João Cancelo

João Pedro Cavaco Cancelo (born 27 May 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays primarily as a full-back for Saudi Pro League club Al Hilal and the Portugal national team. He is often regarded as one of the best full-backs in the world. 

Club career
Benfica
Cancelo was born in Barreiro, which is a city in the District of Setúbal. He joined SL Benfica's youth academy in 2007.

He made his debut for Benfica on July 28, 2012. The match was a friendly match against Gil Vicente. Despite being registered with the reserve team, he was talked about as a possible replacement to Maxi Pereira. He made his professional debut on January 25, 2014. The match was a Taça da Liga 3rd round match against Gil Vicente, where he came on as a substitute for André Almeida in the 82nd minute. His only league match for Benfica was a 2-1 loss against FC Porto. 

Valencia
Cancelo joined Valencia on August 20, 2014 on a one year loan, with an option to buy for €15 million. He made his La Liga debut on September 25 2014, in a 3-0 win against Córdoba. He was awarded the man of the match on April 12, 2015, after a 3-0 win against Levante. He only made 13 appearances in the 2014-15 season, as he was mainly the backup of Antonio Barragán. On May 25, Cancelo agreed a permanent contract with Valencia until June 30, 2021. The transfer fee was €15 million.

On September 16, 2015, Cancelo made his UEFA Champions League debut. The match was a 3-2 loss against Zenit Saint Petersburg, where he scored 1 goal. The goal made him the 5th youngest Champions League scorer, aged 21 years and 107 days old.  On April 20, 2016, he would score his first league goal for Valenica. The match was a 4-0 win against Eibar.

Loan to Inter Milan
On August 22, 2017, Cancelo joined Inter Milan on a one-year loan until June 30, 2018, with an option to make the transfer permanent. The deal also saw Geoffrey Kondogbia join Valencia on loan. He made his Serie A debut on August 26, 2017 in a 3-1 win against AS Roma. He would suffer a knee ligament injury in late August 2017, while on international duty. His first game back from injury was a 3-2 win on October 15, 2018 against AC Milan.He was a member of the 2017-18 Serie A Team of the Year After the season, Inter Milan decided to not make the loan permanent.

Juventus
On June 27, 2018, Juventus signed João Cancelo on a 5-year contract for €40.4 million. He made his Juventus debut on August 18, in a 3-2 win against ChievoVerona. He won his first trophy with Juventus on January 16, 2019, when Juventus beat AC Milan 1-0 in the 2018 Supercoppa Italiana. He would play in the Scudetto-winning match, where Juventus won 2-1 against Fiorentina.

Manchester City
On 7 August 2019, Cancelo joined English Premier League champions Manchester City. The deal was a six-year deal worth £27.4 million, with Danilo joining Juventus as part of the deal, equalling to £60 million. This made João Cancelo the most expensive right-back ever. He made his Premier League debut on August 25, 2019 in a 3-1 win against Bournemouth, where he came on as a substitute for Kyle Walker. He scored his first goal for Manchester City on December 18, 2019, in a 3–1 win against Oxford United in the EFL Cup quarter-finals.

He made his first start of the 2020-21 season on October 17, 2020 due to injury.The match was a 1–0 win against Arsenal. On November 3, 2020, Cancelo scored his first Champions League goal for Manchester City in a 3–0 win against Greek team Olympiacos. His first league goal of the season happened on January 26, 2021. In that match, Cancelo scored the 2nd goal in a 5–0 win against West Bromwich Albion. He was named in the 2020-21 PFA Team of the Year.

On October 17, 2021, Cancelo scored his first goal of the season for Manchester City. The goal was scored in a 6–3 win against RB Leipzig in the UEFA Champions League group stage. On November 3rd, Cancelo provided a hat-trick of assists in a 4–1 win against Club Brugge in the Champions League group stage.

International career

Cancelo represented Portugal at the 2012 UEFA European Under-19 Championship and at the 2013 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Lithuania.

With the Portugal under-20s, Cancelo appeared at the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup and  at the 2014 Toulon Tournament.

Cancelo was part of the Portugal under-21 squad that played in the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. His only appearance in the tournament was as a substitute for Raphaël Guerreiro in the semi-finals. The match was a 5-0 win against Germany.

Cancelo was called up to the Portugal national team for the first time on August 26, 2016. In his first mach for Portugal, he scored the 3rd goal in a 5-0 friendly win against Gibraltar. In May 2018, Cancelo was included in the preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, but he did not make the final team.

On May 20, 2021, it was confirmed that Cancelo was selected for Portugal's Euro 2020 squad. However, he had to withdraw due to testing positive for COVID-19.

Career statistics
Club

+ Appearances and goals by club, season and competitionClubSeasonLeagueNational cupLeague cupEuropeOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsBenfica B2012–13Segunda Liga202————2022013–14Segunda Liga311————311Total513————513Benfica2013–14Primeira Liga10001000—20Valencia (loan)2014–15La Liga10030———130Valencia2015–16La Liga28141—71—3932016–17La Liga35130———3812017–18La Liga10————10Total742101—71—914Inter Milan (loan)2017–18Serie A26120———281Juventus2018–19Serie A25110—7010341Manchester City2019–20Premier League170404180—3312020–21Premier League282303091—4332021–22Premier League361501092105232022–23Premier League17210106010262Total98513091323201549Bayern Munich (loan)2022–23Bundesliga15120—40—211Barcelona (loan)2023–24La Liga25200—9200344Career total316152811015963041423

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsPortugal2016432017202018602019402020712021812022102202393202410Total5110

Portugal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Cancelo goal.

+ List of international goals scored by João CanceloNo.DateVenueCapOpponentScoreResultCompetition11 September 2016Estádio do Bessa, Porto, Portugal13–05–0Friendly27 October 2016Estádio Municipal de Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal23–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification310 October 2016Tórsvøllur, Tórshavn, Faroe Islands36–06–02018 FIFA World Cup qualification45 September 2020Estádio do Dragão, Porto, Portugal161–04–12020–21 UEFA Nations League A59 June 2021Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal263–04–0Friendly65 June 2022Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal334–04–02022–23 UEFA Nations League A79 June 2022Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal341–02–02022–23 UEFA Nations League A823 March 2023Estádio José Alvalade, Lisbon, Portugal411–04–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying916 October 2023Bilino Polje Stadium, Zenica Bosnia and Herzegovina484–05–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying1016 November 2023Rheinpark Stadion, Vaduz, Liechtenstein492–02–0UEFA Euro 2024 qualifying

Honours
Benfica
Primeira Liga: 2013–14

Juventus
Serie A: 2018–19
Supercoppa Italiana: 2018

Manchester City
Premier League: 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23
EFL Cup: 2020–21
UEFA Champions League runner-up: 2020–21

Bayern Munich
Bundesliga: 2022–23

Portugal U21
UEFA European Under-21 Championship runner-up: 2015

Portugal
UEFA Nations League: 2018–19

Individual
Serie A Team of the Year: 2017–18, 2018–19
PFA Premier League Team of the Year: 2020–21, 2021–22
ESM Team of the Year: 2020–21, 2021–22
UEFA Champions League Fantasy Football Team of the Season: 2021–22
FIFA FIFPRO World 11: 2022
La Liga Goal of the Month: September 2023

References

Other websites

 Valencia official profile 
Profile at the FC Barcelona website

 National team data 





Category:1994 births
Category:Portuguese footballers
Category:Manchester City F.C. players
Category:Premier League players
Category:Living people
Category:Association football defenders
Category:Association football full-backs
Category:Bundesliga players
Category:FC Barcelona players
Category:2022 FIFA World Cup players
Category:FC Bayern München players
Category:Al Hilal SFC players