João Manuel Neves Virgínia (born 10 October 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper.

Club career

Born in Faro on the

Algarve The Algarve (, , ) is the southernmost NUTS statistical regions of Portugal, NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities (concelho, ''concelhos'' or ''município ...

, Virgínia began his youth career at S.L. Benfica. In August 2015, he agreed a transfer to Arsenal amidst interest from

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, effective from his 16th birthday in October. In August 2018, he signed a three-year deal at Everton. On 11 July 2019, Virgínia joined Reading on a season-long loan deal. Everton recalled him early due to a lack of playing time, on 5 January 2020. Virgínia played his first professional game for Everton on 16 September 2020, in a 3–0 home win in the

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

match against League Two side Salford City. Days later, he extended his contract to June 2024. On 13 March 2021, he made his

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debut as a substitute for the injured Jordan Pickford in a 1–2 home defeat to Burnley. Eight days later, he made his

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debut, starting in a 0–2 quarter-final defeat to Manchester City at Goodison Park. On 25 August 2021, Virgínia returned to

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, joining

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,

on a season-long loan. Kept aside 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 ...

by Antonio Adán, he made his debut on 15 October in the third round of 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 ...

in a 4–0 win at C.F. Os Belenenses. He made his European debut on 7 December in the final game of the

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group stage, a 4–2 loss at

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that saw both teams through to the last 16. His sole league appearance was on the final day, playing the first 79 minutes of a 4–0 final day win over C.D. Santa Clara at the Estádio José Alvalade before being replaced by André Paulo; Sporting declined the option to make his transfer permanent for €5 million. On 8 July 2022, Virgínia joined SC Cambuur of the Dutch

Eredivisie The Eredivisie (; "Honour Division" or "Premier Division") is a professional association football league in the Netherlands and the highest level of the Dutch football league system. The league was founded in 1956, two years after the start o ...

on a season-long loan. He made his debut on 6 August as the season began with a 2–0 loss at home to newly promoted Excelsior Rotterdam. He was sent off on 11 January 2023 in the second round of the

KNVB Cup The KNVB Beker (; ), branded as the TOTO KNVB Beker for sponsorship reasons, is a competition in the Netherlands organised by the Royal Dutch Football Association (KNVB) since 1898. It was based on the format of the English FA Cup. Outside the N ...

, a 1–0 loss at amateur Tweede Divisie team De Treffers; defender Doke Schmidt ended the game in goal as no substitutions remained. The card was rescinded, the third time in four occasions that one given by referee Joey Kooij was overturned. On 20 May 2025, Everton announced he would be leaving the club in June when his contract expired.

International career

Across all age groups, Virgínia earned 29 caps for Portugal at youth level, starting with a 1–0 win for the under-16s over the Netherlands in Vila Real de Santo António on 14 February 2015. On 12 November 2016, having just turned 17, he made his under-20 debut in a 1–1 friendly draw with

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. Virgínia represented the under-19 team that won the 2018 UEFA European Championship in Finland, defeating

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4–3 in the final. He also played in a group-stage elimination for the under-20 team in Poland at the 2019 FIFA World Cup.

Honours

Everton U23s * Premier League Cup: 2018–19 Sporting CP * Taça da Liga: 2021–22 Individual *

Team of the Month: November 2022,

Career statistics

References

External links

Profile
at the Everton F.C. website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Virgínia, João 1999 births Living people Footballers from Faro, Portugal Portuguese men's footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Men's association football goalkeepers S.L. Benfica footballers Arsenal F.C. players Everton F.C. players Reading F.C. players Sporting CP footballers SC Cambuur players English Football League players Premier League players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in the Netherlands Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in the Netherlands 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen