Lionel Messi to Play Farewell Match for Argentina vs Benin
Messi will make his 208th and final Argentina appearance on 6 October at River Plate's Monumental, joined by his 2022 World Cup-winning teammates.
Kempes
Defender · Internacional · №51
4
Matches
0
In the starting XI
—
Minutes
Recent matches
| Date | Match | Score |
|---|---|---|
Internacional
Santos
Serie A
|
2:3 | |
Internacional
Remo
Serie A
|
1:1 | |
Palmeiras
Internacional
Serie A
|
0:0 | |
Corinthians
Internacional
Copa do Brasil
|
2:1 |
Season statistics
4
Matches
0
In the starting XI
—
Minutes
| Competition | Season | Games |
|---|---|---|
| Serie A | 2026 | 3 |
| Copa do Brasil | 2026 | 1 |
About the player
João Gabriel Kempes Gonçalves is the son of Everton Kempes, the former forward who died in the 2016 air crash that killed most of the Chapecoense squad.
The football itself started early and moved around. He joined the Grêmio academy in 2017, aged eight, and stayed four years. In 2021 he switched to São José in Porto Alegre, where he trained until November 2024. That month, at 15, he moved to Internacional.
By August 2025 he was being brought in to work with the senior squad. The professional debut came on 31 January 2026, in the Campeonato Gaúcho against Caxias, when he was handed a debut off the bench. In July 2026 he signed his first professional contract at Internacional, running to the end of 2029.
Kempes is an attacking midfielder, right-footed, and wears 51. He has no senior trophies at the club so far. In June 2026 he was called into the Brazil under-17 squad preparing for the FIFA U-17 World Cup, scheduled for Qatar in November 2026. He has yet to play an official match for a national team.