva idolises compatriot

Cristiano Ronaldo Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro (; born 5 February 1985) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Saudi Pr ...

and Benfica legend

Luisão Ânderson Luís da Silva (born 13 February 1981), known as Luisão, is a Brazilian former professional association football, footballer who played as a centre back. Luisão started his career at Clube Atlético Juventus, Juventus-SP in 1999 be ...

and also cited compatriot

Rúben Dias Rúben dos Santos Gato Alves Dias (born 14 May 1997) is a Portuguese professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Manchester City F.C., Manchester City and the Portugal national football team, Portugal nati ...

Antonio Rüdiger Antonio Rüdiger (; born 3 March 1993) is a German professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Real Madrid CF, Real Madrid and the Germany national football team, Germany national team. He is known for his aggressive playi ...

and

Virgil van Dijk Virgil van Dijk (; born 8 July 1991) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both club Liverpool and the Netherlands national team. Widely regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation and ...

as inspirations.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Benfica B *

Campeonato Nacional de Juniores The Campeonato Nacional de Juniores is the top level of the Portuguese football league system for youth players (19-year-old and under). It is administrated by the Portuguese Football Federation. The league started in 1938 and has been historical ...

: 2021–22 *

: 2021–22 Benfica *

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 ...

: 2024–25 *

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 ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

Portugal *

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

: 2024–25 Individual *

Cosme Damião Cosme Damião (2 November 1885 – 12 June 1947) was a Portuguese football player-coach for S.L. Benfica. A former midfielder, he is remembered as the main force behind the birth of Benfica and one of the first great Portuguese football players ...

Awards – Revelation of the Year: 2022 * Cosme Damião Awards – Footballer of the Year: 2024 *Primeira Liga Team of the Year:

* IFFHS Men's World Youth (U20) Team: 2023 *

SJPF Young Player of the Month The SJPF Young Player of the Month (often called Portuguese League Young Player of the Month) is an association football award that recognizes the best Portuguese League young player each month of the season and is conceived by the SJPF (syndicat ...

: October 2023

References

External links

Profile
at the S.L. Benfica website {{DEFAULTSORT:Silva, Antonio 2003 births Living people Footballers from Viseu Portuguese men's footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Men's association football central defenders Liga Portugal 2 players Primeira Liga players S.L. Benfica footballers S.L. Benfica B players 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players UEFA Nations League–winning players 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen