Gabriel Brás

Gabriel Costa Brás (born 25 March 2004) is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a centre back for Dutch club NEC Nijmegen, on loan from Porto B, and the Portugal national under-21 team.

He joined the youth ranks of Porto in 2017 from local club Varzim, and made his debut for Porto B in Liga Portugal 2 in 2023, later becoming captain. He represented Portugal from under-15 to under-21 international level, and was chosen in the Team of the Tournament at the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship, in which his team were runners-up.

Club career Born in Póvoa de Varzim in the Porto metropolitan area, Brás was raised in neighbouring Vila do Conde. He started playing football at local club Varzim before joining the youth ranks of Porto in 2017, and signing his first professional contract aged 16 in June 2020.

Brás was added to the Porto B team in Liga Portugal 2 for 2023–24. He made his debut on 13 August in a goalless home draw with Tondela, and on 2 September, he headed his first goal to equalise in a 2–1 loss away to Mafra, as his team lost for the first time in the fourth fixture. In December, first-team manager Sérgio Conceição called up Brás and fellow reserve defender Romain Correia for a Taça da Liga match against Leixões, as David Carmo had been sent in the opposite direction.

On 2 December 2024, captain Brás headed the last-minute winner against Oliveirense. Thirteen days later, he suffered an injury in a goalless home draw with Feirense on 15 December 2024, and was ruled out for over a month. In June 2025, first-team manager Martín Anselmi called him up for the 28-man squad for the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup in the United States.

In 2025–26, Brás played 30 games for Porto B. On 13 August 2026 he was loaned to Dutch club NEC Nijmegen for a €100,000 fee and the option to buy 50% of his economic rights for €1.25 million.

International career Brás played with the Portugal under-15 team at a tournament in Austria in 2019, scoring in a 2–1 loss to the hosts on 29 April. On 6 February 2020, he equalised in a 3–1 home win over Colombia in Vila Real de Santo António for the under-16 team. He was the captain of the under-18 team at the football at the 2022 Mediterranean Games in Algeria.

At the 2023 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Malta, Brás scored the opening goal of the tournament within four minutes of a 2–0 group win over Poland. Three days later he added another in a 5–1 win over Italy at the National Stadium, Ta' Qali. The two teams met again in the final which Italy won by a single goal; Brás was named in the Team of the Tournament.

On 11 October 2024, on his second cap for the under-21 team, Brás scored a header in a 3–1 win away to the Faroe Islands, in 2025 UEFA European Under-21 Championship qualification. A year and three days later in his next game, he contributed a goal to a record 11–0 win away to Gibraltar in the next qualification cycle.