João Mário (footballer, born January 1993)

João Mário Naval da Costa Eduardo (born 19 January 1993), known as João Mário, is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Primeira Liga club Benfica.

Following a brief youth spell with local Porto in his hometown, where he was deployed as a central defender, João Mário moved to Sporting CP in 2004 at the age of 11, going on to complete his development with the Lisbon club.

On 14 December 2011 he was called for a UEFA Europa League group stage game away against Lazio, alongside youth graduates Betinho, Ricardo Esgaio, Tiago Ilori and João Carlos, as the Lions had already secured the first place in its group: he entered the pitch in the 76th minute of the 2–0 away loss, after replacing Oguchi Onyewu.

João Mário's first full season as a senior was 2012–13, as he appeared in 31 games (30 as a starter) for Sporting CP B in the Segunda Liga, with the team finishing in fourth position.

He started out at Sporting CP in whose youth system he developed, being loaned to Vitória de Setúbal in 2014 and subsequently returning to be an important part of the squads that won major trophies, including the 2015 Taça de Portugal.

João Mário made his senior debut for Portugal in 2014.

On 8 January 2014 he was loaned to Vitória de Setúbal for the remainder of the campaign, starting in all but one Primeira Liga matches he appeared in and being voted the league's best young player for January and February.

He made his senior debut on 11 October 2014, replacing Cristiano Ronaldo for the final 14 minutes of the friendly against France in Paris: soon after coming on, he was fouled by Paul Pogba for a penalty converted by Ricardo Quaresma, in an eventual 2–1 loss.

On 31 May 2015, again with Sporting' main squad, João Mário started in the final of the Taça de Portugal against Braga, but was substituted in the first half due to the dismissal of defender Cédric Soares, in order to bring on Miguel Lopes; Sporting eventually won in a penalty shootout.

João Mário represented Portugal at the UEFA European Under-21 Championship in 2015, netting the only goal of their opening group win over England as the tournament ended with a runner-up finish.

In 2016 he joined Inter Milan, having loan spells at West Ham United and Lokomotiv Moscow prior to rejoining Sporting, also on loan, in 2020.

He was named in the squads for Euro 2016 and the 2018 and 2022 World Cups, winning the 2016 tournament.

On 27 August 2016, João Mário signed with Inter Milan for €40 million plus €5 million in bonuses.

His maiden appearance in Serie A occurred on 11 September when he played the full 90 minutes in a 2–1 victory at Pescara, and his first goal for the team opened a loss by the same score at home to Cagliari on 16 October.

Under new manager Luciano Spalletti, João Mário grew increasingly frustrated about the lack of playing time.

He was selected by the full side for their UEFA Euro 2016 campaign, starting in the first match, a 1–1 draw with Iceland in Saint-Étienne; he played in all of his team's seven games during Euro 2016, including the final against France which they won.

João Mário scored his first goal for the nation on 10 November 2017, closing the 3–0 friendly defeat of Saudi Arabia.

On 25 January 2018, he signed on loan for Premier League team West Ham United – the contract included a €1.5 million loan fee, and an option for the club to buy the player for a sum in the region of €40 million.

He made his debut two days later, replacing Pablo Zabaleta at half-time in a 2–0 away loss to Wigan Athletic in the fourth round of the FA Cup.

João Mário scored his first goal for West Ham on 31 March 2018, helping the hosts to defeat Southampton 3–0.

He made 14 competitive appearances during his half-season spell, scoring twice, and was praised for his work rate.

Subsequently, he was included in the final squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

In November 2022, João Mário was named in the squad for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

The following 28 May, he announced his retirement from international play.

João Mário's older brother, Wilson, is also a footballer.

He too graduated from Sporting's youth academy.

In June 2022, João Mário married Marta Branco Oliveira with whom he already had a 1-year-old daughter.

Sporting CP

Benfica

On 27 August 2019, João Mário joined Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow on a season-long loan.

On 6 October 2020, also on loan, he returned to Sporting.

He scored his first goal in his second spell on 27 December, from a penalty to close a 2–1 away win against B-SAD.

He contributed another until the end of the campaign (from 28 appearances), helping his team to win the league for the first time in 19 years.

On 12 July 2021, Inter announced they had reached an agreement to early terminate João Mário's contract by mutual consent.

João Mário joined Benfica on 13 July 2021, on a five-year deal.

He scored his first competitive goal on 10 August, opening the 2–0 home victory over Spartak Moscow in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.

In the following edition of that tournament, João Mário scored four times in the group stage; this included a first-half penalty in a 2–1 away victory of Juventus on 14 September 2022, and the sixth goal in the 92nd minute of the 6–1 win at Maccabi Haifa on 2 November that qualified his team as group winners on away goal difference.

He added a career-best 17 in the league for the champions.

João Mário scored his first career hat-trick on 29 November 2023, with all goals coming in the first half of an eventual 3–3 home draw against his former club Inter Milan in the Champions League group phase; he also became the first player to achieve the feat for Benfica in the competition's format.

Of Angolan descent, João Mário earned 82 caps for Portugal at youth level, including 13 for the under-21 team.