Diogo Leite (footballer, born 1999)

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Pintoand the second or paternal family name is Leite.

Diogo Leite

Leite training with Porto in 2018
Personal information
Full name	Diogo Filipe Monteiro Pinto Leite [1]
Date of birth	(1999-01-23) 23 January 1999 (age 25) [2]
Place of birth	Porto, Portugal [2]
Height	1.90 m (6 ft 3 in) [3]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Union Berlin
Number	4
Youth career
2007–2008	Leixões
2008–2018	Porto
2014–2015	→ Padroense (loan)
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2017–2021	Porto B	47	(1)
2018–2023	Porto	31	(2)
2021–2022	→ Braga (loan)	23	(0)
2022–2023	→ Union Berlin (loan)	28	(0)
2023–	Union Berlin	43	(0)
International career
2014–2015	Portugal U16	9	(1)
2015–2016	Portugal U17	16	(0)
2017	Portugal U18	5	(0)
2017–2018	Portugal U19	10	(0)
2017–2019	Portugal U20	8	(0)
2018–2021	Portugal U21	22	(2)
Medal record Men's football Representing   Portugal UEFA European U21 Championship Runner-up 2021 UEFA European U19 Championship Runner-up 2017 UEFA European U17 Championship Winner 2016
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23 November 2024

Diogo Filipe Monteiro Pinto Leite (born 23 January 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for Bundesliga club Union Berlin.

Club career

Porto

Born in Porto, Leite joined FC Porto's youth academy at the age of 9. ^[4] He made his professional debut with the reserve team on 27 August 2017, playing the entire 1–0 home win against C.D. Santa Clara for the LigaPro. ^[5]

In late July 2018, due to several injuries to the back sector, ^[6] first-team manager Sérgio Conceição called Leite for the upcoming Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira match against C.D. Aves; ^[7] he partnered Felipe in that match, a 3–1 victory in Aveiro. ^[8] Shortly before that event, he had renewed his contract until 2023. ^[4]

Leite's maiden appearance in the Primeira Liga took place on 11 August 2018 in the season opener, and he again played the entire 5–0 home defeat of G.D. Chaves. ^[9] He scored his first goal in the competition the following weekend, helping to a 3–2 victory at B-SAD; ^[10] shortly after, however, he returned to the reserves. ^[11]

On 31 August 2021, Leite was loaned to S.C. Braga for one year. ^[12] He made 34 competitive appearances during his spell at the Estádio Municipal de Braga, but only five in the last three months. ^{[13] [14]}

Union Berlin

In July 2022, still owned by Porto, Leite joined 1. FC Union Berlin with a buying option. ^[15] After a successful first season, helping the Bundesliga club to secure qualification for the UEFA Champions League for the first time in its history and totalling 40 games, he signed a permanent contract for €7.500.000. ^[16]

International career

Leite won his first cap for Portugal at under-21 level at the age of only 19, coming on as a second-half substitute in a 3–2 friendly win over Italy. ^[17] He was later used as a starter by coach Rui Jorge in both legs of the 2019 UEFA European Championship play-offs, lost to Poland 3–1 on aggregate. ^{[18] [19]}

In October 2022, Leite was named in a preliminary 55-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. ^[20] On 26 March 2023, he remained on the bench of a 6–0 victory in Luxembourg for the UEFA Euro 2024 qualifiers. ^[21]

Career statistics

As of match played 23 November 2024 ^[22]

Club	Season	League			National Cup [a]		League Cup [b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Porto B	2017–18	LigaPro	28	0	—		—		—		3 [c]	0	31	0
	2018–19		16	1	—		—		—		—		16	1
	2019–20		2	0	—		—		—		—		2	0
	2020–21		1	0	—		—		—		—		1	0
	Total		47	1	—		—		—		3	0	50	1
Porto	2018–19	Primeira Liga	3	1	0	0	1	0	1 [d]	0	1 [e]	0	6	1
	2019–20		9	0	6	0	2	1	1 [f]	0	—		18	1
	2020–21		19	1	2	0	2	0	3 [d]	0	1 [e]	0	27	1
	Total		31	2	8	0	5	1	5	0	2	0	51	3
Braga (loan)	2021–22	Primeira Liga	23	0	3	0	2	0	6 [f]	0	0	0	34	0
Union Berlin (loan)	2022–23	Bundesliga	28	0	3	0	—		9 [f]	0	—		40	0
Union Berlin	2023–24	Bundesliga	32	0	2	1	—		6 [d]	0	—		40	1
	2024–25	Bundesliga	11	0	1	0	—		—		—		12	0
	Total		43	0	3	1	—		6	0	—		52	1
Career total			172	3	17	1	7	1	26	0	5	0	227	5

1. Includes Taça de Portugal and DFB-Pokal
2. Includes Taça da Liga
3. Appearances in Premier League International Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
5. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
6. Appearances in UEFA Europa League

Honours

Porto Youth

• UEFA Youth League: 2018–19 ^[23]

Porto

• Primeira Liga: 2019–20 ^[24]
• Taça de Portugal: 2019–20 ^[25]
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2018, ^[8] 2020 ^[26]

Portugal

• UEFA European Under-17 Championship: 2016 ^[27]

Individual

• UEFA European Under-17 Championship Team of the Tournament: 2016 ^[28]
• Primeira Liga Defender of the Month: August 2018 ^[29]

References

1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Portugal" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020. Retrieved 23 April 2021.
2. "Diogo Leite" (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
3. "Diogo Leite" (in German). 1. FC Union Berlin. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
4. "FC Porto renova com jovem promessa Diogo Leite" [FC Porto renew with young prospect Diogo Leite] (in Portuguese). Rádio Renascença. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
5. "FC Porto B-Santa Clara, 1–0: Dragões tiram invencibilidade aos açorianos" [FC Porto B-Santa Clara, 1–0: Azoreans no longer undefeated courtesy of dragons]. Record (in Portuguese). 27 August 2017. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
6. "Defesa continua a ser dor de cabeça para Sérgio Conceição. Diogo Leite é opção para a Supertaça" [Defence is still an headache for Sérgio Conceição. Diogo Leite is an option for the Supercup] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 27 July 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
7. Pires, Sérgio (3 August 2018). ""Diogo Leite tem uma década de FC Porto: sabe o que é a exigência"" ["Diogo Leite has one decade of FC Porto: he knows what expectation is"] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
8. "FC Porto conquista Supertaça pela 21.ª vez" [FC Porto conquer Supercup for the 21st time] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 4 August 2018. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
9. Andrade, David (11 August 2018). "FC Porto começa defesa do título com uma goleada" [FC Porto start title defence with rout]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 November 2018.
10. Pires, Bruno (19 August 2018). "Fantasma do Jamor ainda assustou Conceição" [Ghost of the Jamor still scared Conceição]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 November 2018.
11. Casaca, Manuel (10 February 2019). "Lesionados ao serviço da equipa B do FC Porto e em dúvida para Roma" [Injured while playing for B team of FC Porto and in doubt for Roma]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 21 May 2019.
12. Casaca, Manuel (31 August 2021). "Diogo Leite emprestado pelo FC Porto ao Braga" [Diogo Leite loaned by FC Porto to Braga]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 31 August 2021.
13. Pires, Sérgio (30 May 2022). "FC Porto: Sp. Braga não avança para a contratação de Diogo Leite" [FC Porto: Sp. Braga will not push to sign Diogo Leite] (in Portuguese). Mais Futebol. Retrieved 7 July 2022.
14. Magalhães, Ana Luísa (3 June 2022). "Emprestados pelo FC Porto redifinem futuro e três têm transferência na mira" [FC Porto loanees sort out future and three have sights set on transfer]. O Jogo (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 July 2022.
15. Koch, Matthias (16 July 2022). "Verteidiger Leite schon im Union-Trainingslager" [Defender Leite has joined Union's training camp]. B.Z. (in German). Retrieved 18 July 2022.
16. "Oficial: Diogo Leite em definitivo no Union Berlim" [Official: Diogo Leite permanently to Union Berlin]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 1 June 2023. Retrieved 1 June 2023.
17. "Seleção sub-21 de Portugal vence Itália em amigável disputado no Estoril" [Under-21 Portuguese national team beat Italy in friendly held in Estoril] (in Portuguese). SAPO. 25 May 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
18. "Portugal em vantagem sobre a Polónia no "play-off"" [Portugal ahead of Poland in play-off] (in Portuguese). UEFA. 16 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
19. "Golo de Diogo Jota insuficiente e Seleção falha apuramento para Europeu de Sub-21" [Diogo Jota goal not enough and national team miss out on qualification for Under-21 Euro]. Record (in Portuguese). 20 November 2018. Retrieved 21 November 2018.
20. "A lista de pré-convocados da Seleção p'sara o Mundial'2022: conheça todos os nomes" [The pre-selected for the 2022 World Cup: know all the names]. Record (in Portuguese). 23 October 2022. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
21. "Luxembourg 0–6 Portugal". BBC Sport. 26 March 2023. Retrieved 25 September 2023.
22. Diogo Leite at Soccerway
23. Almeida, Isaura (29 April 2019). "FC Porto é campeão Europeu Sub-19" [FC Porto are Under-19 European champions]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). Archived from the original on 30 April 2019. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
24. "FC Porto é o campeão nacional 2019/2020" [FC Porto is the 2019/2020 national champion] (in Portuguese). Rádio e Televisão de Portugal. 16 July 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
25. "Taça de Portugal: FC Porto conquista "dobradinha"" [Portuguese Cup: FC Porto wins "double"] (in Portuguese). Deutsche Welle. 2 August 2020. Retrieved 28 March 2021.
26. Ribeiro, Patrick (23 December 2020). "FC Porto claim Super Cup joy over rivals Benfica". PortuGOAL. Retrieved 24 December 2020.
27. "Under-17 – Portugal prevail on penalties against Spain". UEFA. May 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
28. "[Under-17] The UEFA technical team – Team of the Tournament". UEFA. Retrieved 7 August 2018.
29. "CD Feirense e SL Benfica dominam prémios do mês de agosto" [CD Feirense and SL Benfica dominate awards for the month of August] (in Portuguese). Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional. 17 September 2018. Retrieved 10 January 2019.

External links

• Diogo Leite at ForaDeJogo (archived)
• Diogo Leite national team profile at the Portuguese Football Federation (in Portuguese)