Before the winning: where are Sporting’s 2019/20 squad now? | OneFootball

It has been a triumphant start to the decade for Sporting Clube de Portugal. They’ve ended a 19-year title drought for the Portuguese championship, won three league titles, one Portuguese Cup, two Portuguese League Cups, and one Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup trophy, whilst also unearthing/developing world-class footballers like Viktor Gyökeres, Nuno Mendes, and João Palhinha. And after winning their first two league fixtures this season by a combined score of 8-0, they are well-set to fight for a third consecutive championship.

However, it wasn’t long ago that Sporting CP were a complete trainwreck. Back in 2019/20, they went trophyless and finished fourth in the table, closer to the relegation zone than to champions Porto. Five years later, what’s happened to the ill-fated 2019/20 Sporting CP squad? Zach Lowy takes a deep dive to find out.

Goalkeepers

After seven years in Sporting’s academy, Luís Maximiano would make his first-team debut and eventually upstage experienced Brazilian teammate Renan Ribeiro for the starting role in 2019/20, but the arrival of Antonio Adán would see Maximiano chase greener pastures. He bounced around from Granada to Lazio before joining Almería in 2023, where he remains today. Ribeiro relished stints in the USA and Saudi Arabia before returning to Portugal in June and becoming Estrela da Amadora’s starting goalkeeper. As for third-choice Diogo Sousa, he’s spent the past four years in Türkiye and is currently plying his trade for Bodrum F.K. as they enjoy their first-ever season in the Süper Lig.

Centre-backs

Out of all of the players from Sporting’s 2019/20 squad, only two still remain in the squad: Gonçalo Inácio and Eduardo Quaresma. Whilst Inácio and Quaresma have made their name as two of the most promising central defenders in Portugal, others have taken different routes.

Luís Neto retired from football in 2024 but remained at Sporting, working as an assistant coach under João Pereira and Rui Borges. After injuring his left knee in training, Jérémy Mathieu decided to hang up his boots in 2020 following an impressive career resurgence at Sporting. Tiago Illori returned to his boyhood club in 2019 but struggled to make an impact at Sporting before being loaned out to Lorient, Boavista and Paços de Ferreira, eventually joining Belenenses on a permanent deal, where he suffered relegation to Portugal’s third division. He spent nearly a year as a free agent before eventually making the move to Georgia’s top-flight and joining FC Dila Gori in March 2025.

Last but certainly not least, we have a club legend in Sebastián Coates. After making the move to the club in 2016, the Uruguayan centre-back emerged as one of the first names on the team sheet and was named the best player in the 2020/21 Primeira Liga season after helping Sporting return to the apex of Portuguese football with a stellar defensive record of 20 clean sheets and a miserly 20 goals conceded in 34 matches. Despite playing at the heart of defence, Coates racked up 37 goals and 14 assists in 369 appearances and ended his time in Lisbon as the foreigner with the most appearances for Sporting. He’s now back where it all started, at Nacional de Montevideo in his homeland, where he played from 2001 to 2011 as well as on loan in 2014, and where, just like at Sporting, he’s wearing the captain’s armband.

Full-backs

The departure of Marcos Acuña to Sevilla (now at River Plate), would open the doors for Nuno Mendes to lock down the starting left wing-back spot at Sporting. Mendes has since asserted himself as one of the top left-backs in world football for Paris Saint-Germain and Portugal, helping PSG reach the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup Final, the same competition that once-Sporting backup left-back Cristian Borja narrowly missed out on for his current side América. On the right side of defence, meanwhile, Stefan Ristovski is now plying his trade for Bosnian outfit Sarajevo, whilst Thierry Correia and Valentin Rosier are currently plying their trade at La Liga sides Valencia and Osasuna, respectively.

Midfielders

Moving to the centre of the pitch, there have been quite a few success stories from Sporting’s midfield ranks: Bruno Fernandes emerged as one of the game’s top attacking midfielders for Manchester United, Wendel has won eight trophies and established himself as the creative fulcrum for Zenit Saint Petersburg, whilst Matheus Nunes has proven himself both as a right-back and a central midfielder for Pep Guardiola’s Manchester City. Both Fernandes and Nunes could have a big role to play in Portugal’s World Cup aspirations for next summer.

Rodrigo Battaglia would bounce around from Alavés and Mallorca before returning to South America and spending two years at Atlético Mineiro, eventually signing a three-year deal with Boca Juniors in January. Idrissa Doumbia has not played since April after departing Qatari side Al-Ahli Doha, whilst Rodrigo Fernandes and Mattheus Oliveira are also free agents after departing Porto’s B side and Al-Nassr in the summer. Eduardo Henrique is currently suiting up in the Saudi second tier with Al-Ula, Miguel Luís is representing Greek side Panetolikos, whilst Francisco Geraldes is cutting his teeth in Brazil’s second tier with Athletic.

Attackers

Out of Sporting’s 2019/20 first-team squad, there were three loan arrivals: Yannick Bolasie, Fernando and Jesé. Bolasie finds himself in Brazil with Cruzeiro at the ripe age of 36, whilst Fernando is with Brazilian side Red Bull Bragantino. Jesé, meanwhile, is back for a third stint at Las Palmas. Joelson Fernandes, once regarded as one of the brightest young attackers in world football, is playing for Turkish side Hatayspor, Rafael Camacho has joined newly promoted Croatian side Vukovar 1991, whilst  Abdoulay Diaby is currently a free agent after Boavista were relegated to Portugal’s fifth division due to administrative failures.

Gonzalo Plata is suiting up for Brazilian heavyweights Flamengo, whilst Luciano Vietto is back in Argentina with boyhood club Racing Club. Luiz Phellype is doing his business in Japan’s top division for Shonan Bellmare, Andraž Šporar is suiting up for Süper Lig side Alanyaspor, Pedro Mendes is playing for Italian second-tier side Modena. Tiago Tomás has called it quits on his time at Wolfsburg after two years and returned to Stuttgart last week on a permanent deal, and he’ll be looking to make an instant impact as Stuttgart prepares to take on Union Berlin in the Bundesliga opener on Saturday. Cape Verdean forward Jovane Cabral remains in Lisbon and in Portugal’s top flight but now plays for Estrela da Amadora.