Cédric Ricardo Alves Soares (born 31 August 1991), known simply as Cédric (), is a Portuguese professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a full-back for

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

club

São Paulo São Paulo (; ; Portuguese for 'Paul the Apostle, Saint Paul') is the capital of the São Paulo (state), state of São Paulo, as well as the List of cities in Brazil by population, most populous city in Brazil, the List of largest cities in the ...

. Cédric's career started with

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

, going on to appear in 93 competitive games over the course of four

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

seasons and scoring two goals. He signed for

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in 2015. After a brief loan spell with

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in 2019, Cédric joined

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

in 2020. He played for

Fulham Fulham () is an area of the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in West London, England, southwest of Charing Cross. It lies in a loop on the north bank of the River Thames, bordering Hammersmith, Kensington and Chelsea, London, Chelsea ...

on loan in 2023 before departing Arsenal a year later. Having earned 72

caps Caps are flat headgear. Caps or CAPS may also refer to: Science and technology Computing * CESG Assisted Products Service, provided by the U.K. Government Communications Headquarters * Composite Application Platform Suite, by Java Caps, a Java ...

across all youth levels, Cédric made his senior debut for Portugal in 2014. He appeared for the country at the

2018 World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded the hosting rights in l ...

and

Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's football championship of Europe o ...

, winning the latter tournament.

Club career

Sporting

Born in

Singen Singen (; Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Singe'') is an industrial city in the very south of Baden-Württemberg in southern Germany and just north of the German-Swiss border. Location Singen is an industrial city situated in the far sout ...

Baden-Württemberg Baden-Württemberg ( ; ), commonly shortened to BW or BaWü, is a states of Germany, German state () in Southwest Germany, east of the Rhine, which forms the southern part of Germany's western border with France. With more than 11.07 million i ...

, Germany to Portuguese parents, Cédric returned to Portugal at the age of two. He joined

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

's youth system in 1998, aged seven. Cédric made his

debut with the first team on 8 May 2011, starting in a 0–1 home loss against

Vitória de Setúbal Vitoria or Vitória may refer to: People * Francisco de Vitoria (c. 1483–1546), a Spanish Renaissance theologian * Alberto Vitoria (1956–2010), Spanish footballer * Rui Vitória (born 1970), Portuguese retired footballer * Sofia Vitória (bor ...

. For 2011–12 he, alongside teammate

Adrien Silva Adrien Sébastien Perruchet da Silva (; born 15 March 1989) is a professional footballer who plays for UAE First Division League club Dubai United as a midfielder. He began his career with Sporting CP, making his first-team debut at the age o ...

, was loaned to fellow top division club Académica, where he played regularly and won that season's

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

, playing the full 90 minutes in the 1–0 triumph against Sporting. Subsequently, Cédric returned to the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

side, being first-choice in the following years under several managers. He scored his first goal in the Portuguese top division on 15 December 2012, netting with his left foot from 30 metres in a 1–1 draw away to

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

. In the domestic cup final on 31 May 2015, against

Braga Braga (; ) is a cities of Portugal, city and a Municipalities of Portugal, municipality, capital of the northwestern Portugal, Portuguese Braga (district), district of Braga and of the historical and cultural Minho Province. Braga Municipality ...

, Cédric was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 14th minute after conceding a

penalty Penalty, The Penalty, Penalization, Penalisation, Penalize or Penalise may refer to: Sports * Foul (sports) ** Penalty (golf) ** Penalty (gridiron football) ** Penalty (ice hockey) ** Penalty (rugby) ** Penalty (rugby union) ** Penalty kick (assoc ...

with a foul on

Djavan Djavan Caetano Viana (; born 27 January 1949) is a Brazilian singer-songwriter and guitarist. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest singers in Brazilian history. Early life and career Djavan was born in Maceió, Brazil to a whit ...

, but Sporting eventually won in a shoot-out.

Southampton

On 18 June 2015, Cédric was announced as the second summer signing for

on a four-year contract, with the English club paying up to €6.5 million (£4.7 million) for his services. He made his debut on 30 July, playing the full 90 minutes in a 3–0 home win over Vitesse for the

third qualifying round Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (dis ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

. Ten days later, he first appeared in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, assisting the opening goal for

Graziano Pellè Graziano Pellè (; born 15 July 1985) is an Italian former professional footballer who played as a striker. Pellè began his career at local Serie A club Lecce, and was loaned to three lower-division sides before moving to the Dutch club AZ ...

in a 2–2 draw away to

Newcastle United Newcastle United Football Club is a professional association football club based in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne and Wear, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Since th ...

before being

substituted Substitution may refer to: Arts and media *Substitution (poetry), a variation in poetic scansion *Substitution (theatre), an acting methodology Music *Chord substitution, swapping one chord for a related one within a chord progression *Tritone ...

for

Cuco Martina Rhu-endly Aurelio Jean-Carlo Martina (born 25 September 1989), known as Cuco Martina, is a professional footballer who plays for the Curaçao national team. He plays primarily as a right-back, but can also play as a centre-back or defensive midf ...

at half-time. Cédric scored his first goal for Southampton on 18 March 2018, in a 2–0 victory away to

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

in the sixth round of the

FA Cup The Football Association Challenge Cup, more commonly known as the FA Cup, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in domestic Football in England, English football. First played during ...

, the first match under new manager

Mark Hughes Leslie Mark Hughes (born 1 November 1963) is a Welsh association football, football coach and former player who is the head coach of club Carlisle United F.C., Carlisle United. During his playing career he usually operated as a Forward (asso ...

Inter Milan (loan)

On 26 January 2019, Cédric moved to

on loan for the rest of the season, with an option to purchase for £9.5m in the summer. He made his first appearance five days later, playing 15 minutes and converting his attempt in the 4–3 shoot-out loss against

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

in the quarter-finals of the

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

(1–1 after 120 minutes).

Arsenal

Cédric joined fellow Premier League team

on a six-month loan on 31 January 2020. On 24 June, it was announced that Cédric had sealed a permanent move to Arsenal on a long-term deal, as a free transfer upon the expiry of his contract. Cédric made his Arsenal debut on 1 July, coming on as a 77th-minute substitute and scoring a 20-yard strike with his left foot, four minutes after coming on, in a 4–0 victory over

Norwich City Norwich City Football Club is a professional football club based in Norwich, Norfolk, England. The club competes in the Championship, the second tier of English football. The club was founded in 1902. Since 1935, Norwich have played their h ...

. After playing for Southampton as a substitute in their

third-round tie against

Huddersfield Town Huddersfield Town Association Football Club is a professional association football club based in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England. They compete in , the third tier of English football league system, English football. Huddersfield Town we ...

, Cédric was

cup-tied In association football, a player who has appeared for a football club during a knockout cup but subsequently transfers to another club is ineligible to play for the new club in the remainder of that season's cup competition. Such a player is sa ...

and thus unable to take part in Arsenal's victorious

2019–20 FA Cup The 2019–20 FA Cup (also known as the Football Association Challenge Cup) was the 139th edition of the oldest association football, football tournament in the world. It was sponsored by Emirates (airline), Emirates and known as The Emirates FA ...

campaign. On 29 August, Cédric came on as a substitute, scoring Arsenal's third penalty in their

shoot-out A shootout, also called a firefight, gunfight, or gun battle, is a confrontation in which parties armed with firearms exchange gunfire. The term can be used to describe any such fight, though it is typically used in a non-military context or to ...

win against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

in the Community Shield after the game ended 1–1. On 18 January 2021, Cédric made his first Premier League start of the season in a 3–0 win over Newcastle. He had a run in the team at left-back while

Kieran Tierney Kieran Tierney (born 5 June 1997) is a Scottish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic and the Scotland national team. Tierney came through the Celtic youth system and made his first-team debut in ...

was out injured. Cédric scored his second goal for Arsenal on the final day of the

2021–22 Premier League The 2021–22 Premier League was the 30th season of the Premier League, the top English professional league for association football clubs since its establishment in 1992, and the 123rd season of top-flight English football overall. The start a ...

season, finishing off a

Bukayo Saka Bukayo Ayoyinka Temidayo Saka (born 5 September 2001) is an English professional footballer who plays as a right winger for club Arsenal and the England national team. Known for his creativity, dribbling, and work rate, he is regarded as one ...

corner for Arsenal’s third goal in an eventual 5–1 win over Everton at the

Emirates Stadium The Emirates Stadium (known as Arsenal Stadium for UEFA competitions) is a association football, football stadium in Holloway, London, England. It has been the home stadium of Arsenal F.C., Arsenal Football Club since its completion in 2006. ...

. Cédric left Arsenal on 30 June 2024 at the expiration of his contract with the club.

Fulham (loan)

On 31 January 2023, Cédric joined fellow Premier League team

on loan for the remainder of the season. He made his debut on 11 February against

Nottingham Forest Nottingham Forest Football Club is a professional association football club based in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English football. Founde ...

, coming on as a late substitute for Kenny Tete. His first start came on 28 February, in the

fifth round win against

Leeds United Leeds United Football Club is a professional football club based in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. The team compete in the Premier League, the top tier of the English football league system. Leeds United have won the League Championship th ...

São Paulo

On 27 January 2025, after being without professional activity since March 2024, Cédric signed a contract for just three months, extended to one year, with the Brazilian club São Paulo FC.

International career

Cédric was part of the Portuguese under-20 team called up for the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil national under-20 football team, Brazil w ...

in Colombia, eventually finishing the tournament in second place. He played ten times with the Portuguese under-21s, his debut occurring on 1 September 2011 in a 2–0 win in

Moldova Moldova, officially the Republic of Moldova, is a Landlocked country, landlocked country in Eastern Europe, with an area of and population of 2.42 million. Moldova is bordered by Romania to the west and Ukraine to the north, east, and south. ...

for the 2013 UEFA European Championship qualifiers. His maiden appearance with the senior team was on 11 October 2014, as he started in a 1–2 friendly defeat to

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. Cédric was selected by manager Fernando Santos for his

UEFA Euro 2016 The 2016 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2016 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2016) or simply Euro 2016, was the 15th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international men's association football, football ch ...

squad. His first game in the tournament took place on 25 June, when he started alongside Southampton teammate

José Fonte José Miguel da Rocha Fonte (born 22 December 1983) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains Primeira Liga club Casa Pia. He started his professional career with Sporting CP B, moving to England with ...

in the round-of-16 clash against

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

(1–0 win after

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

). He went on to retain his position until the final, won at the expense of hosts France. He scored his first goal for his country on 17 June 2017, netting in the 86th minute of an eventual 2–2 group stage draw to

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at the

2017 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup was the tenth and final edition of the FIFA Confederations Cup, a quadrennial international men's Association football, football tournament organised by FIFA. It was held in Russia, from 17 June to 2 July 2017, ...

at the Kazan Arena in Russia. In May 2018, he was named in Portugal's squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

. In March 2021, Cédric was recalled to the national team for the first time since 2019, for the World Cup qualifying games. On 27 March, he started and provided an assist in a 2–2 draw against

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

; this was his first game for Portugal since October 2018. In October 2022, he was named in Portugal's preliminary 55-man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar.

Media

Cédric was involved in the Amazon Original sports

docuseries Television documentaries are televised media productions that screen documentaries. Television documentaries exist either as a television documentary series or as a television documentary film. * Television documentary series, sometimes called d ...

'' All or Nothing: Arsenal'', which documented the club by spending time with the coaching staff and players behind the scenes both on and off the field throughout their 2021–22 season.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Club

Académica *

: 2011–12 Sporting *Taça de Portugal: 2014–15 Southampton *

EFL Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

runner-up: 2016–17 Arsenal *

FA Community Shield The Football Association Community Shield (formerly the Charity Shield) is Football in England, English football's annual match contested at Wembley Stadium between the champions of the previous Premier League season and the holders of the FA ...

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

International

Portugal U20 *

FIFA U-20 World Cup The FIFA U-20 World Cup is the biennial football world championship tournament for FIFA members' men's national teams with players under the age of 20. The competition has been staged every two years since the inaugural tournament in 1977 when i ...

runner-up:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Portugal *

UEFA European Championship The UEFA European Football Championship, less formally the European Championship and informally the Euro or Euros, is the primary association football tournament organised by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The competition ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

Orders

Knight of the

Order of Prince Henry The Order of Prince Henry () is a Portuguese order of knighthood created on 2 June 1960, to commemorate the quincentenary of the death of the Portuguese ''infante'' Prince Henry the Navigator, one of the main initiators of the Age of Discovery. M ...

Commander of the

Order of Merit The Order of Merit () is an order of merit for the Commonwealth realms, recognising distinguished service in the armed forces, science, art, literature, or the promotion of culture. Established in 1902 by Edward VII, admission into the order r ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Arsenal F.C. website * * *
National team data
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cedric Soares 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Singen Footballers from Freiburg (region) Portuguese men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Sporting CP footballers Académica de Coimbra (football) players Sporting CP B players Southampton F.C. players Inter Milan players Arsenal F.C. players Fulham F.C. players São Paulo FC players Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Premier League players Serie A players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2016 players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players UEFA European Championship–winning players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in England Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Italy Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Commanders of the Order of Merit (Portugal) 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen