Carlos Miguel Ribeiro Dias (born 26 February 1993), known as Cafú, 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

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club Kasımpaşa. He played in Portugal, France, Poland, Greece and England, winning two

Ekstraklasa (; meaning "Extra Class" in Polish), officially known as PKO Bank Polski Ekstraklasa due to its Sponsor (commercial), sponsorship by PKO Bank Polski, is a professional association football league in Poland and the highest level of the Polish foo ...

and

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 ...

titles with

Legia Warsaw Legia Warszawa (), commonly referred to as Legia Warsaw or simply Legia, is a professional football club based in Warsaw, Poland. Legia is the most successful Polish football club in history, winning a record 15 champions titles, a record 2 ...

and

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, ...

respectively, as well as a

double Double, The Double or Dubble may refer to: Mathematics and computing * Multiplication by 2 * Double precision, a floating-point representation of numbers that is typically 64 bits in length * A double number of the form x+yj, where j^2=+1 * A ...

with both of those teams. Cafú represented Portugal at youth level.

Club career

Benfica

Born in

Guimarães Guimarães () is a city and municipality located in northern Portugal, in the district of Braga. Its historic town centre has been listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 2001, in recognition for being an "exceptionally well-preserved ...

of Bissau-Guinean descent, Cafú joined local Vitória SC's youth system at the age of 11, signing with

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

four years later and going on to complete his development there. He started playing as a striker, but later shifted to a

defensive midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

role. On 19 September 2012, whilst with Benfica B, Cafú made his debut as a professional, coming on as a 46th-minute substitute for Cláudio Correa and scoring the 2–2 equaliser away against C.D. Tondela in the Segunda Liga. It was his only goal of the season, in seven starts.

Vitória Guimarães

On 26 July 2013, Cafú signed a four-year contract with former club Vitória. Having returned to his previous position, he was initially assigned to the

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

, which he helped to promote to the second tier. Cafú first appeared in the

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 ...

on 17 August 2014, in a 3–1 away win over Gil Vicente F.C. where he partnered

André André André Filipe Brás André (born 26 August 1989) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga Portugal 2 club Leixões. After starting his career at Varzim, he made 262 Primeira Liga appearances for Vitória de G ...

and Bernard Mensah in midfield and also featured the full 90 minutes. He finished his debut campaign with 29 games, in an eventual fifth-place finish and the subsequent

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 ...

for 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 ...

Lorient

On 8 June 2016, Cafú signed a four-year contract with French club

FC Lorient Football Club Lorient Bretagne Sud (;), commonly referred to as FC Lorient (), is a French professional association football club based in Lorient, Brittany. The club was founded in 1926 and currently competes in Ligue 2, having been relegated f ...

. His maiden appearance in

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

occurred on 18 November, in a 3–0 home loss against

AS Monaco FC Association Sportive de Monaco Football Club, commonly referred to as AS Monaco (), is a professional association football, football club based in Fontvieille, Monaco, Fontvieille, Monaco. Although not in France, they are a member of the Frenc ...

Metz

Following his team's relegation, Cafú joined

FC Metz Football Club de Metz () is a Football in France, French association football club based in Metz, Lorraine. The club was formed in 1932 and plays in Ligue 1, the highest division in the French football league system, for the 2025–26 Ligue 1, ...

also in the French top division on 1 August 2017, penning a three-year deal for an undisclosed fee. He made his league debut 17 days later, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 home defeat to title holders Monaco.

Legia Warsaw

On 27 February 2018, Cafú was loaned to

until 30 June 2019. Subsequently, the move was made permanent. During his spell at the

Polish Army Stadium The Polish Armed Forces, Polish Army Stadium (, ), official named the Marshall Józef Piłsudski Legia Warsaw Stadium (), is an all-seater stadium, all-seater, UEFA stadium categories, highest fourth category football-specific stadium located at 3 ...

, Cafú took part in 59 competitive matches (nine goals, six assists). On 2 May 2018, he scored the 2–1 winner in the final of the

Polish Cup The Polish Cup in Association football, football ( ) is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout football competition for Polish football club (association football), football clubs, held continuously since 1950, and is the second most i ...

against

Arka Gdynia Morski Związkowy Klub Sportowy Arka Gdynia () is a professional football club based in Gdynia, Poland, that plays in the Ekstraklasa after winning the 2024–25 I liga. The club was founded as Klub Sportowy Gdynia in 1929. History The h ...

Olympiacos

On 1 February 2020,

Olympiacos F.C. Olympiacos Football Club ( ), known simply as Olympiacos or Olympiacos Piraeus, is a Greek professional Association football, football club based in Piraeus. Part of the major Sports club, multi-sport club Olympiacos CFP (''Olympiakós Sýnde ...

agreed to pay Legia €400,000 to sign Cafú. He played 14 official games during his stint, including nine in two separate editions of the

which his side won.

Nottingham Forest

Cafú was loaned to English

Championship In sport, a championship is a competition in which the aim is to decide which individual or team is the champion. Championship systems Various forms of competition can be referred to by the term championship. Title match system In this sys ...

side

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

on 5 October 2020, until the end of the season. He was originally seen as a defensive midfielder, but manager

Chris Hughton Christopher William Gerard Hughton (born 11 December 1958) is a professional football manager and former player. Born in England, he represented the Republic of Ireland national team. He was most recently head coach of the Ghana national te ...

began using him in a more attacking role. Cafú agreed to a permanent move on 2 February 2021. He scored his first goal for the club on 11 December, closing a 4–1 away win against

Swansea City Swansea City Association Football Club ( ; ) is a Welsh professional football club based in Swansea, Wales. It competes in the EFL Championship, the second tier of the English football league system. Swansea have played their home matches at ...

. The following 9 January, he came off the bench for Philip Zinckernagel to help beat

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

1–0 in the

third round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

. He was unused as the Reds ended their 23-year absence from the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

with a 1–0 playoff final victory over

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

on 29 May 2022. On 14 August 2022, Cafú made his debut in the English top tier, replacing Orel Mangala late into the 1–0 home defeat of

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

. He was released at the end of the campaign.

Rotherham United

Cafú returned to the English second division on 8 July 2023, on a one-year deal at

Rotherham United Rotherham United Football Club, nicknamed The Millers, is a professional association football club based in Rotherham, South Yorkshire, England. The team plays in EFL League One, the third tier of English football, after suffering relegation fr ...

. He received two yellow cards in his first competitive game for his new team, resulting in being

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 ...

in the 69th minute of an eventual 4–1 away loss to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. He scored his first goal the following 20 January, opening the 1–1 draw at

Middlesbrough Middlesbrough ( ), colloquially known as Boro, is a port town in the Borough of Middlesbrough, North Yorkshire, England. Lying to the south of the River Tees, Middlesbrough forms part of the Teesside Built up area, built-up area and the Tees Va ...

. On 7 May 2024, after being relegated, Rotherham announced that Cafú was to be released alongside ten teammates when his contract expired on 30 June.

Later career

On 15 August 2024, Cafú signed for Turkish

club

Kasımpaşa SK Kasımpaşa may refer to: * Kasımpaşa, Beyoğlu, a quarter in Istanbul, Turkey * Kasımpaşa S.K., a Turkish football club {{Disambiguation ...

International career

Cafú earned 27

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 ...

for

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 ...

from under-16 to under-20 levels. He was part of the under-19 squad that competed in the 2012 UEFA European Championship.

Career statistics

Honours

Legia Warsaw *

: 2017–18, 2019–20 *

: 2017–18 Olympiacos *

: 2019–20, 2020–21 *

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 ...

: 2019–20 Nottingham Forest *

EFL Championship play-offs The English Football League (EFL) Championship play-offs are a series of play-off matches contested by the association football teams finishing from third to sixth in the EFL Championship table and are part of the English Football League play-o ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cafu 1993 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent Black Portuguese sportspeople 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Guimarães Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players S.L. Benfica B players Vitória S.C. B players Vitória S.C. players Ligue 1 players FC Lorient players FC Metz players Ekstraklasa players III liga players Legia Warsaw players Legia Warsaw II players Super League Greece players Olympiacos F.C. players Premier League players English Football League players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Rotherham United F.C. players Süper Lig players Kasımpaşa S.K. footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Greece Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Greece Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey