Rafael Leão

Biography

Rafael Alexandre da Conceição Leão (Portuguese pronunciation: ; born 10 June 1999) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club AC Milan and the Portugal national team. Graduating from Sporting CP youth system, Leão made his first-team debut in 2018, winning the 2017–18 Taça da Liga, before unilaterally terminating his contract, following an incident within the club. Shortly after, he joined for Ligue 1 side Lille on a free transfer. AC Milan signed him in 2019 for a reported fee of €35 million. In his third season at the club, he helped the team win the 2021–22 Serie A, which ended the club's 11-year league title drought. He was also voted Serie A Most Valuable Player and was listed among the 30-man shortlist for the Ballon d'Or. Leão is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at various youth levels, being part of the under-17 team that won the 2016 European Championship. He made his senior international debut in 2021. On 5 October 2021, Leão was called up to the senior team for the first time, as a replacement for the injured Rafa Silva. Four days later, he made his international debut, replacing Cristiano Ronaldo at half-time and providing the assist for André Silva's goal in a 3–0 friendly defeat of Qatar. In October 2022, he was named in Portugal's preliminary 55-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, being included in the final 26-man squad for the tournament. On 25 November, Leão scored his first international goal, closing Portugal's 3–2 group stage win against Ghana. Leão followed with a second World Cup goal on 6 December when he closed Portugal's 6–1 thrashing of Switzerland in the round of 16. Portugal were eliminated in the quarter-finals after losing 1–0 to Morocco, who became the first CAF nation ever to reach the World Cup semi-finals.