João Gomes joins the handball squad | OneFootball

João Gomes is the new addition to FC Porto's handball team. The 23-year-old right back, who helped Portugal achieve an unprecedented fifth place in the European Championship, is leaving Gummersbach and has signed a contract until 2027.

Born in Águas Santas, the player who will wear the blue and white jersey number 3 fell in love with the sport early on when his uncle – who was a pivot at the local team at the time – took him to watch a game. After this first encounter, he quickly joined the renowned youth teams of the Maiato club, and his passion remained. Determined to make his mark in national handball, he went through all the ranks and debuted as a senior at just 17 years old, on August 25, 2019, precisely against FC Porto.

The five goals he scored in that Super Cup did not prevent the trophy from going to Invicta, but they gave him the confidence to start a remarkable journey: 309 accurate shots in 137 games over four seasons, gaining experience in national competitions and earning his first minutes in European competitions, while also standing out in youth national teams.

He played in the Under-19 European Championship in 2021, helped Portugal reach the final of the Under-20 European Championship in 2022 – alongside Diogo Rêma, Pedro Oliveira, Ricardo Brandão, Vasco Costa, and Miguel Oliveira – and accompanied that generation to the quarter-finals of the Under-21 World Championship in 2023. In the meantime, he also won the Four Nations Tournament and the International Tournament of Hungary.

His speed and intelligence, at 1.78 meters, caught the attention of Sporting, and the transfer to Lisbon earned him two National Championships, two Portuguese Cups, and two Super Cups, as well as his debut in the Champions League. With 185 accurate shots in 91 games at the highest level, he earned his first call-up from Paulo Jorge Pereira to the National Team in May 2024 and, after a good performance, also joined the historic 2025 World Championship where the Heróis do Mar finished in fourth place – a competition in which he scored ten goals.

Having completed the first stage on national soil, he transferred to the Bundesliga, considered by many and himself as the best in the world, to strengthen Gummersbach – a historic club with 13 European titles, including five Champions Leagues, and 12 German titles. Guided by the legend Gudjón Valur Sigurdsson and alongside notable names like Kentin Mahé or Kay Smits, the player scored 28 goals in 21 games for the current sixth-placed team in the competition, before once again standing out with the Quinas Team, scoring nine goals in the aforementioned European Championship, alongside Rui Silva, Pedro Oliveira, José Luís Ferreira, and Ricardo Brandão.

Returning to Porto – where he also completed his studies at the Faculty of Engineering – João Gomes is now preparing to join Magnus Andersson's squad, which will compete in the National Championship and the European League.

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