Jota (footballer, born 1999)

João Pedro Neves Filipe (born 29 March 1999), known as Jota (Portuguese pronunciation: [ʒɔtɐ]), is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays as a winger for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad and the Portugal National team.

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Neves and the second or paternal family name is Filipe.
Not to be confused with Diogo Jota.
Jota
Jota with Benfica in 2020
Personal information
Full name João Pedro Neves Filipe[1]
Date of birth (1999-03-30) 30 March 1999
Place of birth Lisbon, Portugal
Height 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in)[2]
Position(s) Winger
Team information
Current team
 Al-Ittihad
Number 11
Youth career
2007–2018 Benfica
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2019 Benfica B 46 (9)
2018–2022 Benfica 23 (0)
2020–2021 → Valladolid (loan) 17 (1)
2021–2022 → Celtic (loan) 29 (10)
2022–2023 Celtic 33 (11)
2023– Al-Ittihad 5 (1)
International career‡
2014 Portugal U15 2 (0)
2014–2015 Portugal U16 9 (2)
2015–2016 Portugal U17 15 (12)
2017–2018 Portugal U19 20 (10)
2017–2019 Portugal U20 8 (0)
2018–2021 Portugal U21 18 (5)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Portugal
UEFA European Under-21 Championship
Runner-up2021
UEFA European Under-19 Championship
Winner2018
Runner-up2017
UEFA European Under-17 Championship
Winner2016
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 1 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 6 June 2021

Born in Lisbon, Jota came through Benfica's youth academy. He began playing for Benfica B in 2018 and was promoted to the first team a year later, but played only a few minutes. He was loaned to La Liga club Real Valladolid in 2020 and Scottish Premiership club Celtic in 2021, winning the league and Scottish League Cup, before joining the club permanently for £6.5 million in the summer of 2022. On July 3, 2023, he joined Saudi Pro League side Al-Ittihad for £25 million.

Jota is a former Portugal youth international, representing his country at various levels, including the under-17 team that won the 2016 European Championship, the under-19 team that won the 2018 European Championship and the under-21 team that finished as runners-up at the 2021 European Championship.

Club career

2017–2019: early years

Born in Lisbon, Jota started his career at Ginásio de Corroios, before joining Benfica's youth ranks in 2007. He made his debut for the club's B team on 23 January 2016, replacing Dálcio in the 62nd minute in a 2–1 home loss to Varzim. On 18 October 2018, he made his debut for the first team in a 3–0 away win over Sertanense in the third round of the Taça de Portugal.[3][4] He won the 2017–18 Campeonato Nacional de Juniores and helped the team reach the final of the 2016–17 UEFA Youth League.[5]

On 1 February 2019, Jota was promoted to Benfica's first team, alongside three other Benfica B players.[6] Following his Primeira Liga debut in a 4–0 home win over Chaves on 24 February, he made his European debut on 14 March, as a first choice, in a 3–0 extra time win over Dinamo Zagreb in the second leg of UEFA Europa League round of 16. After failling to impress manager Bruno Lage, Jota was used esporadically and found limited first-team minutes, scoring only two goals in the 2019–20 Taça da Liga against Sporting da Covilhã on 3 December and Vitória de Setúbal on 21 December.[7]

2019–2020: loan to Valladolid

On 5 October 2020, Jota moved to La Liga side Real Valladolid on loan for the 2020–21 season.[8] On his debut on 22 November he came on as a 77th-minute substiutute for Óscar Plano and scored the final goal of a 3–1 win at Granada, but he added no more goals in 17 games for the rest of the season, which saw the team relegated.[9]

2021–22: Incredible Changes and Scottish Premiership

On 1 September 2021, Jota joined Scottish Premiership club Celtic on loan for the 2021–22 season, with an option to buy for £6.5 million.[10] Ten days later, he made his debut for Celtic in a 3–0 home win over Ross County, playing the entire game.[11] Jota scored his first goal for the club in a victory against Raith Rovers in the quarter final of the Scottish League Cup on 23 September.[12] He scored his first league goal on 3 October, a late winner in a 2–1 away win to Aberdeen.[13] Having scored six goals in 15 appearances, including two in a 4–2 win at Dundee on 7 November and four assists, he was awarded the SPFL's Player of the Month for both October and November, prompting calls for Celtic to activate the option to buy in his loan contract.[14][15][16] On 25 November, Jota scored in a 3–2 away defeat at Bayer 04 Leverkusen in the UEFA Europa League.[17]

A hamstring injury in early December forced him out of the club's League Cup victory against Hibernian.[18] He made his return from injury on 17 January 2022, in a 2–0 home win over Hibernian.[19] After several games without a goal or an assist, on 9 April he assisted Celtic's third goal in a 7–0 win over St Johnstone.[20] In the next matches, Jota scored and assisted twice, earning him the SPFL Player of the Month award for April.[21] On 1 May, he scored his first goal in the Old Firm derby, a 1–1 draw against Rangers at Celtic Park.[22] He finished the season with 13 goals and 14 assists, as the club's top assist provider for the season; 10 of those assists were in the league, the second-highest total, helping Celtic win their 10th Scottish Premiership title in 11 years.[23][24]

2022–23: Domestic treble and departure

On 1 July 2022, Celtic triggered Jota's buyout clause of £6.5 millon, signing him on a permanent five-year deal, with Benfica also receiving 30% of a future transfer.[25][26] Jota started the 2022–23 season by closing Celtic's 2–0 home win against Aberdeen.[27] On 6 August, he provided a hat-trick of assists for the first time in his career as Celtic beat Ross County 3–1 away from home.[28] On 3 September, he scored a goal with a chip against arch rivals Rangers in a 4–0 win at Parkhead.[29] On 14 September, Jota was named player of the match in Celtic's 1–1 draw against Shakhtar Donetsk in the 2022–23 UEFA Champions League.[30] He scored his first UEFA Champions League goal on 5 October in a 3–1 group stage loss to RB Leipzig.[31]

2023–present: move to the Saudi Pro League

On 3 July 2023, Al-Ittihad confirmed the signing of Jota for £25 million, a club record fee paid for a player.[32] He joined the likes of Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté at Al-Ittihad as part of the massive investment into Saudi Pro League football by the PIF.

He scored his first goal for the club on 28 August 2023 in a 3–0 win against Al-Wehda after coming on as a substitute for Karim Benzema.[33]

International career

Jota earned 73 caps and scored 26 goals for Portugal across all youth levels, starting with a 2–1 win for the under-15 team against Switzerland in Campo Maior on 10 June 2014. He went with the under-17 team to the 2016 UEFA European Championship in Azerbaijan, scoring in the penalty shootout win over neighbours Spain in the final.[34]

At the 2017 UEFA European Under-19 Championship in Georgia, Jota was part of the Portugal team that finished runners-up to England. In the final group game, he scored a late penalty as they came back to draw 2–2 with Sweden.[35] He was in the squad for the 2018 tournament, beating Italy 4–3 in the final after extra time.[36][37] He also finished joint top scorer in the tournament with 5 goals,[38] and was named in the Team of the Tournament.[39]

In March 2021, Jota took part in the 2021 UEFA European Under-21 Championship in Hungary and Slovenia. He scored in extra time as the team beat Italy 5–3 in the quarter-finals at the Stožice Stadium. Portugal finished as runners-up, after losing in the final 1–0 to Germany.[40][41]

In October 2022, he was included in a provisional squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar,[42] but did not make the final cut.[43]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 1 September 2023[44]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Benfica B 2016–17 Liga Portugal 2 13100———131
2017–18 Liga Portugal 2 13000———130
2018–19 Liga Portugal 2 20800———208
Total 46900———469
Benfica 2018–19[45] Primeira Liga 4000001[lower-alpha 1]0–50
2019–20[46] Primeira Liga 19020323[lower-alpha 2]01[lower-alpha 3]0282
Total 23020324010332
Valladolid (loan) 2020–21[47] La Liga 17111———182
Celtic (loan) 2021–22[48] Scottish Premiership 291030216[lower-alpha 4]2—4013
Celtic 2022–23[49] Scottish Premiership 331142204[lower-alpha 5]2—4315
Total 62217241102008328
Al-Ittihad 2023–24 Saudi Pro League 5100—004[lower-alpha 6]091
Career total 15332103731445018942
  1. Appearance in UEFA Europa League
  2. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  3. Appearance in Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira
  4. Five appearances and two goals in UEFA Europa League, one appearance in UEFA Europa Conference League
  5. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  6. Appearances in Arab Club Champions Cup

Honours

Benfica

Celtic

Portugal U17

Portugal U19

Portugal U21

Individual

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Portugal" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 16. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  2. "Jota". Celtic F.C. Retrieved 7 September 2022.
  3. Rocha, Pedro (19 October 2018). "Jota, mais um produto da geração 99 (o segredo mais bem guardado da formação do Benfica)" [Jota, another product of the 99 generation (the most well-kept secret of Benfica's youth academy)]. Observador (in Portuguese). Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. "Jota e a realização de um sonho" [Jota and the fulfillment of a dream]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 19 October 2018. Archived from the original on 19 October 2018. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  5. "Salzburg succeed Chelsea as Youth League winners". UEFA. 24 April 2017. Retrieved 24 April 2017.
  6. Sanches, João (1 February 2019). "Zlobin, Ferro, Florentino, and Jota permanently in the first team". S.L. Benfica. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  7. "Jota's Emergence at Celtic".
  8. "Jota refuerza el ataque" [Jota bolsters the attack] (in Spanish). Real Valladolid. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 5 October 2020.
  9. Posada, Arturo (23 November 2020). "Debut de "ensueño" para Jota, con una celebración mayúscula" ["Dream" debut for Jota, with a capital celebration]. El Norte de Castilla (in Spanish). Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  10. "Celtic transfer news: Benfica winger Filipe Jota joins on season-long loan". Sky Sports. Retrieved 7 September 2021.
  11. McPheat, Nick (11 September 2021). "Celtic 3–0 Ross County". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  12. McPheat, Nick (23 September 2021). "Celtic 3–0 Raith Rovers". BBC Sport. Retrieved 16 February 2022.
  13. "Late Jota goal earns Celtic first away win". BBC Sport.
  14. "Jota is Premiership Player of the Month for October". Celtic F.C.
  15. "Portuguese startlet Jota named Player of the Month in Scotland: "I don't want to stop here."". PortuGOAL. 23 November 2021. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  16. Sullivan, Joe (20 January 2022). "Late Christmas present for Jota with SPFL November Player of the Month award". celticfc.com. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  17. "Europa League (Sky Sports)". Sky Sports. Retrieved 3 January 2023.
  18. McKay, Gabriel (5 December 2021). "Jota Celtic injury timeframe revealed as Ange Postecoglou gives update on winger's fitness". Daily Record. Retrieved 25 April 2022.
  19. Pilcher, Ross (15 January 2022). "Ange Postecoglou assesses Jota's Celtic return chances against Hibs". footballscotland.
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  35. "Portugal recupera dois golos e empata com Suécia" [Portugal come from two goals down and draw with Sweden]. Diário de Notícias (in Portuguese). 8 July 2017. Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  36. "Quina becomes European champion for a second time!". West Ham United F.C.
  37. "Italy 3–4 Portugal". UEFA. 30 July 2018. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
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  40. Cardoso Oliveira, Diogo (31 May 2021). "Ciao, meia-final: Portugal supera Itália no Euro sub-21" [Ciao, semi-final: Portugal overcome Italy in the under-21 Euros]. Público (in Portuguese). Retrieved 7 May 2022.
  41. "Highlights, report: Germany beat Portugal for third U21 EURO title". UEFA.com. 6 June 2021. Retrieved 7 June 2021.
  42. Thanveer, Dakir Mohammed (25 October 2022). "Portugal reportedly name provisional 55-man squad for 2022 FIFA World Cup; Liverpool star receives surprise call up". Sportskeeda. Retrieved 9 November 2022.
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  44. Jota at Soccerway. Retrieved 8 October 2021.
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  50. Jota at Soccerway
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  56. Woloszyn, Paul (29 July 2018). "Portugal pair share U19 EURO top scorers' prize". UEFA. Retrieved 30 July 2018.
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  58. "Águias com várias distinções nos Melhores de 2018/19" [Eagles with several honours in the Best of 2018–19]. S.L. Benfica (in Portuguese). 5 July 2019. Retrieved 6 July 2019.
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