Geyse's 2026 revival after two years away from Brazil | OneFootball

With major titles and an acclaimed international career, Geyse credits her maturity on and off the pitch not to her achievements, but to all the challenges she has faced. Known as “pretinha” in the countryside of Alagoas, where she was born, she knew football was what made her happy from the time she was a child, playing with her five brothers and cousins.

After enrolling at a school in the nearest town, Maragogi, and playing in the inter-school tournament, she joined the state club União Desportiva Alagoana (UDA). More than a decade has passed, and the memory of her first call-up to the national team still remains vivid today.

“I was at UDA, we played against Náutico in the Copa do Brasil, and the next day there were tryouts for the Under-20s. Two weeks later, my brother came saying he had gotten a call from the coach. Since I arrived at Brazil’s youth national team in 2015, things just flowed,” the forward recalls.

Meteoric rise

Her national and international breakthrough came quickly. From Alagoas, she went through Pernambuco and São Paulo and played for Centro Olímpico and Corinthians, where she met coach Arthur Elias. The move to Madrid CFF came in 2017, the same year she debuted for the senior national team. Still at youth level, she was the top scorer and was named best player at the 2018 South American Under-20 Championship.

In eight years in Europe, she played for Madrid CFF, Benfica, Barcelona, and Manchester United, putting up impressive numbers, such as 49 goals in 30 matches for the Portuguese club, and winning titles such as top scorer in the Spanish league, the Spanish Championship, the UEFA Women's Champions League, and the Women's FA Cup.

In the United States, during Gotham FC’s 2025 season, she won the NWSL league title and the first edition of the CONCACAF competition. Among so many achievements, which one makes her proudest? “Winning the Champions League with Barcelona. I think every player who competes in the Champions sees that as their greatest achievement,” she says without hesitation.

Turbulence

With the Brazilian National Team, the Alagoas native has played in the most important competitions, such as the last two World Cups, in 2023 and 2019, the Tokyo Olympics, held in 2021, and the 2022 Women’s Copa América, which she won. In the current cycle under Arthur Elias, this is her sixth call-up. Her time away from the national team, between 2024 and 2026, was no coincidence.

“I went through difficult times because, in general, people only see the athlete’s performance on the field and not the person who is there too. I lost a brother, and I was alone and far from my family. América helped me a lot to find the desire to play football again. Little by little, the joy of being on the field is coming back,” she reveals.

Among the 29 players called up for training in Itu, forward Geyse has a long history with the Brazilian National TeamCredits: Luciana Vermell/CBF

Signed by Club América of Mexico at the beginning of this year, she sees 2026 as an awakening. After winning the CONCACAF W Champions Cup with the Mexican club, Geyse became the first player to win the competition twice.

Her strong performances for the club coincided with her return to the national team. Two years after wearing the green and yellow shirt at the Gold Cup in February 2024, she was called up for the matches against Venezuela, Costa Rica, and Mexico at the beginning of this year. Now, alongside teammates from other stages of the national team, such as center back Kathellen, she is taking part in the training period outside the FIFA window in Itu, São Paulo.

For a possible third World Cup, the player has just one hope: “With the first World Cup in Brazil, for it to be a beautiful celebration, we need the support of the fans. So that women’s football, not only for our national team but for all countries, is valued more.”

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.