Léo Pereira (footballer, born 1996)

Leonardo "Léo" Pereira (born 31 January 1996) is a Brazilian footballer who plays as a central defender for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Flamengo.

Léo Pereira

Personal information
Full name	Leonardo Pereira[1]
Date of birth	(1996-01-31) 31 January 1996 (age 29)[1]
Place of birth	Curitiba, Brazil
Height	1.89 m (6 ft 2 in)[1]
Position(s)	Centre back
Team information
Current team	Flamengo
Number	4
Youth career
2010–2014	Atlético Paranaense
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2014–2019	Atlético Paranaense	80	(7)
2015	→ Guaratinguetá (loan)	8	(2)
2016	→ Náutico (loan)	5	(0)
2017	→ Orlando City B (loan)	8	(0)
2017	→ Orlando City (loan)	10	(0)
2020–	Flamengo	162	(10)
International career‡
2013	Brazil U17	4	(0)
2015	Brazil U20	8	(2)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 11 May 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 21 October 2015

Club career

Atlético Paranaense

Born in Curitiba, Paraná, Léo Pereira finished his formation with Atlético Paranaense. He made his Série A debut on 3 May 2014, replacing Marcos Guilherme in a 2–3 home loss against Cruzeiro.^[2] He went on to make a further thirteen league appearances in 2014.

Guaratinguetá (loan)

Pereira joined Guaratinguetá of Série C on loan in August 2015 where he made eight appearances before returning to Atlético in October 2015.^[3]

Orlando City (loan)

On March 14, 2017 Pereira joined Orlando City B, the USL affiliate of Orlando City, on a season long loan. He was the first player to move between the two clubs since they became official partners the previous November.^[4] After beginning the season with Orlando City B, he was called up to the first team in mid-April and made his MLS debut against San Jose Earthquakes on 17 May 2017.^[5]

Flamengo

On 28 January 2020 Flamengo signed Pereira from Athletico Paranaense in a €6.1m transfer.^[6]

On 27 January 2023 Pereira extended his contract with Flamengo until 31 December 2027.^[7]

International career

Pereira has made twelve appearances across two age levels for the Brazil national team. He received his first call up to the U17s when he was selected for the 2013 South American Under-17 Football Championship in April. He made two appearances in Argentina against Peru and Venezuela. His final U17 caps came in October and November when he was called up for the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirates. The first coming in the Group Stage against Honduras and the second in a quarter-final penalty shoot-out defeat to Mexico in which Pereira scored a spot-kick in the shoot-out.^[3]

Two years later Pereira appeared in five of Brazil's 2015 South American Youth Football Championship matches, with two caps coming against Colombia and the other three coming against Uruguay, Paraguay and Peru who he also scored against. Later that year he played in three of Brazil's 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup matches. The first two came in the Group Stage against Hungary and North Korea, he scored a goal against the latter, and his last U20 World Cup cap was versus Senegal in a 5–0 semi-final win. Brazil subsequently made it to the final which they lost to Serbia, Pereira was an unused substitute.^[3]

Career statistics

As of 15 May 2025.^[8]

Club	Season	League			State League[a]		Cup[b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Athletico Paranaense	2014	Série A	14	0	7	0	1	0	—		—		22	0
	2015		0	0	2	0	1	0	—		—		3	0
	2018		18	3	13	2	0	0	10[c]	1	—		41	6
	2019		26	2	0	0	7	1	8[d]	0	3[e]	0	44	3
	Total		58	5	22	2	9	1	18	1	3	0	110	9
Guaratinguetá (loan)	2015	Série C	8	2	—		—		—		—		8	2
Náutico (loan)	2016	Série B	5	0	—		—		—		—		5	0
Orlando City B (loan)	2017	USL	8	0	—		—		—		—		8	0
Orlando City (loan)	2017	MLS	10	0	—		—		—		—		10	0
Flamengo	2020	Série A	13	1	10	0	4	0	6[d]	0	1[f]	0	34	1
	2021		19	0	4	0	5	0	7[d]	0	0	0	35	0
	2022		13	0	8	2	9	0	8[d]	0	1[g]	0	39	2
	2023		32	3	7	0	8	0	4[d]	1	2[h]	0	53	4
	2024		28	0	12	3	9	0	7[d]	1	—		56	4
	2025		8	1	8	0	0	0	4[d]	0	1[g]	0	21	1
	Total		113	5	49	5	35	0	36	2	5	0	238	12
Career total			202	12	71	7	44	1	54	3	8	0	379	28

1. Includes Campeonato Paranaense, Campeonato Carioca
2. Includes Copa do Brasil
3. Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana.
4. Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores.
5. Two appearances in Recopa Sudamericana, one appearance in J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship.
6. Appearance(s) in Recopa Sudamericana.
7. Appearance in Supercopa do Brasil.
8. One appearance in FIFA Club World Cup, on appearance in Supercopa do Brasil.

Honours

Club

Athletico Paranaense

• Copa Sudamericana: 2018
• J.League Cup / Copa Sudamericana Championship: 2019
• Copa do Brasil: 2019
• Campeonato Paranaense: 2018

Flamengo

• Copa Libertadores: 2022^[9]
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2020^[10]
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2020
• Copa do Brasil: 2022, 2024
• Supercopa do Brasil: 2020, 2021,^[11] 2025^[12]
• Campeonato Carioca: 2020, 2021, 2024, 2025

Individual

• Campeonato Carioca Team of the Season: 2024^[13]