João Paulo Dias Fernandes (born 9 November 1992), commonly known as Paulinho, 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 for

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

club

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

as a striker. He amassed

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 ...

totals of 230 matches and 74 goals over nine seasons, representing

Gil Vicente Gil Vicente (; c. 1465c. 1536), called the Trobadour, was a Portuguese playwright and poet who acted in and directed his own plays. Considered the chief dramatist of Portugal he is sometimes called the "Portuguese Plautus," often refe ...

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 ...

and

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,

(for whom he signed in January 2021 for €16 million), winning the

2019–20 Taça da Liga The 2019–20 Taça da Liga was the thirteenth edition of the Taça da Liga (also known as Allianz Cup for sponsorship reasons), a football league cup competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional and contested exclusively ...

and the 2020–21 Taça de Portugal with the second of those clubs and the

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

and 2024 national championships and the 2021 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira with the third. In the Segunda Liga, he played with Trofense and Gil. Paulinho won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

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 ...

in 2020, scoring twice in his first appearance.

Club career

Trofense

Born in Barcelos,

Braga District The district of Braga ( ) is a district in the northwest of Portugal. The district capital is the city of Braga, and it is bordered by the district of Viana do Castelo in the north, Vila Real in the east, Galicia (a Spanish autonomous commu ...

, Paulinho started playing with local amateurs Santa Maria. In 2012 he signed with Segunda Liga club Trofense, making his debut as a professional on 29 July by playing the full 90 minutes in a 5–1 away loss against

Aves Birds are a group of warm-blooded vertebrates constituting the class Aves (), characterised by feathers, toothless beaked jaws, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a strong yet lightweight ...

in the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...

of the

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 ...

. His maiden appearance in the league took place on 12 August, in a 2–0 defeat to the same opponent where he also started.

Gil Vicente

In the 2013 off-season, after scoring 11 goals during the season, Paulinho moved to the

with

. He made his debut in the competition on 18 August, coming on as a 49th-minute substitute in a 2–0 home win over Académica de Coimbra. He netted his first goal on 24 November of the same year, but in a 3–2 loss at Marítimo. During the 2016–17 campaign, with the team again in the second tier, Paulinho scored a career-best 19 times for a runner-up position in the individual charts.

Braga

On 24 May 2017, Paulinho moved to

on a four-year contract. He finished his first year as team top scorer at 13 – 17 across all competitions – helping them to qualify for the

group phase 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 ...

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 ...

after ranking fourth in the league. Paulinho was the top scorer of the 2018–19 Taça da Liga, netting braces in group stage wins against

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

(5–0 at home) and Vitória de Setúbal (4–0 away). In the next year's edition he scored twice for the winners, including a last-minute winner over

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,

in the semi-final. On the league front he set a new personal best in the top flight, including a

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

in a 5–1 away rout of

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 ...

on 10 July 2020. On 26 November 2020, Paulinho scored in a 3–3 home draw with

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in the Europa League group stages; in doing so he beat

Alan Alan may refer to: People *Alan (surname), an English and Kurdish surname * Alan (given name), an English given name ** List of people with given name Alan ''Following are people commonly referred to solely by "Alan" or by a homonymous name.'' * ...

's record of 11 European goals for Braga. He scored all of his side's goals in a 3–1 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 ...

on 17 December to make the League Cup semi-finals.

Sporting CP

On 1 February 2021, Paulinho joined Sporting on a deal running until June 2025 for a club-record €16 million fee, reuniting with former Braga manager

Ruben Amorim Ruben Filipe Marques Amorim (; born 27 January 1985) is a Portuguese Professional association football, professional football Manager (association football), manager, a former player and the current manager of Premier League club Manchester Unit ...

; as part of the arrangement, Cristian Borja and

Andraž Šporar Andraž Šporar (born 27 February 1994) is a Slovenian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Forward (association football), forward for Süper Lig club Alanyaspor and the Slovenia national football team, Slovenia national ...

moved in the opposite direction. On 11 May, his 36th-minute goal was the only of the home fixture against Boavista, and the club won the domestic league for the first time in 19 years. Paulinho scored three times in the group stage of the

2021–22 UEFA Champions League The 2021–22 UEFA Champions League was the 67th season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 30th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. Real Madrid de ...

, helping his team to progress as runners-up. On 29 December 2021, he netted a hat-trick in a 3–2 home win over Portimonense in the domestic league. Paulinho topped the scoring charts of the 2022–23 League Cup with eight goals. However, in the 2–0 final loss to

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 ...

, he was sent off for two quick yellow cards, being later handed a three-match suspension for insulting the refereeing team. In the 2023–24 season, Paulinho won his second league with Sporting. He totalled 21 goals in all competitions, only trailing in the squad

Viktor Gyökeres Viktor Einar Gyökeres (; born 4 June 1998) is a Swedish professional association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Primeira Liga club Sporting CP and the Sweden men's national football team, Sweden ...

(who also led all players overall) who had 43.

Toluca

On 21 June 2024, Paulinho agreed to a three-year contract at

side

with the option of a further season, for a €7,75 million fee plus €250,000 in add-ons. He scored twice in his second match, helping the hosts to defeat Juárez 3–2. He finished the Apertura tournament as top scorer at 13 goals, and his team finished second.

International career

Paulinho won his only

for the Portugal under-21 team on 14 November 2012, playing the last 18 minutes of the 3–2 friendly defeat of

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. In May 2018, he was included by full side manager Fernando Santos in a preliminary 35-man squad for the upcoming edition of the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

in Russia, but did not make the final cut. On 11 November 2020, Paulinho made his senior debut in a home exhibition against

Andorra Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is a Sovereignty, sovereign landlocked country on the Iberian Peninsula, in the eastern Pyrenees in Southwestern Europe, Andorra–France border, bordered by France to the north and Spain to A ...

, scoring twice in a 7–0 win. In October 2022, he was one of 55 players pre-selected for the

2022 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 ...

in Qatar.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Portugal's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Paulinho goal.''

Honours

Braga *

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 ...

: 2020–21 *

: 2019–20 Sporting CP *

: 2020–21, 2023–24 *Taça da Liga: 2021–22 *

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 ...

Toluca *

: Clausura 2025 Individual *Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2019–20 *Taça da Liga top scorer: 2022–23 (8 goals) *Primeira Liga Player of the Month: August 2023 *Primeira Liga Forward of the Month: August 2023 *Liga MX top scorer: Apertura 2024 (13 goals) *Liga MX top scorer: Clausura 2025 (12 goals) *Liga MX Best XI: Apertura 2024

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Paulinho 1992 births Living people 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Barcelos, Portugal Men's association football forwards Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Santa Maria F.C. players C.D. Trofense players Gil Vicente F.C. players S.C. Braga players Sporting CP footballers Liga MX players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Mexico