Clarinha, 2026 women's top scorer, on Brazil and partnership | OneFootball

In eight months, Ana Clara Oliveira, better known as Clarinha, went from making her debut for the Under-20 National Team to becoming the top scorer among all players who wore Brazil’s yellow jersey in 2026. The goal she scored in her very first match for the age group, on October 23 in a friendly against Mexico in Goiânia, was a sign of what was to come in the midfielder’s rising journey with the national team.

Since January, she has found the net five times: in the routs against Bolivia and Argentina in the South American Championship, in the match against Venezuela that secured the continental title, and in the friendly in Portugal against the home side.

In the latter, in which she scored twice, the player had the advantage of experience against the opposition. A Brazilian with dual Portuguese nationality, Clarinha has played for Benfica since 2020, coming through the entire youth system before reaching the first team this 2025/2026 season.

Path to the Senior National Team

With five goals, the midfielder moved to the top of the women’s green-and-yellow scoring charts, ahead of Tainá Maranhão from the senior team; her Under-20 teammates Brendha, Nogueira, and Vitorinha; and Nicolly, Marcela, and Mari Gigante from the Under-17s, each with four goals.

Her strong performances in Brazil’s yellow jersey naturally pointed toward a place in the senior national team, and that happened at the beginning of this month. Among the 30 players called up by head coach Arthur Elias for a training camp in Itu was the Benfica player.

With 5 goals, Clarinha leads the scoring charts for Brazil’s Women’s National Team in 2026Credits: Luciana Vermell/CBF

“I was watching the Under-20 squad announcement, then out of nowhere the news came out that there would also be a training camp call-up, so I kept watching. They said my name and I got really emotional, I called my family and everyone was crying. So I’m going to keep training, not just here but at the club too, because it’s at the club that we work to get where we want to be, which is to establish ourselves in the senior national team,” the midfielder says.

Shared achievements

In Itu, she was alongside one of her Under-20 partners, forward Evelin. Their first time together was in November last year, in two friendlies in Argentina. “I think we have a good connection between midfielder and striker, I was always passing the ball to Evelin and just leaving her one-on-one to finish the job,” Clarinha says.

The duo recall that the following call-up, at Granja Comary, was a very intense training period for the South American Championship, with friendlies against Brazilian teams to build chemistry and help the squad improve. It paid off, because in February they won the title in Paraguay.

“Winning that title was very important, we worked really hard for it. The three goals I scored against Bolivia were very memorable,” Evelin says. Already more experienced with the senior national team, the Santos player has now been called up three times by coach Arthur Elias.

Together, Evelin and Clarinha train with the senior national team in Itu after winning the South American Championship Credits: Luciana Vermell/CBF

The first was in June last year, also for a training period, but at Granja Comary, before the Copa América. The second came in this year’s FIFA Series, replacing Jheniffer, who suffered an injury to her left foot. “I wasn’t expecting Arthur’s call-up for the FIFA Series, I was with the Under-20s, and when Camila called me over to talk I even thought I had done something,” the forward jokes.

She describes the experience of the tournament as very memorable and says she will keep working to earn her place in the senior team. But before that, the duo are focused on a shared goal: the Under-20 World Cup. “We have to take every moment we’re living through very seriously,” Clarinha sums up.

“Clarinha knows I’m really rooting for her, and we’re going to have a very strong connection from now on, more and more together in the call-ups,” Evelin says, knowing that together they can go farther.

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