Tomás Martins Podstawski (; born 30 January 1995) 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

central 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 ...

. He began his professional career at

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 ...

, where he made 107 appearances for their reserves and won the 2015–16 Segunda Liga, but never represented the first team. After a season at

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

in which he was a

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 ...

runner-up, he joined

Pogoń Szczecin Pogoń Szczecin Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Pogoń Szczecin (), is a Polish professional football club based in Szczecin, West Pomeranian Voivodeship, which plays in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of the national football league s ...

in 2018. Podstawski earned 85 caps for Portugal from under-16 to under-23 level. He represented the nation at the 2016 Olympic tournament.

Club career

Porto

Born in

to a Polish father and a Portuguese mother, Podstawski joined

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

's youth system at the age of 13. On 20 February 2012, having not yet featured for the reserves, he was called up by first-team manager Vítor Pereira 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 ...

round of 16 second leg match at

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

, remaining unused in a 4–0 loss ( 6–1 aggregate) for the reigning champions. Podstawski finished his first season with 24 appearances – 11 starts – helping Porto B to the runner-up position, although the team was not eligible for promotion. On 2 April 2016 he scored his first league goal in a 4–0 home win against Académico de Viseu FC, as they became the first reserves to win the second division.

Vitória Setúbal

On 12 June 2017, Podstawski signed a three-year contract for

. He made his

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 6 August in a 1–1 home draw against

Moreirense FC Moreirense Futebol Clube is a Portuguese professional football club based in Moreira de Cónegos, Guimarães Municipality, Minho. Founded on 1 November 1938, it plays in the Primeira Liga, holding home games at Parque de Jogos Comendador Joaqui ...

, and scored his first goal in the division on 30 October, consolation as a substitute in a 5–2 away defeat to

Portimonense SC Portimonense Sporting Clube is a Portuguese sports club based in Portimão. Founded on 14 August 1914, it is most notable for its professional football team, which currently plays in the Liga Portugal 2, the second division of Portuguese football ...

. On 27 January 2018, Podstwaski was the only player to miss his

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

attempt in the final of the

, lost to

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,

after a 1–1 draw in regulation time. He was also booked for handling the ball in his own box late into the game, which led to

Bas Dost Bas Leon Dost (; born 31 May 1989) is a Dutch professional footballer who plays as a striker. Having begun his career at FC Emmen in the Eerste Divisie, Dost later played in the Eredivisie for Heracles Almelo and SC Heerenveen. In 2012, after ...

's equaliser.

Pogoń Szczecin

On 27 August 2018, Podstawski joined Polish club

on a three-year deal. His maiden appearance in the

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 ...

occurred four days later, when he played the entire 1–1 draw away to

Górnik Zabrze Górnik Zabrze Spółka Akcyjna, commonly referred to as Górnik Zabrze S.A. or simply Górnik Zabrze (), is a Polish association football, football club from Zabrze. Górnik is one of the most successful Polish football clubs in history, winning ...

, and his first goal came on 27 October in a 3–0 home victory over

Lech Poznań Kolejowy Klub Sportowy Lech Poznań S.A., commonly referred to as KKS Lech Poznań or simply Lech Poznań (), is a Polish professional football club based in Poznań and currently competing in the Ekstraklasa, the nation's highest division. ...

Later career

Having been without a club in the summer, Podstawski signed for

Stabæk Fotball Stabæk Fotball is a Norway, Norwegian professional association football, football club based in Bærum, a suburb of Oslo. It is part of the multi-sport organization Stabæk IF. Founded in 1912, the club's name is an archaic spelling of the sub ...

on 20 September 2021, for the rest of the year; the team from

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

were in last place in

Eliteserien Eliteserien () is a professional association football league in Norway and the highest level of the Norwegian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the Norwegian First Division ...

. Podstawski moved to Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. of the Israeli

Liga Leumit The Israeli Liga Leumit (, HaLiga HaLeumit, ) is the second division of the professional Israeli association football (soccer) league system. This second-tier league is placed directly below the Israeli Premier League. Structure There are 16 ...

on 1 February 2022. On 28 June, he moved to the fourth foreign country in two years, signing for newly promoted

Cypriot First Division The Cypriot First Division (), also known as the Cyprus League by Stoiximan for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Cyprus and the highest level of the Cypriot football league system. Operated by the Cyprus Fo ...

club

Karmiotissa FC Karmiotissa Football Club (, ''Karmiotissa Polemidion'') is a Cypriot football club based in Pano Polemidia, Limassol. They currently compete in the Cypriot First Division. The club's colors are orange and white. The original home ground of th ...

. On 6 September 2023, Podstawski returned to Poland and its top tier to undergo a trial at

Piast Gliwice Gliwicki Klub Sportowy Piast Gliwice () is a Polish professional football club based in Gliwice. In the 2018–19 season, Piast won its first Polish championship. As of 2025–26, it competes in the Ekstraklasa, Poland's top division. Histo ...

, closing a 3–0 friendly win over

Ruch Chorzów Ruch Chorzów () is a Polish professional association football, football club based in Chorzów, Upper Silesia. It is one of the most successful football teams in Poland, having won fourteen List of Polish football champions, Polish Championship ...

shortly after; on the 18th, he joined the latter on a one-year contract with an option for another two years. He scored on his debut in a 3–5 home loss to

Raków Częstochowa Robotniczy Klub Sportowy Raków Częstochowa Spółka Akcyjna (commonly referred to as Raków Częstochowa, or simply Raków) is a Polish professional football club, based in Częstochowa, that competes in the Ekstraklasa, the top tier of natio ...

six days later, and left the club by mutual consent in February 2024.

International career

At the

2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship The 2014 UEFA European Under-19 Championship was the 13th edition of the UEFA European Under-19 Championship since its reclassification from an under-18 event in 2002, and the 63rd since the tournament was created in 1948. Hungary was chosen to ho ...

in Hungary, Podstawski captained

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 ...

to runners-up position behind

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

. He scored his only goal of 37 appearances for the team in the group stage, in a 2–1 win against

Austria Austria, formally the Republic of Austria, is a landlocked country in Central Europe, lying in the Eastern Alps. It is a federation of nine Federal states of Austria, states, of which the capital Vienna is the List of largest cities in Aust ...

Pancho Aréna Pancho Aréna is a stadium in Felcsút, Hungary. It is primarily used for football matches and serves as the home stadium for Puskás Akadémia FC. Between 2015 and 2018, the stadium also hosted the three-time champions Fehérvár FC due to th ...

. Podstawski also acted as captain to the under-20 side at the 2015 FIFA World Cup, playing four games out of five in an eventual quarter-final exit in

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

. He had previously turned down an approach from the

Polish Football Association The Polish Football Association ( PZPN) is the governing body of association football in Poland. It organizes the Polish football leagues (without the ), the national cups, and manages the men's and women's national teams. It also runs the nati ...

. Manager

Rui Jorge Rui Jorge de Sousa Dias Macedo de Oliveira (born 27 March 1973), known as Rui Jorge, is a Portuguese former professional footballer who played as a left-back, currently manager of the Portugal national under-21 team. He spent 14 seasons in t ...

included Podstawski in the under-23 team for the

2016 Summer Olympics The 2016 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad () and officially branded as Rio 2016, were an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with preliminary events i ...

in Brazil. He started every match, as the nation reached the quarter-finals.

Personal life

In parallel to his early professional career, Podstawski studied International Relations at the

University of Porto The University of Porto (''Universidade do Porto'') is a Portuguese public research university located in Porto, and founded on 22 March 1911. It is the second largest Portuguese university by number of enrolled students, after the University ...

. He speaks English and French, in addition to his native Portuguese and Polish. His parents were both involved in sport; his father as a Physical Education teacher and his mother as a professional gymnast. Podstawski's younger brothers Filipe and António also became footballers, with the latter signing for Pogoń's reserves during his time at the club.

Honours

Porto B * Segunda Liga: 2015–16 Vitória Setúbal *

runner-up: 2017–18 Portugal *

UEFA European Under-19 Championship The UEFA European Under-19 Championship, or simply the Euro Under-19, is an annual football competition, contested by the European men's under-19 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Spain is the most successful team in this competit ...

runner-up:

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

Individual *UEFA European Under-19 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2014

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Podstawski, Tomas 1995 births Living people Portuguese people of Polish descent 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Porto Men's association football midfielders Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players FC Porto B players FC Porto players Vitória F.C. players Ekstraklasa players III liga players Pogoń Szczecin players Ruch Chorzów players Eliteserien players Stabæk Fotball players Liga Leumit players Bnei Yehuda Tel Aviv F.C. players Cypriot First Division players Karmiotissa FC players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Footballers at the 2016 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Portugal Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Poland Expatriate men's footballers in Norway Expatriate men's footballers in Israel Expatriate men's footballers in Cyprus Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Poland Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Norway Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Israel Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Cyprus University of Porto alumni