Ricardo Neto: The World Cup Winner Who’s Eyeing a Benfica Debut
From Bernardo Silva to João Neves, and João Cancelo to Gonçalo Ramos, the Benfica Campus has helped to produce a plethora of Portugal internationals and Champions League stars since its launch in 2006. And at 17 years of age, Ricardo Jorge Gomes da Costa Neto could just very well be the latest Seixal product to make the leap to the top level of world football.
Early Beginnings in Amadora
Born on August 26, 2008, Ricardo Neto was mainly raised in the Casal da Boba housing complex in Amadora, Portugal’s fourth-biggest city and most densely populated city, although he switched back and forth between living with his father and mother after they divorced. Pretty soon, it became clear that the one thing that truly made Neto happy was playing football on the streets with his friends. It’s why, after initially plying his trade with CD Lisboa Águias, Neto joined Benfica’s world-renowned academy in 2018, where he would proceed to soar through the youth tiers for club and country.
“What makes the Benfica academy different from the others in terms of being a great developer of players is the many people who work there and help establish the same top-level conditions from the cafeteria to the pitches to the physiotherapy room, and even in the way they help the athletes in their personal life and how the coaches help athletes grow,” stated Neto in an exclusive R.Org interview. “I lived in Casal da Boba in Amadora, but would switch between living with my father and my mother each week.
At first, when I was starting off at Benfica, I’d only play for them two times per week due to my academic schedule. I’d play with an older group on Wednesday, and I’d play with my age group on Tuesday. We’d train at Benfica’s Estádio da Luz or the Pupilos (where Benfica’s youngsters play until they are old enough to play at Benfica Campus) or Casa Pia, and then we’d play on the weekend. That’s what I loved to do: playing football on the streets and at school with my friends.”
Initially, Neto would train with Benfica twice a week before playing with his club team on the weekend. After starting with Benfica’s U-11 side, Neto quickly made his way through the ranks before gradually establishing himself as a future star and playing on a daily basis for the Águias. At the U-13 level, when Benfica gathers its most promising youngsters from their regional academies across the country and centers them in Seixal, Neto was ready to answer the call and put in the work needed to compete with the best talents in the country.
“I think you have to have the right mindset and wisdom to rise to that level. It’s fundamental to not be shaken by certain things and know how to handle certain situations and emotions…I think that has a great influence on this transition. I think a lot of my footballing passion came from when I was very young, and what inspired me the most to play, but my mentality really changed when I joined Benfica and started moving up the levels. I think that started from the under-15s onwards, when I started getting called up to the national team, the games started to get tougher, and the preparation and demands were so different, that’s when I realized that this is what I wanted to do with my life.”
International Breakthrough with Portugal
The teenage defender’s first big breakthrough came in the 2022/23 season, when he helped Benfica win the U-15 national championship. But he didn’t rest on his laurels: instead, spurred on by Seixal’s world-renowned coaches and staff, Neto kicked on and continued to build on his momentum, leading Benfica to the U-17 Second Division National Championship in 2023/24 before claiming the National Championship with the ‘Juvenis’ in 2024/25. It became evident that Neto wasn’t just a very good young talent, but someone with the potential to play for Benfica’s first team in the long-term future. Neto hasn’t just excelled at the youth level for Benfica, but for Portugal, having made 26 international caps thus far. However, not even in his wildest dreams could Neto have predicted what would come to pass in 2025.
After a successful campaign with the Águias, Neto then headed to Albania to take part in the 2025 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. After playing the full 90 in the tournament opener against the hosts, Neto then dropped to the bench against France before coming on for the final nine minutes of their third group stage match vs. Germany. But after riding the bench in their penalty shootout victory vs. Italy, Neto played the final 23 minutes as the Seleção das Quinas beat France 3-0 to secure their seventh title.
Six months later, he headed to Qatar to take part in the 2025 FIFA U-17 World Cup, playing the full 90 in their group stage fixtures vs. New Caledonia and Japan, before coming on for the final minutes and helping to shore up a 1-0 victory against Austria in the final. Just like that, Portugal had won the third World Cup in its history, at the male or female level, having previously won the U-20 World Cup (then called the FIFA World Youth Championship) in 1989 and 1991.
“These two titles were the highlights of my career so far, taking into account the weight that each title carries: the European Championship, and the World Cup. Portugal hadn’t won a World Cup in quite a few years, so I think the fact of writing my name into the history books carries some weight. At the end of the day, after winning the World Cup it became clear that the effort paid off: all that running, all that training, it all paid off. In the end, it me made us very happy as well as the whole team, our families, our staff, and all of Portugal happy, having supported us and been with us every step of the way from the very start.”
Since becoming a European champion and a world champion, Neto’s hunger for success has merely snowballed, with the Portuguese defender making his UEFA Youth League debut and debuting for Benfica B in the Premier League International Cup. All things considered, he’s played 20 times this season for Benfica, including four matches in the Liga Revelação de Sub-23 as well as 13 matches in the Campeonato Nacional de Sub-19.
Banging on the Benfica Door
Similarly to other center backs who have ascended through the Seixal academy ranks and achieved success with Benfica such as Tomás Araújo, Rúben Dias, and António Silva, Neto is an unyielding defender who thrives at timing his interventions to perfection, cutting out through balls, blocking shots, and holding his own in physical challenges. However, he’s also made his mark in possession by pushing forward and using his dominant right foot to break the lines and slice through opposing defenses with a carefully constructed pass.
“I’m a defender who fulfills his principal role of defending, whose strengths are mainly aerial balls – especially defending them – and in general just controlling the defense. I’m aiming to improve my offensive side and become more of a goal-scoring defender.”
Under the watchful eye of legendary manager José Mourinho, who returned to the dugout in September after a quarter-century, Benfica have started to give regular opportunities to a number of its various homegrown prospects. Players like Daniel Banjaqui, Anísio Cabral, and José Neto, all of whom were heavily involved in Portugal’s U-17 World Cup triumph. So far, Ricardo Neto hasn’t yet made that jump: instead, he’s keeping both feet firmly placed on the ground, balancing his academic studies with his footballing development, and honing his skills in the youth ranks. However, if he can continue building on his momentum, then it may only be a matter of time before Neto manages to make the ascension to the Benfica first team.
“I haven’t spoken to [Mourinho] yet, I haven’t had the opportunity to have that conversation. But I think seeing our colleagues like Anísio, Banjaqui, and José Neto playing for the first team, that encourages us and tells us that it’s possible to get there if we do things well. I look at it this way because my goal is to play for the first team, and by continuing to work hard, I believe that I can get there.”