Gonçalo Matias Ramos (Portuguese pronunciation: [ɡõˈsalu ˈʁɐmuʃ]; born 20 June 2001) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Primeira Liga club Benfica.
![]() Ramos with Benfica in 2020 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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Full name | Gonçalo Matias Ramos | |||||||||||||||||||||
Date of birth | (2001-06-20) 20 June 2001 (age 20) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Place of birth | Olhão, Portugal | |||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 1.85 m (6 ft 1 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||
Position(s) | Forward | |||||||||||||||||||||
Club information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Benfica | |||||||||||||||||||||
Number | 88 | |||||||||||||||||||||
Youth career | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2009–2011 | Olhanense | |||||||||||||||||||||
2011–2013 | Loulé | |||||||||||||||||||||
2013– | Benfica | |||||||||||||||||||||
Senior career* | ||||||||||||||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | |||||||||||||||||||
2019– | Benfica B | 37 | (16) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020– | Benfica | 30 | (11) | |||||||||||||||||||
National team‡ | ||||||||||||||||||||||
2017–2018 | Portugal U17 | 9 | (1) | |||||||||||||||||||
2018 | Portugal U18 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||
2019 | Portugal U19 | 15 | (9) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020 | Portugal U20 | 2 | (0) | |||||||||||||||||||
2020– | Portugal U21 | 15 | (11) | |||||||||||||||||||
Honours
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*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 05:21, 2 April 2022 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 30 March 2022 |
Born in Almodovar, Ramos started his football career in the youth ranks of local side Olhanense in 2009, before joining Loulé and then Benfica's youth system in 2013 at the age of 12. On 13 January 2019, he made his professional debut with Benfica's reserve team as an 84th-minute substitute for Nuno Tavares in a 3–2 home loss to Braga B in LigaPro.[1] On 21 July 2020, he made first-team debut with Benfica as an 85th-minute substitute for Pizzi in a 4–0 away win over Desportivo das Aves in the Primeira Liga, netting a brace in 8 minutes.[2] During that season, Ramos played in the 2019–20 UEFA Youth League, in which he was a key part of Benfica reaching the final of the competition, lost to Real Madrid (3–2), in which he scored a brace in the finals; he finished as joint-top scorer in the tournament with eight goals.[3] On 7 October 2020, he agreed to a contract extension to 2025.[4]
After a promising 2020–21 season with the B team, which he scored eleven goals in twelve games, Ramos was given a run in the first-team at the start of the 2021–22 season by manager Jorge Jesus, starting in a 2–0 home victory over Spartak Moscow in the third qualifying round of the UEFA Champions League.[5][6][7] Following the arrival of Roman Yaremchuk and the return of Darwin Núñez from injury, Ramos found limited first-team minutes, leading him to persue a move out of the club in the winter transfer window.[8] With the arrival of interim manager Nélson Veríssimo in January 2022, who had previously coached him at the B team, Ramos began playing more regularly, and reignited his form, scoring seven goals and proving two assists, with his versatility enabled him to play in various positions in attack, which was found useful by the new coach.[9][10][11][12]
On 13 April, he scored his first UEFA Champions League goal in a 3–3 away draw against Liverpool at Anfield in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League quarter-finals tie.[13] In doing so, he became the second youngest player (aged 20 years and 297 days) to score for the club in the final phases of the competition.[14] However, Benfica were eliminated after losing to Liverpool 6–4 on aggregate.[13]
With the Portugal under-17s, Ramos took participated in the 2018 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in England. In this competition, he played two matches, scoring a goal against Slovenia in a group stage exit.[15]
Ramos was part of the Portugal team that finished runners-up to Spain at the 2019 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Armenia. He was the top scorer with four goals in five appearances, including a hat-trick in a 4–0 win against the Republic of Ireland in the semi-finals.[16]
On 12 November 2020, Ramos won his first cap for the under-21 side, scoring the third goal on his debut in a 3–0 victory in Belarus for the 2021 European Championship qualification campaign.[17] In March 2021, Ramos took part in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship, helping Portugal finish as runners-up, after losing in the final 1–0 to Germany.[18]
Club | Season | League | National Cup[lower-alpha 1] | League Cup[lower-alpha 2] | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
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Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Benfica B | 2018–19 | LigaPro | 5 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 5 | 1 | ||||
2019–20 | 20 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 20 | 4 | ||||||
2020–21 | 12 | 11 | — | — | — | — | 12 | 11 | ||||||
Total | 37 | 16 | — | — | — | — | 37 | 16 | ||||||
Benfica | ||||||||||||||
2019–20 | Primeira Liga | 1 | 2 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 2 | |||||
2020–21 | 4 | 2 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 2[lower-alpha 3] | 0 | — | 12 | 4 | |||
2021–22 | 25 | 7 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11[lower-alpha 4] | 1 | — | 42 | 8 | |||
Total | 30 | 11 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 1 | — | 54 | 12 | |||
Career total | 67 | 27 | 7 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 13 | 1 | — | 91 | 28 |
Benfica
Portugal U21
Portugal U19
S.L. Benfica – current squad | |
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UEFA European Under-19 Championship awards | |
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Golden player | |
Top goalscorer |
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1 honour shared as players are twins and UEFA did not want to differentiate. |