Gelson Dala

Jacinto Muondo "Gelson" Dala (born 13 July 1996) is an Angolan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for Al-Wakrah in the Qatar Stars League.

Gelson Dala

Gelson with Sporting CP in 2017
Personal information
Full name	Jacinto Muondo Dala
Date of birth	(1996-07-13) 13 July 1996 (age 28)
Place of birth	Luanda, Angola
Height	1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)
Position(s)	Attacking midfielder and second striker
Team information
Current team	Al-Wakrah
Number	10
Youth career
2012–2013	1º de Agosto
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2013–2016	1º de Agosto	72	(46)
2017–2018	Sporting B	23	(17)
2017–2020	Sporting CP	1	(0)
2018–2019	→ Rio Ave (loan)	24	(5)
2019	→ Antalyaspor (loan)	6	(0)
2020	→ Rio Ave (loan)	14	(6)
2020–2021	Rio Ave	31	(3)
2021–2022	→ Al-Wakrah (loan)	17	(11)
2022–	Al-Wakrah	53	(26)
International career‡
2015–	Angola	51	(21)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 06:02, 25 January 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 25 March 2025

Club career

Born in Luanda, Gelson began his career with local C.D. Primeiro de Agosto. In July 2015, it was reported that he was being scouted by Portugal's S.L. Benfica.^[1] He scored 23 goals in 27 games as his team won the Girabola in 2016, and subsequently he and teammate Ary Papel signed for Sporting Clube de Portugal for undisclosed fees on contracts with €60 million release clauses.^[2]

After arriving in Lisbon in January 2017, Gelson made his debut for Sporting B in LigaPro on 15 January, playing the full 90 minutes of a 4–0 loss at Portimonense. Eight days later he scored his first goal, opening a 1–1 home draw with S.C. Covilhã. He totalled 13 goals in 17 games in his first season in the league, including four on 2 April in a 5–1 win over S.C. Olhanense.^[3] He was first called up to Jorge Jesus' main squad for the Primeira Liga match at C.D. Feirense on 13 May,^[4] remaining unused in a 2–1 loss, but made his top flight debut eight days later in the final match of the season, replacing namesake Gelson Martins at the end of a 4–1 win over G.D. Chaves at the Estádio José Alvalade.^[5]

Back in the reserves on 30 September 2017, Gelson scored a hat-trick in a 4–3 home win over C.D. Santa Clara.^[6]

International career

Gelson made his international debut for Angola on 13 June 2015 in a 2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification match against the Central African Republic at the Estádio Nacional da Tundavala, scoring twice in a 4–0 victory.^[1] On 4 July, he scored both goals in a win over Swaziland in Luanda to win the tie 4–2 on aggregate in the preliminary round of 2016 African Nations Championship qualification.^[7] On 20 January 2024, in the 2023 African Cup of Nations, he scored a brace in their 3–2 win over Mauritania. On 27 January 2024, he scored a first half brace for 10 men Angola in their Round of 16 win over Namibia.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 January 2025^[8]

Club	Season	League			National Cup		League Cup		Continental		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
1º de Agosto	2013	Girabola	4	2	—		—		—		4	2
	2014		19	9	2	1	—		—		21	10
	2015		26	8	—		—		—		26	8
	2016		27	23	1	0	—		—		28	23
	Total		76	42	3	1	0	0	0	0	79	43
Sporting CP B	2016–17	LigaPro	17	13	—		—		—		17	13
	2017–18		6	4	—		—		—		6	4
	Total		23	17	0	0	0	0	0	0	23	17
Sporting CP	2016–17	Primeira Liga	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2017–18		0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
	2018–19		0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
	Total		1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	2	0
Rio Ave (loan)	2017–18	Primeira Liga	5	0	1	1	0	0	—		6	1
	2018–19		19	5	0	0	3	1	2	1	24	7
Antalyaspor (loan)	2019–20	Süper Lig	6	0	3	1	—		—		9	1
Rio Ave (loan)	2019–20	Primeira Liga	14	6	0	0	0	0	—		14	6
	2020–21		31	3	3	2	0	0	2	1	36	6
	Total		69	14	4	3	3	1	4	2	80	20
Al-Wakrah	2021–22	QSL	17	11	3	1	9	7	0	0	29	19
	2022–23		20	15	1	0	3[a]	1	0	0	24	16
	2023–24		21	7	0	0	0	0	1	0	22	7
	2024–25		12	4	0	0	0	0	1	0	12	4
	Total		70	37	4	1	12	8	1	0	86	45
Career total			244	109	15	6	15	9	5	2	279	126

International goals

Scores and results list Angola's goal tally first.^[8]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	13 June 2015	Estádio Nacional da Tundavala, Lubango, Angola	Central African Republic	1–0	4–0	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
2.				3–0
3.	4 July 2015	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona, Angola	Swaziland	1–0	2–0	2016 African Nations Championship qualification
4.				2–0
5.	24 October 2015	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona, Angola	South Africa	1–1	1–2	2016 African Nations Championship qualification
6.	13 November 2015	Estadio Nacional de Ombaka, Benguela, Angola	South Africa	1–0	1–3	2018 FIFA World Cup qualification
7.	21 January 2016	Stade Huye, Butare, Rwanda	DR Congo	1–3	2–4	2016 African Nations Championship
8.	3 September 2016	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona, Angola	Madagascar	1–1	1–1	2017 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
9.	10 June 2017	Stade du 4 Août, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso	Burkina Faso	1–1	1–3	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
10.	9 September 2018	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona, Angola	Botswana	1–0	1–0	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
11.	12 October 2018	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona, Angola	Mauritania	4–1	4–1	2019 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
12.	13 October 2020	Estádio Municipal de Rio Maior, Rio Maior, Portugal	Mauritania	3–0	3–0	Friendly
13.	1 June 2022	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona, Angola	Central African Republic	2–1	2–1	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
14.	5 June 2022	Mahamasina Municipal Stadium, Antananarivo, Madagascar	Madagascar	2–1	1–1	2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualification
15.	13 October 2023	Estádio Municipal de Albufeira, Albufeira, Portugal	Mozambique	1–1	1–1	Friendly
16.	10 January 2024	Police Officers' Club Stadium, Dubai, United Arab Emirates	Bahrain	2–0	3–0	Friendly
17.	20 January 2024	Stade de la Paix, Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire	Mauritania	1–0	3–2	2023 Africa Cup of Nations
18.				2–1
19.	27 January 2024	Stade de la Paix, Bouaké, Côte d'Ivoire	Namibia	1–0	3–0	2023 Africa Cup of Nations
20.				2–0
21.	25 March 2025	Estádio 11 de Novembro, Talatona, Angola	Cape Verde	1–1	1–2	2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Angola

• Four Nations Tournament bronze medal: 2018^[9]

Notes

1. Appearances in FIFA Referees Cup