Gonçalo Bento Soares Cardoso (born 21 October 2000) 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 Portuguese Second League club

Paços de Ferreira Paços de Ferreira () is a city in the Porto District, in the north of Portugal. The population of the city in 2011 was 7491, while its municipality had 56,340 inhabitants, in an area of 70.99 km². Sometimes referred to as the ''Capital do ...

Career

Boavista

On 7 October 2018, Cardoso made his professional debut with Boavista in a

2018–19 Primeira Liga The 2018–19 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons) was the 85th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. Porto were the defending champions but finished behind B ...

match against

Desportivo das Aves Clube Desportivo das Aves (), commonly known as Desportivo das Aves, or simply as Aves, was a Portuguese football club based in Vila das Aves, Santo Tirso. The club was founded on 12 November 1930 and plays at the Estádio do Clube Desportivo ...

, starting in the 1–0 home win. He was the second youngest player ever to play for the club, surpassing club legends such as

Nuno Gomes Nuno Miguel Soares Pereira Ribeiro (born 5 July 1976), known as Nuno Gomes, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a striker. He was given the nickname ''Gomes'' during childhood after Fernando Gomes, and was regarded ...

and

João Vieira Pinto João is a given name of Portuguese origin. It is equivalent to the given name John. The diminutive is Joãozinho and the feminine is Joana. It is widespread in Portuguese-speaking countries. Notable people with the name are enumerated in the s ...

West Ham United

In August 2019, he joined

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 ...

on a five-year contract for an undisclosed fee. During the 2019–20 and 2020–21 seasons, Cardoso only featured for the U23s at West Ham playing regularly in the

Premier League 2 The Professional Development League is a system of Football in England, English youth association football, football leagues that are managed, organised and controlled by the Premier League or by the Football League. It was introduced by the Th ...

and three appearances in the

EFL Trophy The English Football League Trophy, officially known as the Vertu Motors, Vertu Trophy for sponsorship reasons, is an annual English association football, football knockout competition open to all clubs in EFL League One and EFL League Two and ...

Basel

On 30 January 2021, Cardoso signed for

Swiss Super League The Super League (also known as the Credit Suisse Super League for sponsorship reasons) is a professional association football league in Switzerland and the highest level of the Swiss football league system. It has been played in its current fo ...

side

FC Basel Fussball Club Basel 1893, widely known as FC Basel, FCB, or just Basel, is a Swiss professional Association football, football club based in Basel, in the Basel-Stadt, Canton of Basel-Stadt. Formed in 1893, the club has been List of Swiss footba ...

on an 18-month loan deal with an option to buy. Basel confirmed the loan on the same day and Cardoso joined Basel's first team for the second half of their 2020–21 season under head coach

Ciriaco Sforza Ciriaco Sforza (; born 2 March 1970) is a Swiss football manager and former professional player who last managed Swiss Challenge League club FC Schaffhausen. After beginning his career with Swiss clubs FC Aarau and Grasshopper Club Zürich, he ...

. He played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the

Letzigrund Letzigrund () is a stadium in Zurich, Switzerland, the home of the football (soccer), football clubs FC Zürich and Grasshopper Club Zürich, as well as the Sport of athletics, athletics club . The original stadium was constructed by members of FC ...

on 14 February 2021 as Basel were defeated 0–2 by

Zürich Zurich (; ) is the list of cities in Switzerland, largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is in north-central Switzerland, at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich. , the municipality had 448,664 inhabitants. The ...

. He scored his first goal for the club just three days later on 17 February in the

Swiss Cup The Swiss Cup (; ; ; ) is a football cup competition that has been organised annually since 1925–26 season by the Swiss Football Association. The Swiss Cup final is usually the most important game of the year with a high attendance. The co ...

game in the

St. Jakob Stadium The St. Jakob Stadium was a football (soccer), football stadium in Basel, Switzerland and the former home of Swiss club FC Basel. It was built in view of the 1954 FIFA World Cup, and as well as serving as a club stadium, it hosted several import ...

as Basel were beaten 2–6 by

Winterthur Winterthur (; ) is a city in the canton of Zurich in northern Switzerland. With over 120,000 residents, it is the country's List of cities in Switzerland, sixth-largest city by population, as well as its ninth-largest agglomeration with about 14 ...

. During a training in March Cardoso injured himself and could not play for the rest of the season. At the beginning of the following season he played in five test games and made an 90 minute appearance in a

match. However the injury re-occurred and the loan contract was dissolved a few months later. During his short period with the club, Cardoso played a total of 13 games for Basel scoring the afore mentioned one goal. Five of these games were in the

, two in the

and six were friendly games.

Real Betis

On 20 January 2022, Cardoso moved on a new loan to

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

in Spain and was assigned to the B-team.

Marítimo

On 1 September 2022, Cardoso returned to Portugal to sign for

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M (), commonly known as Marítimo or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team ...

Lokomotiv Sofia

On 29 September 2023, Cardoso signed for

Bulgarian First League The First Professional Football League (), commonly known as Parva Liga or Bulgarian First League (currently known as the efbet League for sponsorship reasons), is a professional association football league in Bulgaria and the highest level of t ...

club

Lokomotiv Sofia FC Lokomotiv Sofia () is a Bulgarian professional association football club based in Sofia, which currently plays in the First League, the top tier of Bulgarian football. Founded as Railway Sports Club in 1929, and refounded in 2015, following ...

International career

On 17 November 2018, Cardoso made his Portugal U19 debut in an international friendly against Armenia U19. He also helped his side get the final of the

2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship (also known as UEFA Under-19 Euro 2019) was the 18th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship (68th edition if the Under-18 and Junior eras are included), the annual international youth associ ...

scoring in Portugal's opening group stage fixture against

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

, and while he played in every minute of the campaign for his side, they eventually lost to

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

in the final. Cardoso also made five appearances for Portugal U20 in the

2019–20 Under 20 Elite League The 2019–20 Under 20 Elite League is an age-restricted association football tournament for national Under-20 teams. It was the third edition of the Under 20 Elite League but was ultimately curtailed after the 5th round of games in November 201 ...

before it was eventually cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Career statistics

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardoso, Gonçalo 2000 births Living people People from Marco de Canaveses Portuguese men's footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders Boavista F.C. players West Ham United F.C. players FC Basel players Betis Deportivo Balompié footballers C.S. Marítimo players FC Lokomotiv 1929 Sofia players Primeira Liga players Swiss Super League players Primera Federación players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Switzerland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Switzerland Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Bulgaria Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Bulgaria Footballers from Porto District 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen