Gabriel Barbosa

Early career

Born in São Bernardo do Campo, São Paulo, Gabriel joined Santos's youth setup in 2004, at the age of 8; his prolific goalscoring with the club's youth sides saw him earn the nickname Gabigol. On 25 September 2012, he signed a professional contract, with a €50 million buyout clause, and made his first team debut on 17 January of the following year, in a friendly match against Grêmio Barueri.

Santos

On 26 May 2013, Gabriel made his league debut, at only 16 years old, in a 0–0 draw against Flamengo. He scored his first professional goal on 22 August, netting the game's only goal in a home success against Grêmio, for the year's Copa do Brasil. On 1 February 2014, Gabriel scored a brace and Santos' 12,000th goal in a 5–1 victory against Botafogo-SP, for that year's Campeonato Paulista championship. He finished the tournament with seven goals, as Peixe finished second. Gabriel netted his first Série A goal on 20 April 2014, scoring his side's only in a 1–1 home draw against Sport Recife. He signed a new five-year deal with the club on 23 September, and finished the season with 21 goals, ten ahead of big money signing Leandro Damião. After starting the 2015 campaign on the bench, Gabriel was appointed as first-choice after the departure of Robinho. He scored ten goals in the year's Brasileirão, and was the top scorer in Copa do Brasil with eight goals, with highlights including braces against Sport Recife, Joinville and Atlético Mineiro, and the…

Youth

In November 2011, Gabriel was called up to Brazil under-15s. On 20 June 2013, he appeared with the under-17s in a tournament in Miami. On 22 July 2014, Gabriel was called up to the under-20s for the year's L'Alcúdia International Football Tournament. He was the competition's top scorer, but missed the final 2–0 win over Levante due to a dismissal in the previous game against Argentina. Gabriel was also included in Alexandre Gallo's 23-man squad for the 2015 South American U-20 Championship held in Uruguay. He scored his first goal in the competition on 20 January 2015, netting the last in a 2–0 win against Venezuela. In 2015, Gabriel was also called up for friendlies with the under-23 side, scoring six goals in only four matches. He was also part of the host team that won a gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics on home soil under manager Rogério Micale. Gabriel scored a brace for Brazil in their final group game against Denmark in an eventual 4–0 win.

Senior

On 26 March 2016, Gabriel received his first call up to the full squad, replacing suspended Neymar for a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Paraguay. He was an unused substitute in the 2–2 draw at the Estadio Defensores del Chaco in Asunción. Gabriel was called up by manager Dunga in May 2016 to participate in the Copa América Centenario to be held in the United States, describing the call-up as a "dream". He made his full international debut on 29 May, replacing goalscorer Jonas and scoring the…

Considered to be a talented prospect in his youth, Gabriel is known for his technical skills, creativity and use of tricks on the ball; due to his flair and flamboyant playing style, he was dubbed the "next Neymar" by the media in 2016. During his time with Santos and Flamengo, Gabriel's role on the pitch has evolved; originally a supporting forward capable of playing with his back to goal or on the wing, he transformed into a full-on striker with the main task of finding space inside the opponent's penalty box and poaching goals. Besides his goalscoring and positioning in attack, his physique also improved, leading him to start winning more aerial duels. Due to recent changes in his style of play, he has been compared to Mauro Icardi, his former teammate at Inter Milan. A controversial figure, he struggled to make the grade in Europe. In 2022, South American football expert Tim Vickery was damning with his verdict: “He’s 25 already, he had one go already in Europe with Inter Milan and Benfica, and it was an absolute disaster. People spoke very badly of him, if he was chocolate he would eat himself, he swanned around like he was Pretty Boy Floyd."

Club

As of 6 September 2026

International

As of match played 27 January 2022

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