Hugo Almeida

Portugal

Born in Figueira da Foz, Coimbra District, Almeida started playing football for hometown club Naval 1º de Maio, before being signed by Porto still as a junior. He made his Primeira Liga debut in a 2–0 home win over Benfica on 21 September 2003, playing three minutes. Unable to settle at first, however, he had loan spells with União de Leiria (with which he had already played in the previous season, also on loan) and Boavista. Almeida returned to Porto for 2005–06, having a relatively important role in a side that was crowned national champions. During that campaign's UEFA Champions League he scored a spectacular goal from a 35-metre free kick against Inter Milan at the San Siro, albeit in a 2–1 loss.

Werder Bremen

Almeida served another loan stint in 2006–07, with a solid first year at the Bundesliga's Werder Bremen, where he rejoined former Porto teammate Diego. He totalled ten goals in 41 appearances (in all competitions), including one in a 2–1 home loss against Espanyol in the semi-finals of the UEFA Cup, his shot floating over the goalkeeper and into the net in an eventual 4–2 aggregate defeat; after seeing his chances at Porto definitely cut down with the arrival of strikers Edgar and Ernesto Farías in August 2007, he decided to accept Bremen's offer for a permanent switch, penning a four-year deal worth €4 million. With the departure of Miroslav Klose, who signed for Bayern Munich, Almeida's chances of first-team action improved…

Almeida played at every level in international competitions, from the under-16 to the main Portugal national team. He made his full debut in a friendly against England on 18 February 2004, a 1–1 draw, and was also part of the squad that won the 2003 Toulon Tournament, also appearing at the 2004 and 2006 UEFA European Under-21 Championship finals. Almeida was called for Portugal's final three UEFA Euro 2008 qualifiers, starting against Azerbaijan and scoring his first international goal. He also netted in the follow-up, a 1–0 win over Armenia, and these goals eventually proved vital as the nation clinched a tournament spot. In Carlos Queiroz's second stint as national side coach, Almeida scored in a 4–0 victory in Malta on 6 September 2008, in the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign. His importance diminished in late 2009, after the naturalisation of Sporting CP's Liédson. Almeida was picked for the finals in South Africa. After the first match, a 0–0 against Ivory Coast, he replaced Liédson in the starting XI for the following match, with both players finding the net in the 7–0 rout of North Korea on 21 June 2010, in Cape Town. Almeida was selected by new manager Paulo Bento for his Euro 2012 squad, initially as third choice after Hélder Postiga and Nélson Oliveira. After the former injured himself in the first half of the quarter-finals against Czech Republic, he replaced him, going on to start in the penalty shootout loss to Spain (0–0 after 120 minutes). After being…

Following his retirement from playing, Almeida instantly went into coaching Académica's under-23 team. In 2021–22, he was assistant manager of the first team, serving four head coaches as the season ended with relegation to Liga 3; he left by mutual consent at the end of the campaign and waived his right to compensation or backlogged wages, due to the club's financial situation. Almeida was briefly interim manager of Académica in March 2022, but did not oversee any match before the appointment of Zé Gomes. In June, he became assistant to compatriot José Morais at Sepahan in the Persian Gulf Pro League; he later acted as caretaker for the latter after Morais left for personal reasons. Almeida subsequently worked in Turkey, with Bodrum (assistant) and Hatayspor (head coach). On 4 November 2025, following seven defeats and one draw in eight matches at the latter, his contract at the TFF 1. Lig side was terminated by mutual agreement.

Club

International

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

Born in São Fidélis, Rio de Janeiro, Hugo Almeida was a Botafogo youth graduate, making his first team debuts in 2004. He left the club in 2005, aged only 19, and joined fellow league team Coritiba in 2006. Hugo Almeida eventually fell down in the pecking order at Coxa, and was subsequently loaned to Sertãozinho, São Caetano, Grêmio Prudente and Goiás. He was released by Coritiba after the end of the spell with the latter. On 19 January 2012 Hugo Almeida joined XV de Piracicaba. On 3 May, he moved to Paraná, but appeared rarely. Hugo Almeida subsequently appeared for clubs in Japan in the following year, representing Ventforet Kofu, Roasso Kumamoto and Fagiano Okayama (after a short spell back to his homeland at Náutico). On 5 January 2015 he signed for Portuguesa.

Brazil FIFA U-17 World Cup: 2003 Coritiba Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2007 Campeonato Paranaense: 2008 América Mineiro Campeonato Brasileiro Série B: 2017 Ittihad Tanger Botola: 2017–18