Judilson Mamadu Tuncará Gomes (born 29 September 1991), known as Pelé, is a 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

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. ...

Club career

Belenenses

Born in

Agualva-Cacém Agualva-Cacém () is a Portuguese city within the municipality of Sintra, in the Lisbon metropolitan area. It comprises the civil parishes of Agualva e Mira Sintra and Cacém e São Marcos, equivalent to 81,845 inhabitants of the municipalities ...

to Bissau-Guinean parents, Pelé started his career with local

Belenenses Clube de Futebol Os Belenenses (), commonly known as Os Belenenses or simply Belenenses, is a Portuguese sports club best known for its football team. Founded in 1919, it is one of the oldest Portuguese sports clubs. It is based in the 19,856 ...

. He made his first-team – and

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 ...

– debut on 11 January 2009, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–0 away win against

Rio Ave Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

. Much more used in his first full season (seven starts, 642 minutes of action), Pelé's team would nonetheless suffer relegation, ranking second-bottom.

Italy

On 4 January 2011, after having been linked to the club in September 2010, Pelé was signed by

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

side

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, with the deal being made effective in the summer. However, he only appeared for the under-20 reserves during his spell. On 30 August 2011, Pelé was exchanged with

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

's Mario Sampirisi, both in a co-ownership deal. He played as an overage player (only four players born in 1991 were allowed that season) for the B team in his first year.

Loans

On 31 July 2012, Pelé was loaned out to

Arsenal Kyiv Football Club Arsenal Kyiv () is a Ukrainian football club based in Kyiv. In 2019, the club's professional team was dissolved, but its junior teams continue to compete in city competitions. The club claims to be a successor of Kyiv Arsenal fac ...

in the

Ukrainian Premier League The Ukrainian Premier League ( ) or UPL is a professional association football league in Ukraine and the highest level of the Ukrainian football league system. Originally known as the Vyshcha Liha ( , ) it was formed in 1991 during the 1992 in ...

. He spent the following campaign in the same situation, with

Olhanense Sporting Clube Olhanense (), commonly known as Olhanense, is a Portuguese sports club from Olhão, Algarve. Its football team was founded on 27 April 1912 and currently plays in the Algarve Football Association First Division, the fifth tier of ...

back in his homeland. After a successful loan spell at Belenenses, where he scored seven competitive goals to help his team finish in sixth position and

qualify 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 ...

, Pelé attracted the interest of Benfica, who signed him for 2015–16. He was immediately loaned to

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 ...

, and on 31 January 2017, still owned by the former, joined

Feirense Clube Desportivo Feirense, commonly known as CD Feirense or just Feirense, is a Portuguese football club based in Santa Maria da Feira. Founded on 18 March 1918, Feirense play in the LigaPro, the second tier of Portuguese football. Their chairma ...

also in the Portuguese top flight.

Rio Ave

On 29 June 2017, Pelé signed a five-year contract with Rio Ave. He scored seven league goals in 38 official matches in his first and only season, helping to qualification for the Europa League second qualifying round after a sixth-place finish.

Monaco

Pelé moved to

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 ...

in July 2018, agreeing to a five-year deal at

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

– Benfica and Rio Ave shared the €10 million transfer fee in equal parts. He made his debut in the competition on 28 September, starting in a 2–0 away loss to

Saint-Étienne Saint-Étienne (; Franco-Provençal: ''Sant-Etiève''), also written St. Etienne, is a city and the prefecture of the Loire département, in eastern-central France, in the Massif Central, southwest of Lyon, in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes regi ...

and being replaced by Benjamin Henrichs late into the second half. On 31 January 2019, Pelé joined English club

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 loan for the remainder of the season. On 6 August, in the same situation, he moved to

Reading Reading is the process of taking in the sense or meaning of symbols, often specifically those of a written language, by means of Visual perception, sight or Somatosensory system, touch. For educators and researchers, reading is a multifacete ...

also of the

EFL Championship The English Football League Championship, known simply as the Championship and for sponsorship purposes as Sky Bet Championship, is a professional association football league in England and Wales. Contested by 24 clubs, it is the highest divi ...

. He scored his first goal for the latter on 7 March 2020, in a 3–1 away victory over

Birmingham City Birmingham City Football Club is a professional football club based in Birmingham, England. Formed in 1875 as Small Heath Alliance, it was renamed Small Heath in 1888, Birmingham in 1905, and Birmingham City in 1943. The team compete in the ...

. Pelé returned to Rio Ave on 29 September 2020, on yet another loan. On 5 August 2022, still owned by Monaco, he agreed to a deal at Famalicão.

International career

Pelé played twice 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 the 2010 UEFA European Under-19 Championship qualification, in both games as a substitute, but was not selected for either the final tournament or the elite qualifying phase. He was then picked for a warm-up friendly before the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil national under-20 football team, Brazil w ...

, a 3–3 draw with

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 ...

, and appeared in all the matches in the finals in

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

the nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

finished in second position. Pelé made his debut for

Guinea-Bissau Guinea-Bissau, officially the Republic of Guinea-Bissau, is a country in West Africa that covers with an estimated population of 2,026,778. It borders Senegal to Guinea-Bissau–Senegal border, its north and Guinea to Guinea–Guinea-Bissau b ...

on 10 June 2017, starting in a 1–0 win over

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

for the

2019 Africa Cup of Nations The 2019 Africa Cup of Nations (abbreviated as AFCON 2019 or CAN 2019), known as the Total SE, Total 2019 Africa Cup of Nations for sponsorship reasons, was the 32nd edition of the Africa Cup of Nations, the biennial international men's associati ...

qualifiers. He was selected by manager

Baciro Candé Baciro Candé (born 6 April 1967) is a Bissau-Guinean professional association footballer, football player and association football manager, manager. Career Candé was born in Catió. He played professional football in Portugal's Segunda Liga a ...

for the finals in Egypt, playing three games in a group-stage exit. Also part of the squad for the 2021 tournament, Pelé missed a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

in the last minutes of the 0–0 draw against

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

Garoua Garoua (also Garua; Fula: 𞤺𞤢𞤪𞤱𞤢, Garwa) is a port city and the capital of the North Region of Cameroon, lying on the Benue River. A thriving centre of the textiles and cotton industries, the city has approximately 1,285,000 inhab ...

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Guinea-Bissau's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Pelé goal.''

Honours

Portugal U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

runner-up:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Orders *

Knight of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pele 1991 births Living people Portuguese sportspeople of Bissau-Guinean descent 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Bissau-Guinean men's footballers Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Sintra Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players C.F. Os Belenenses players S.C. Olhanense players S.L. Benfica footballers F.C. Paços de Ferreira players C.D. Feirense players Rio Ave F.C. players F.C. Famalicão players Genoa CFC players AC Milan players Ukrainian Premier League players FC Arsenal Kyiv players Ligue 1 players AS Monaco FC players English Football League players Nottingham Forest F.C. players Reading F.C. players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Guinea-Bissau men's international footballers 2019 Africa Cup of Nations players 2021 Africa Cup of Nations players Bissau-Guinean expatriate men's footballers Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Ukraine Expatriate men's footballers in Monaco Expatriate men's footballers in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Italy Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Ukraine Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in Monaco Bissau-Guinean expatriate sportspeople in England