Rúben Neves

Club

As of match played 7 September 2026

International

As of match played 2 July 2026

As of match played 10 June 2026 Portugal score listed first, score column indicates score after each Neves goal

Porto

Born in Mozelos, Aveiro District, Neves grew up supporting Porto and joined the club's youth system at the age of eight. During his time with the academy, he also spent a season on loan at Padroense which acted as the under-16 team; on his time in the youth structures, reserve team manager Luís Castro described him as a player with "extraordinary mental qualities, to go along with technical and tactical skills". Ahead of the 2014–15 season, Neves was earmarked to bypass Porto's under-19s and play with the reserves instead. Following an injury to teammate Mikel Agu, however, he was called by Julen Lopetegui to be part of the main squad's pre-season preparations. On 15 August 2014, aged 17 years and five months, he made his Primeira Liga debut where he started and scored in a 2–0 home win against Marítimo – in doing so, he became the youngest player in the club's history to score a goal in the competition. He played his first match in the UEFA Champions League five days later in a 1–0 win over Lille, and broke another record, previously held by Cristiano Ronaldo, by being the youngest Portuguese to appear in the tournament. On 10 December 2014, during a Champions League group stage fixture against Shakhtar Donetsk, Neves suffered an injury to his right knee following a collision in midfield with Alex Teixeira. At the end of the game, the club explained that he suffered a sprain, with apparent damage to the internal lateral ligament. After spending nearly a month…

Youth

Neves represented Portugal at the 2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship, helping the country reach the semi-finals as captain. For his performances, he was named among the top ten talents of the tournament by a selection of UEFA reporters. On 29 August 2014, still aged 17, Neves was called by coach Rui Jorge to be part of the under-21 team. He scored his first goal on 14 October in a 5–4 home win against the Netherlands in the play-off round of the 2015 UEFA European Under-21 Championship. When the finals began in the Czech Republic, Neves broke a new record by becoming the youngest player to debut for the Portuguese under-21s in the tournament, aged 18 years and 3 months, playing five minutes to help beat England 1–0 in the group stage opener. It was his only appearance, as Portugal reached the final, which they lost to Sweden in a penalty shoot-out.

Senior

Neves was first called up to the senior team on 10 November 2015, ahead of friendlies against Russia and Luxembourg as an injury replacement for João Moutinho. He made his debut in the former match, featuring 17 minutes in the 1–0 loss in Krasnodar, before playing the entire 2–0 win against the latter at the Stade Josy Barthel, sharing the midfield with Porto teammates Danilo Pereira and André André. Neves was selected by manager Fernando Santos for a preliminary 35-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup, but did not make the final 23-man squad. At the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals on home…

An article on UEFA's website described Neves as a defensive midfielder who is not afraid to go forward and prompt attacks, showing great maturity combined with an accurate passing skill, great vision and an astute sense of positioning. His playing attributes also granted him comparisons to Portuguese international teammate João Moutinho for his fine first touch, similar desire to press his opponents and excellent distribution. Neves also drew praise in the media for his technical, tactical and mental qualities, as well as his intelligence and long-range shooting ability.