Hugo Miguel Almeida Costa Lopes (born 19 December 1986) 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

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 ...

club

Estrela da Amadora Club Football Estrela Amadora SAD (), sometimes just Estrela da Amadora, is a Portuguese professional sports club (predominantly football) based in Amadora, northwest of Lisbon. The team is currently competing in the Primeira Liga, after winnin ...

. During his career, he played for each of the Big Three of Portuguese football – Benfica,

Porto Porto (), also known in English language, English as Oporto, is the List of cities in Portugal, second largest city in Portugal, after Lisbon. It is the capital of the Porto District and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto c ...

and

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,

– as well as spending time on loan in Spain and France. He competed five years in the Turkish

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

with

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

and

Kayserispor Kayseri Spor Kulübü, commonly known as Kayserispor, and also called Bellona Kayserispor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club based in Kayseri. They play their home matches at the RHG Enertürk Enerji Stadium ...

. Lopes represented

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th European Championship for men's national football teams organised by UEFA. The final tournament, held between 8 June and 1 ...

Club career

Early career

Born in

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 ...

, Lopes started his professional career with

S.L. Benfica (), commonly known as Benfica, is a professional football club based in Lisbon, Portugal, that competes in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese football. Founded on 28 February 1904, as ''Sport Lisboa'', Benfica is one of the " ...

's B team. The following summer, he moved to the lower leagues with

CD Operário Clube Operário Desportivo ''(known as CD Operário, Operário dos Açores or just Operário),'' is a Portugal, Portuguese Association football, football club based in Lagoa (Azores), Lagoa in the island of São Miguel Island, São Miguel in the ...

. After some solid displays, Lopes signed in the 2007–08 season with Segunda Liga's

Rio Ave FC Rio Ave Futebol Clube, commonly known as Rio Ave (), is a Portuguese professional football club based in Vila do Conde, that competes in the Primeira Liga. The club is named after the Ave River, which flows through the town and into the Atlant ...

. In his first year, he was an habitual starter as the

Vila do Conde Vila do Conde (, ; "the Count's Town") is a municipality in the Norte Region, Portugal, Norte Region of Portugal. The population in 2011 was 79,533, in an area of 149.03 km2. The urbanized area of Vila do Conde, which includes the parishes of ...

side returned to the

after two years. In 2008–09, Lopes helped Rio Ave to home draws against Benfica and

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

, and was again featured regularly, thus prompting interest from bigger clubs.

Porto

On 23 January 2009, Lopes agreed to a four-year deal with Porto which was made effective on 1 July. In his debut season, having to compete with Uruguayan Jorge Fucile for a starting berth, he appeared sparingly in the league but did manage to play 19 official matches, 14 as a starter. In late August 2010, deemed surplus to requirements by new Porto manager

André Villas-Boas Luís André de Pina Cabral e Villas-Boas (; born 17 October 1977) is a Portuguese sports executive, and former professional Manager (association football), football manager, who is currently the List of FC Porto presidents, president of Port ...

as practically all Portuguese players, Lopes moved to Spanish side

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 ...

on a one-year loan deal. He passed his medical and was unveiled on 2 September, eventually appearing in exactly half of the

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

games during the campaign as the

Andalusia Andalusia ( , ; , ) is the southernmost autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community in Peninsular Spain, located in the south of the Iberian Peninsula, in southwestern Europe. It is the most populous and the second-largest autonomou ...

ns returned to

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 ...

as champions after three years. Lopes spent the first part of 2011–12 unregistered by Porto. In the January

transfer window In association football, a transfer window is the period during the year in which a football club, club can add players to their squad who were previously under contract with another club. Such a Transfer (association football), transfer is comp ...

he was loaned to fellow top-division side

S.C. Braga Sporting Clube de Braga (), commonly known as Sporting de Braga or just Braga, is a Portuguese sports club from the city of Braga. Best known for the men's professional football team playing in the Primeira Liga, the top flight of Portuguese foo ...

, going on to start in seven of his league appearances as they finished third and

qualified Qualification may refer to: Processes * Qualifications-Based Selection (QBS), a competitive contract procurement process established by the United States Congress * Process qualification, ensures that manufacturing and production processes can ...

for the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

for the second time in their history. Lopes returned to Porto for the 2012–13 season. On 29 September he scored through a rare header, opening the score in an eventual 2–2 draw at former team Rio Ave.

Sporting CP

In January 2013, Lopes joined fellow Big Three side

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,

on a five-and-a-half-year contract, with Marat Izmailov moving in the opposite direction. On 7 July, he agreed to a one-year loan deal at

Olympique Lyonnais Olympique Lyonnais (), commonly referred to as simply Lyon () or OL, is a French professional association football, football club based in Lyon, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France. With origins dating back to 1899, they were founded in 1950 and p ...

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

. On 31 May 2015, Lopes was featured in the final of the

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 ...

against Braga, coming on as a substitute after the first-half dismissal of Cédric Soares. Although he was beaten by

Rafa Silva Rafael Alexandre Fernandes Ferreira da Silva (; born 17 May 1993), known as Rafa Silva or Rafa, is a Portuguese footballer who plays as a winger or second striker for Süper Lig club Beşiktaş. After starting his professional career at Fei ...

who put the opposition 2–0 up, his side eventually won in a

penalty shootout The penalty shootout is a method of determining a winner in sports matches that would have otherwise been drawn or tied. The rules for penalty shootouts vary between sports and even different competitions; however, the usual form is similar to pe ...

. Lopes returned to Spain on 6 August 2015, joining

Granada CF Granada Club de Fútbol (), known simply as Granada or ''"Graná"'', is a professional List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in the city of Granada, in the autonomous community of Andalusia, that currently plays in Segunda ...

on a one-year loan deal.

Turkey

The following season, still owned by Sporting, Lopes signed with

Akhisarspor Akhisarspor Kulübü (), commonly known as Akhisarspor, is a Turkish professional football club located in the city of Akhisar.

in the

. Subsequently, the move was made permanent. On 10 May 2018, Lopes helped the club win their first professional trophy, the

Turkish Cup The Turkish Cup () is a football cup competition in Turkish football, run by the Turkish Football Federation since 1962. During a brief sponsorship period with Fortis, its sponsored name was ''Fortis Türkiye Kupası''. Now Ziraat Bankası is ...

. In the final, he scored once in the 3–2 win over Fenerbahçe SK. Lopes joined

of the same league in July 2019, on a two-year contract. When he returned home for injury treatment the following March, he was unable to get back into Turkey due to

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

restrictions, and his place was taken by Bosnian new signing

Zoran Kvržić Zoran Kvržić (; born 7 August 1988) is a Bosnian professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Bosnian Premier League club Borac Banja Luka. Kvržić started his professional career at Proleter Teslić, before joining HAŠK in 2009. ...

Later career

Lopes returned to Portugal in December 2021 after six years away, with the 35-year-old signing with C.F. Estrela da Amadora who had just been promoted to the second tier. On 11 June 2023, he scored in a 2–1 loss away to

C.S. Marítimo Club Sport Marítimo MH M (), commonly known as Marítimo or Marítimo da Madeira, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in the city of Funchal, on the island of Madeira. Established in 1910, Marítimo is best known for its football team ...

, winning the promotion/relegation play-offs on penalties and returning to the top flight following a lengthy absence. In his later years, Lopes featured more often than not as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

International career

Due to his ability to play as both a right and a left back, Lopes was selected by

coach

Paulo Bento Paulo Jorge Gomes Bento (; born 20 June 1969) is a Portuguese Association football, football Manager (association football), manager and former player. A Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, defensive midfielder with tackling ability and workrate ...

for his

UEFA Euro 2012 The 2012 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2012 or simply Euro 2012, was the 14th UEFA European Championship, European Championship for List of men's national association football teams#UEFA (Europe), men's ...

squad. He earned his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

on 2 June in a 1–3 friendly loss against

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

in Lisbon, being an unused member in the finals in Poland and Ukraine.

Personal life

Lopes' twin brother, Nuno, was also a footballer and a right-back. Both came through exactly the same youth system setup, with the exception of Benfica.

Career statistics

Honours

Porto *

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

: 2009–10 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Betis *

2010–11 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

Sporting CP *Taça de Portugal: 2014–15 Akhisarspor *

: 2017–18 *

Turkish Super Cup The Turkish Super Cup, known as Turkcell Super Cup () for sponsorship reasons, is a super cup tournament in Turkish football. Founded in 1966 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2025 by four teams: the winners ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

References

External links

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopes, Miguel 1986 births Living people Portuguese twins 21st-century Portuguese sportsmen Portuguese men's footballers Footballers from Lisbon Men's association football fullbacks Primeira Liga players Liga Portugal 2 players Segunda Divisão players S.L. Benfica B players CD Operário players Rio Ave F.C. players FC Porto players S.C. Braga players Sporting CP footballers Sporting CP B players C.F. Estrela da Amadora players La Liga players Segunda División players Real Betis players Granada CF footballers Ligue 1 players Olympique Lyonnais players Süper Lig players Akhisarspor footballers Kayserispor footballers Portugal men's youth international footballers Portugal men's under-21 international footballers Portugal men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2012 players Portuguese expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Spain Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in France Portuguese expatriate sportspeople in Turkey