# Zé Pedro (footballer, born 1997)
**Zé Pedro** (José Pedro da Silva Figueiredo Freitas; born 1997 in [Guimarães](https://www.edgepedia.org/guimaraes), Portugal) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a central defender for [Serie A](https://www.edgepedia.org/serie-a) club Cagliari. He rose from Portugal's lower divisions to become a first-team regular at [FC Porto](https://www.edgepedia.org/fc-porto), where he won the Taça de Portugal in 2023/24 and the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira in 2024, before moving to Italy in September 2025.[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/ze-pedro/167240) • [2](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Full name / born | José Pedro da Silva Figueiredo Freitas, 1997, Guimarães, Portugal[1](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/ze-pedro/167240) |
| Position / physique | Central defender, 187 cm, right-footed; shirt number 2 at Cagliari[2](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448) |
| Breakthrough | Promoted from Porto's B team to the first team during 2023/24 after Fábio Cardoso's sending-off at Estádio da Luz on 29 September 2023; wore number 97[3](https://www.fcporto.pt/en/football/fcporto/player/ze-pedro-fXmyD) |
| Porto B record | Captain of the B team, 79 appearances and 5 goals; Opta records 75 appearances, 6,400 minutes and 5 goals (2 penalties) for Porto II between 2021 and 2023/24[3](https://www.fcporto.pt/en/football/fcporto/player/ze-pedro-fXmyD) • [4](https://theanalyst.com/players/6852/ze-pedro/career) |
| Honors with Porto | Taça de Portugal 2023/24; Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira 2024[5](https://www.ligaportugal.pt/player/74588/ze-pedro/20242025/157) |
| Move to Italy | Transferred to Cagliari on 1 September 2025 for 2 million euros, under contract until 30 June 2028[2](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448) |
## Early career in Portugal
Zé Pedro spent his youth years at Vitória de Guimarães, Os Sandinenses and Vizela, then went on loan to União Torcatense and Fafe before joining Sporting de Braga. In the Minho region he played for Braga's Under-23 and B teams, from where he left to join Estrela Amadora.[3](https://www.fcporto.pt/en/football/fcporto/player/ze-pedro-fXmyD) Sofascore's transfer history places his move to AD Fafe in July 2017 and his arrival at CF Estrela Amadora on 1 July 2020, both without a transfer fee.[2](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448)
At Estrela he played a key role in the club's promotion to [Liga Portugal 2](https://www.edgepedia.org/liga-portugal-2), scoring three goals in 33 games in the Portuguese Championship, and featured in their run to the Round of 16 of the Portuguese Cup.[3](https://www.fcporto.pt/en/football/fcporto/player/ze-pedro-fXmyD)
## FC Porto
The defender arrived in Porto in 2021, joining FC Porto B on 21 July 2021 for a reported 250,000 euros.[2](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448) His first-team debut came on 15 December 2021 against Rio Ave in the League Cup, a one-off appearance that season, before he became captain of the B team, for which he made 79 appearances and scored five goals.[3](https://www.fcporto.pt/en/football/fcporto/player/ze-pedro-fXmyD) Opta's career history records 75 appearances, 6,400 minutes, 5 goals (2 of them penalties), 10 yellow cards and 1 red card for Porto II between 2021 and the 2023/24 season.[4](https://theanalyst.com/players/6852/ze-pedro/career)
**Promotion to the first team.** His first minutes in Portugal's top flight came at [Estádio da Luz](https://www.edgepedia.org/estadio-da-luz) on 29 September 2023, following the sending-off of Fábio Cardoso. From then on the number 97 took his place in the squad, played 16 more games for the first team, and helped build victories against Boavista and Casa Pia.[3](https://www.fcporto.pt/en/football/fcporto/player/ze-pedro-fXmyD) A Bola described the 2023/24 season as a rise from absolute starter of the B team to starter of the main squad, overtaking Fábio Cardoso in the hierarchy of center-backs and taking advantage of captain Pepe's injury absence; by the end of the season he had made 17 appearances under [Sérgio Conceição](https://www.edgepedia.org/sergio-conceicao).[6](https://www.abola.pt/noticias/fc-porto-ze-pedro-superou-gyokeres-e-pode-ter-ganho-uma-vaga-no-plantel-2024052718484186497)
His defensive display in the [Taça de Portugal](https://www.edgepedia.org/taca-de-portugal) final against Sporting, where he contained the league's top scorer [Viktor Gyökeres](https://www.edgepedia.org/viktor-gyokeres), strengthened his case for a place in the 2024/25 squad.[6](https://www.abola.pt/noticias/fc-porto-ze-pedro-superou-gyokeres-e-pode-ter-ganho-uma-vaga-no-plantel-2024052718484186497) Porto won that cup final, giving Zé Pedro the first trophy of his career, and he added the [Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira](https://www.edgepedia.org/supertaca-candido-de-oliveira) in 2024.[5](https://www.ligaportugal.pt/player/74588/ze-pedro/20242025/157)
**Contract and recognition.** In August 2024 Porto renewed his contract until 2026, and in the same summer the club rejected a proposal from [Rayo Vallecano](https://www.edgepedia.org/rayo-vallecano), which Zé Pedro described as a clear vote of confidence.[7](https://www.abola.pt/noticias/ze-pedro-entendo-proposta-recusada-como-claro-sinal-de-confianca-2024071808262106642) He was part of the Porto squad at the 2025 [FIFA Club World Cup](https://www.edgepedia.org/fifa-club-world-cup), playing the full 90 minutes of the 4-4 group-stage draw with Al-Ahly on 24 June 2025.[8](https://www.zerozero.pt/jogador/ze-pedro/226887/jogos?epoca_id=154)
## Cagliari
Zé Pedro transferred to Cagliari in Italy's Serie A on 1 September 2025 for a fee of 2 million euros, signing a contract running to 30 June 2028 and taking the number 2 shirt.[2](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448) Standing 187 cm tall and right-footed, he is listed as a central defender.[2](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448)
## Playing style
A 2024 comparison of Porto's center-backs published by poste.pt found Zé Pedro's averages superior to those of [Pepe](https://www.edgepedia.org/pepe-footballer-born-1983), [Otávio](https://www.edgepedia.org/otavio-footballer-born-1995) and Fábio Cardoso in five of seven parameters analyzed: successful total actions (83%), completed passes (91%), defensive duels (77%), aerial duels (61%) and recoveries (9.8 per match, tied with Pepe).[9](https://poste.pt/fc-porto/32582/ze-pedro-o-central-que-se-afirma-no-fc-porto) In the EA FC 26 database his standout attributes are jumping (80) and marking (76), with his best position as center-back.[10](https://fafifa.com/es/jugador/jose-pedro-da-silva-figueiredo-freitas)
## References
1. [Zé Pedro - joueur de football, L'Équipe](https://www.lequipe.fr/fiche/ze-pedro/167240)
2. [Estatísticas e avaliações do Zé Pedro, Sofascore](https://www.sofascore.com/pt/football/player/ze-pedro/945448)
3. [FC Porto - Zé Pedro, official player page](https://www.fcporto.pt/en/football/fcporto/player/ze-pedro-fXmyD)
4. [Zé Pedro Career History, Opta Analyst](https://theanalyst.com/players/6852/ze-pedro/career)
5. [Liga Portugal - José Pedro](https://www.ligaportugal.pt/player/74588/ze-pedro/20242025/157)
6. [FC Porto: Zé Pedro superou Gyokeres e pode ter ganho uma vaga no plantel, A Bola](https://www.abola.pt/noticias/fc-porto-ze-pedro-superou-gyokeres-e-pode-ter-ganho-uma-vaga-no-plantel-2024052718484186497)
7. [Zé Pedro: «Entendo proposta recusada como claro sinal de confiança», A Bola](https://www.abola.pt/noticias/ze-pedro-entendo-proposta-recusada-como-claro-sinal-de-confianca-2024071808262106642)
8. [Zé Pedro :: Jogos Realizados 2024/2025, zerozero.pt](https://www.zerozero.pt/jogador/ze-pedro/226887/jogos?epoca_id=154)
9. [Zé Pedro, o central que se afirma no FC Porto, poste.pt](https://poste.pt/fc-porto/32582/ze-pedro-o-central-que-se-afirma-no-fc-porto)
10. [Zé Pedro · FC 26, FAFIFA](https://fafifa.com/es/jugador/jose-pedro-da-silva-figueiredo-freitas)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Men's footballers of continental Europe › Portuguese footballers › Goalkeepers and defenders*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 30, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 12, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
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