Matilde Fidalgo

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Mota Veiga and the second or paternal family name is Santiago Fidalgo.

Matilde Mota Veiga Santiago Fidalgo (born 15 May 1994) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a right-back or a centre-back for Famalicão and the Portugal women's national team.

Matilde Fidalgo

Fidalgo (in red jersey)
Personal information
Full name	Matilde Mota Veiga Santiago Fidalgo
Date of birth	(1994-05-15) 15 May 1994 (age 31)
Place of birth	São Domingos de Benfica, Portugal
Height	1.59 m (5 ft 3 in)
Position(s)	Defender
Team information
Current team	Famalicão
Number	5
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2017	CF Benfica	55	(5)
2017–2018	Sporting CP	17	(1)
2018–2019	SC Braga	16	(0)
2018	SC Braga B	1	(0)
2019–2020	Manchester City	2	(0)
2020–2021	Benfica	23	(1)
2021–2023	Betis	19	(0)
2023–	Famalicão	16	(0)
International career‡
2011–2013	Portugal U19	24	(0)
2013–	Portugal	48	(0)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 21 June 2024 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 June 2024

Fidalgo made her senior debut for Portugal in September 2013 and represented her country at UEFA Women's Euro 2017.

Club career

Fidalgo was born in São Domingos de Benfica, Lisbon and from a young age has played football. In 2009, Fidalgo started her career at CF Benfica in the Portuguese League. She played for the Lisbon club until June 2017 when she moved to Sporting CP.^[1][2] With CF Benfica, Fidalgo won two national titles in the 2014–15, 2015–16 seasons^[3] and was elected "Best Player" for the 2015/2016 season by the "Sindicato dos Jogadores Profissionais de Futebol (SJPF)". She also captained the team for several seasons.^[4] In March 2018, Fidalgo won the "Quinas de Ouro" award as one of the "11 Best Players in the Women's League". The award is given by the Portuguese Football Federation.^[5][6] In 2018 she moved to the rival team SC Braga,^[7] with whom she won the Portuguese League title – Braga's first championship win. On 30 May 2019, it was announced that Fidalgo was signed to Women's Super League team Manchester City.^[8] Fidalgo moved to S.L Benfica on 4 August 2020, after only making two league appearances and becoming third-choice behind Janine Beckie and even Georgia Stanway, who was not a natural right-back.

International career

On 22 February 2011, Fidalgo debuted for Portugal U19 in a win against Finland U19 for the 2011 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship Qualifying Round.^[9] She also represented Portugal at the qualifying stages of the 2012 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship and the 2013 UEFA Women's Under-19 Championship. On 26 September 2013, Fidalgo debuted for the Portuguese Senior Team in a win against Greece, a 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup qualification's match.^[10] Since then, she represented Portugal in several international competitions including the qualifying stages for the UEFA Women's Euro 2017 and the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup. On 6 July 2017, Fidalgo was called by coach Francisco Neto to represent Portugal at the UEFA Women's Euro 2017, the first time the Portuguese team reached the final stage of a big international tournament.^[11] She didn't play in any matches as her team was eliminated while still in the Group Stage.^[12]

Personal life

Fidalgo is a cousin of Bernardo Silva.^[13] Both were born in 1994, share the same great-grandparents, play internationally for the Portugal national team and once both played their club football at Manchester City.^[13]

Honours

CF Benfica

• Campeonato Nacional Feminino: 2014–15, 2015–16
• Campeonato Nacional II Divisão: 2009–10
• Taça de Portugal Feminina: 2014–15, 2015–16
• Supertaça de Portugal Feminina: 2015

Sporting CP

• Campeonato Nacional Feminino: 2017–18
• Taça de Portugal Feminina: 2017–18
• Supertaça de Portugal Feminina: 2017

SC Braga

• Campeonato Nacional Feminino: 2018–19

Manchester City

• Women's FA Cup: 2019–20

Benfica

• Campeonato Nacional Feminino: 2020–21, 2021–22
• Taça da Liga: 2019–20, 2020–21