Paulinho

Early career

Paulinho began his playing career with Pão de Açúcar, joining the youth squad in 2004. After failing to break through into the first team, Paulinho joined Lithuanian side Vilnius in 2006. He played well for the club during his two seasons in Lithuania, scoring five goals from 38 domestic appearances, but at the end of the 2007 LFF Lyga campaign, Vilnius were relegated to the second division and Paulinho left the club where he moved to Poland, signing for Ekstraklasa side ŁKS Łódź. Following one season in Poland where Paulinho made 17 league appearances, he returned to Brazil and his first club Pão de Açúcar in the summer of 2008. After a single successful season, Paulinho was on the move again, joining Série B side Bragantino in 2009.

Corinthians

In 2009, playing for Bragantino, he drew the attention of São Paulo giants Corinthians, and was signed by the club. His first league goal for the club came on 30 May 2010, coming off the bench to score Corinthians's fourth goal, sealing a 4–2 win over state rivals Santos. He would eventually go on to win important competitions with the São Paulo side, such as the 2011 Brasileirão and the 2012 Copa Libertadores, cementing himself as a hero for his club. Along the way to the Copa Libertadores final, Paulinho netted the only goal of the two-legged quarter-final tie against fellow Brazilian side Vasco da Gama, scoring in the 87th minute of the second leg on 23 May 2012 to send Corinthians into the…

Early career

Paulinho made his debut for the Seleção on 14 September 2011 in the first leg of the 2011 Superclásico de las Américas against rivals Argentina in Córdoba, with the game ending in a goalless draw. His first goal for his international side came against Argentina a year later on 20 September 2012, when he netted Brazil's equalizing goal in an eventual 2–1 in the first leg of the 2012 Superclásico de las Américas.

2013 Confederations Cup

Paulinho was selected by Luiz Felipe Scolari for the 23-man Brazil squad for the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup held in his home country. In Brazil's second to last final warm-up match for the competition against England at the Maracanã on 2 June 2013, Paulinho volleyed home Lucas Moura's cross to level the game late on at 2–2; the sides would finish level on this same scoreline. In the opening group match on 15 June against Japan, Paulinho scored Brazil's second goal in a 3–0 victory. In the semi-final round against Uruguay on 26 June, Paulinho netted in the 86th minute to give Brazil a 2–1 win and book the host country a spot in the final. In the final, Brazil outclassed Spain, beating the World and two-time defending European champions by a score of 3–0. For his efforts throughout the tournament, Paulinho received the Bronze Ball as the competition's third best player.

2014 World Cup

Paulinho started in Brazil's 5–0 friendly win against South Africa on 5 March 2014. On 2 June, he was named in manager…

A quick, hard-working, and energetic midfielder, Paulinho was most often described as a box-to-box midfielder. Primarily a central midfielder, he was capable of playing in several midfield roles and was also used as a defensive midfielder. His style of play combined physical strength, stamina, ball-winning ability, off-the-ball movement, and late attacking runs into the penalty area from deeper positions.

Club

International

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

Vasco da Gama

2017 season

Having progressed through Vasco da Gama's academy, Paulinho was promoted to the club's first-team squad under the management of Milton Mendes on 19 June 2017. On 13 July 2017, two days before his seventeenth birthday, Paulinho made his professional debut when he was brought on as a 93rd-minute substitute in a 4–1 Brasileirão Série A away win over Vitória. Minutes after entering the field of play, he recorded his professional assist when he set up teammate Guilherme for his side's fourth goal. Eleven days later, he made his first professional start and scored twice in a 2–1 league away win over Atlético Mineiro, becoming the youngest player ever to score at Brasileirão Série A and the first player born at 2000s to score at Brasileirão Série A. On 3 December 2017, Paulinho opened the scoring of a 2–1 home win over Ponte Preta at the last round of 2017 Brasileirão Série A and helped Vasco da Gama to reach a qualification to Copa Libertadores next season.

2018 season

Paulinho made his first Copa Libertadores assist when he set up Evander to open the score in a 4–0 away win over Universidad de Concepción, by the 1st leg of Copa Libertadores second qualifying stage. On the 2nd leg, Paulinho made his first Copa Libertadores goal opening the score in a 2–0 home win over Universidad de Concepción. His goal made him the first player born at 2000s to score at Copa Libertadores.

Bayer Leverkusen

On 27 April 2018, German…

Youth

In March 2017, Paulinho, along with Vinícius Júnior, Lincoln and Alan, helped Brazil win the South American Under-17 Championship. He scored two goals during the tournament, including the opening goal in Brazil's 5–0 win over Chile in the final. In October 2017, Paulinho helped Brazil reach 3rd place of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Paulinho scored the winning goals against Spain at Brazil's debut, North Korea and in quarterfinals against Germany. On 17 June 2021, Paulinho was named in the Brazil squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Coming on as a substitute, he scored in Brazil's opening game against Germany.

Senior

Paulinho received his first call-up to the Brazil senior team on 6 November 2023, making his debut in a World Cup qualifier against Colombia ten days later.

Club

As of match played 30 November 2024

International

As of match played 6 November 2023

Following the goal he scored in a 4–2 victory over Germany at the 2020 Olympics, Paulinho celebrated by imitating an archer in homage to Oshosi, a popular orisha or spirit in Afro-Brazilian religion. Paulinho later stated that he performed the celebration to draw attention to the prejudice that followers of Candomblé and other minority religions face in Brazil. He was subsequently invited by the Mocidade Samba School to participate in the next year's carnival. One of Paulinho's aunts is the television news commentator, Flávia Oliveira.