João Lucas de Souza Cardoso (born September 20, 2001), better known as Johnny Cardoso or just Johnny, is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

club

Real Betis Real Betis Balompié, known as Real Betis () is a Spanish professional association football, football club based in Seville, Andalusia, Spain. It plays in La Liga, the Spanish football league system, top flight of Spanish football. It plays home ...

and the United States national team.

Early life

Cardoso was born in

Denville Township, New Jersey Denville Township is a Township (New Jersey), township in Morris County, New Jersey, Morris County, in the North Jersey, northern portion of the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is a commuter town of New York City in the New York metropolitan area ...

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

, to Brazilian parents and moved to Brazil when he was three months old. He had stints at Avaí and Criciúma before moving to the youth academy of Internacional.

Club career

Internacional

Cardoso made his professional debut with Internacional in a 3–1

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 ...

win over

Atlético Mineiro Atlético, Spanish for ''athletics'', or Athletico in English, may refer to: Sports Teams Athletico *Athletico SC (Lebanon), a Lebanese football academy *Athletic Bilbao, or Atletico Bilbao, Basque students athletic club (also forming Athletic Cl ...

on September 15, 2019.

Real Betis

On December 27, 2023, Cardoso moved to

club

on a reported five-year contract worth $6.3 million. On January 21, 2024, Cardoso made his debut for Betis, starting and playing 73 minutes in a league match against

FC Barcelona Futbol Club Barcelona (), commonly known as FC Barcelona and colloquially as Barça (), is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, that competes in La Liga, the top flight of ...

which finished in a 2–4 loss. As part of Giovani Lo Celso's transfer from

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

to Betis in 2024, Tottenham acquired a non-mandatory €25 million purchase option for Cardoso in summer 2025. On February 4, 2025, Cardoso extended his contract with Betis until 2030.

International career

Eligible to represent both Brazil and the United States, Cardoso received his first call-up to the United States under-23 training camp in October 2019. He received his first call up to the senior

squad for matches against

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

and

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

in November 2020. Cardoso was subsequently called up again to the United States under-23 team for the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association footbal ...

, in which the United States failed to qualify for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

Personal life

Cardoso holds an Italian passport, which allows him to be registered as an EU player for European leagues.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honors

Real Betis *

UEFA Conference League The UEFA Conference League (UECL), usually known simply as the Conference League, is an annual football competition organised since 2021 by the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European football clubs. It is the thir ...

runner-up: 2024/25 United States *

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament takes pla ...

: 2022–23, 2023–24 Individual * La Liga U23 Player of the Month: February 2024

References

External links

* *
Johnny Cardoso
on Internacional.com.br {{DEFAULTSORT:Cardoso, Johnny 2001 births Living people Sportspeople from Denville Township, New Jersey Soccer players from Morris County, New Jersey American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players Brazilian men's footballers Men's association football midfielders 2024 Copa América players American sportspeople of Brazilian descent American people of Italian descent Brazilian people of Italian descent Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players SC Internacional players Real Betis players American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in Spain 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Brazilian sportsmen 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup players