Léo Pereira (footballer, born 1996)

Léo Pereira
Personal information
Full name Leonardo Pereira[1]
Date of birth (1996-01-31) 31 January 1996[1]
Place of birth Curitiba, Brazil
Height 1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position Centre back
Team information
Current team
 Flamengo
Number 4
Youth career
2010–2014 Atlético Paranaense
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2014–2019 Atlético Paranaense 80 (7)
2015 → Guaratinguetá (loan) 8 (2)
2016 → Náutico (loan) 5 (0)
2017 → Orlando City B (loan) 8 (0)
2017 → Orlando City (loan) 10 (0)
2020– Flamengo 197 (14)
International career‡
2013 Brazil U17 4 (0)
2015 Brazil U20 8 (2)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 19 March 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 21 October 2015

Leonardo "Léo" Pereira (born 31 January 1996) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a central defender for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo.

Club career

Atlético Paranaense

Born in Curitiba, Paraná, Léo Pereira finished his formation with Atlético Paranaense. He made his Série A debut on 3 May 2014, replacing Marcos Guilherme in a 2–3 home loss against Cruzeiro.[2] He went on to make a further thirteen league appearances in 2014.

Guaratinguetá (loan)

Pereira joined Guaratinguetá of Série C on loan in August 2015 where he made eight appearances before returning to Atlético in October 2015.[3]

Orlando City (loan)

On March 14, 2017, Pereira joined Orlando City B, the USL affiliate of Orlando City, on a season long loan. He was the first player to move between the two clubs since they became official partners the previous November.[4] After beginning the season with Orlando City B, he was called up to the first team in mid-April and made his MLS debut against San Jose Earthquakes on 17 May 2017.[5]

Flamengo

On 28 January 2020 Flamengo signed Pereira from Athletico Paranaense in a €6.1m transfer.[6]

On 27 January 2023 Pereira extended his contract with Flamengo until 31 December 2027.[7]

In a relentless 2025 campaign, Léo emerged as one of the most utilized players in the squad, appearing in 63 matches with 62 starts. His offensive impact was extraordinary for a defender, netting six goals and providing one assist, while his playmaking ability shone through with 22 key passes and a staggering 92% pass completion rate. He remained a constant threat with his distribution, averaging 3.2 successful long balls per game. Defensively, Pereira was a pillar of consistency, winning 59% of his aerial duels and maintaining 54% efficiency in overall challenges. His statistical profile is rounded out by 4.3 ball recoveries and 3.5 clearances per match, demonstrating a clean style of play with only 0.7 fouls per game despite picking up seven yellow cards throughout the year.[8]

International career

Pereira has made twelve appearances across two age levels for the Brazil national team. He received his first call up to the U17s when he was selected for the 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship in April. He made two appearances in Argentina against Peru and Venezuela. His final U17 caps came in October and November when he was called up for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The first coming in the Group Stage against Honduras and the second in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out defeat to Mexico in which Pereira scored a spot-kick in the shoot-out.[3]

Two years later Pereira appeared in five of Brazil's 2015 South American Youth Football Championship matches, with two caps coming against Colombia and the other three coming against Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru who he also scored against. Later that year he played in three of Brazil's 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup matches. The first two came in the Group Stage against Hungary and North Korea, he scored a goal against the latter, and his last U20 World Cup cap was versus Senegal in a 5–0 semi-final win. Brazil subsequently made it to the final which they lost to Serbia, Pereira was an unused substitute.[3]

After being included several times on the pre-lists for the national team, Léo Pereira finally was called by Carlo Ancelotti for the main Brazil squad in March 16, 2026 for friendlies against France and Croatia, on the final months of preparation building up the squad prior to the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[9]

Career statistics

As of match played 19 March 2026[10]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League State league[a] National cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Athletico Paranaense 2014 Série A 14 0 7 0 1 0 — — 22 0
2015 0 0 2 0 1 0 — — 3 0
2018 18 3 13 2 0 0 10[c] 1 — 41 6
2019 26 2 0 0 7 1 8[d] 0 3[e] 0 44 3
Total 58 5 22 2 9 1 18 1 3 0 110 9
Guaratinguetá (loan) 2015 Série C 8 2 — — — — 8 2
Náutico (loan) 2016 Série B 5 0 — — — — 5 0
Orlando City B (loan) 2017 USL 8 0 — — — — 8 0
Orlando City (loan) 2017 MLS 10 0 — — — — 10 0
Flamengo 2020 Série A 13 1 10 0 4 0 6[d] 0 1[f] 0 34 1
2021 19 0 4 0 5 0 7[d] 0 0 0 35 0
2022 13 0 8 2 9 0 8[d] 0 1[g] 0 39 2
2023 32 3 7 0 8 0 4[d] 1 2[h] 0 53 4
2024 28 0 12 3 9 0 7[d] 1 — 56 4
2025 34 4 8 0 2 0 12[d] 1 7[i] 1 63 6
2026 6 1 3 0 0 0 0 0 3[j] 0 12 1
Total 145 9 52 5 37 0 44 3 14 1 292 18
Career total 234 16 74 7 46 1 62 4 17 1 433 34
  1. ^ Includes Campeonato Paranaense, Campeonato Carioca
  2. ^ Includes Copa do Brasil
  3. ^ Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
  4. ^ a b c d e f g Appearances in Copa Libertadores
  5. ^ Two appearances in Recopa Sudamericana, one appearance in J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship
  6. ^ Appearance in Recopa Sudamericana
  7. ^ Appearance in Supercopa do Brasil
  8. ^ One appearance in FIFA Club World Cup, on appearance in Supercopa do Brasil
  9. ^ One appearance in Supercopa do Brasil, three appearances in FIFA Club World Cup, three appearances and one goal in FIFA Intercontinental Cup
  10. ^ One appearance in Supercopa do Brasil, two appearances in Recopa Sudamericana

Honours

Athletico Paranaense

Flamengo

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c "FIFA Club World Cup Morocco 2022™: List of Players: CR Flamengo" (PDF). FIFA. 7 February 2023. p. 4. Archived (PDF) from the original on 12 February 2023. Retrieved 18 February 2023.
  2. ^ "Cruzeiro reage duas vezes e consegue virada para cima do Furacão" [Cruzeiro reacts twice and completes comeback over Furacão] (in Portuguese). Globo Esporte. 3 May 2014. Retrieved 15 April 2015.
  3. ^ a b c "Léo Pereira on Soccerway". Soccerway. 21 October 2015. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  4. ^ "OCB Acquires Clube Atlético Paranaense Defender Léo Pereira on Loan". Orlando City. 14 March 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  5. ^ "Starting XI vs. San Jose". Orlando City. 17 May 2017. Retrieved 17 May 2017.
  6. ^ "Pablo Marí viaja para fechar com o Arsenal, e Flamengo acerta contratação de Léo Pereira, do Athletico". ge.globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 28 January 2020. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  7. ^ "Flamengo renova contrato de Léo Pereira até o fim de 2027". ge.globo (in Brazilian Portuguese). 27 January 2023. Retrieved 27 January 2023.
  8. ^ "Compare números de Vitão com principais zagueiros do Flamengo" (in Portuguese). Lance. Retrieved 30 December 2025.
  9. ^ "Brazil: Brentford's Igor Thiago and Bournemouth's Rayan receive first call-ups". BBC Sport. 16 March 2026. Retrieved 17 March 2026.
  10. ^ Léo Pereira at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 October 2015.
  11. ^ "Flamengo reach final on the back of another de Arrascaeta masterclass". FIFA. 13 December 2025. Retrieved 13 December 2025.
  12. ^ "Cruz Azul v CR Flamengo | FIFA Derby of the Americas | FIFA Intercontinental Cup 2025". FIFA. 10 December 2025. Retrieved 11 December 2025.
  13. ^ "Gabi Leads Flamengo To Libertadores Title". CONMEBOL Libertadores. 30 October 2022. Retrieved 3 November 2022.
  14. ^ "Flamengo pip Palmeiras to claim Copa Libertadores title for fourth time". Flashscore. 29 November 2025. Retrieved 29 November 2025.
  15. ^ Vickery, Tim (27 February 2020). "Flamengo's Recopa win over Independiente a stepping stone to more glory". ESPN. Retrieved 27 February 2020.
  16. ^ "Champions again: Flamengo clinch the 2025 Brasileirão title". OneFootball. 3 December 2025. Retrieved 3 December 2025.
  17. ^ "Supercopa: em jogo doido, Flamengo vence o Palmeiras nos pênaltis". One Football (in Portuguese). 11 April 2021. Retrieved 11 April 2021.
  18. ^ "Flamengo domina o Botafogo e é campeão da Supercopa Rei". ge.globo.com (in Brazilian Portuguese). 2 February 2025. Retrieved 2 February 2025.
  19. ^ "Flamengo domina seleção do Campeonato Carioca: veja a escalação, o craque e a revelação" (in Brazilian Portuguese). ge.globo. 9 April 2024. Retrieved 9 April 2024.
  20. ^ "Seleção da Libertadores 2025: Conmebol divulga time com sete jogadores do Flamengo" (in Brazilian Portuguese). ge.globo. 2 December 2025. Retrieved 2 December 2025.
  21. ^ "Bola de Prata: confira os vencedores da premiação da ESPN". Revista Veja (in Portuguese). 8 December 2025. Archived from the original on 8 December 2025.
  22. ^ "Seleção do Brasileirão 2025: Flamengo e Cruzeiro dominam escalação; veja premiados". GloboEsporte (in Portuguese). 8 December 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: deprecated archival service (link)
  23. ^ "De Messi y los dos uruguayos, a los seis campeones de Libertadores: el 11 ideal de América le responde a El País" (in Spanish). El País. 31 December 2025. Retrieved 31 December 2025.
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