Joao Neves Opens Portugal’s World Cup Campaign With a Rare Header Record

Portugal officially began its World Cup campaign in style, scoring after just six minutes, with Joao Neves finding the net. The Paris Saint-Germain midfielder, a two-time European champion with the club, was the man behind the early goal.

The piece highlights an unusual stat for the 1.71-meter-tall midfielder: he has scored 22 career goals for club and country, and six of them have come from headers. For a player of his height, the numbers are described as extraordinary, making him one of the best headers of the ball in the game relative to his size.

Neves is also noted as Portugal’s third-youngest scorer in World Cups, at 21 years and 263 days old. Only Cristiano Ronaldo, who scored in 2006, and Goncalo Ramos, who scored in 2022, were younger when they found the net for Portugal at the tournament.