Mycael Pontes Moreira

Not every young goalkeeper gets to say he beat South American opponents home and away for his country before he had made a single senior appearance for his club. Mycael Pontes Moreira did just that, winning the South American Under-15 title with Brazil in 2019 and the Under-20 equivalent in 2023, before adding a Pan American Games gold with the Brazil under-23 side later that year.

He came through the Athletico Paranaense academy, with a two-year detour through the amateur side Trieste between 2017 and 2019 before returning to finish his development in Curitiba. The club signed him to a professional contract in 2020, when he was still only 16, and extended that deal in March 2023 through to 2027 — a vote of confidence made before he had played a single first-team minute.

That debut came later than the contract talk suggested, arriving in Série A on 4 July 2024. Since then he has built up a run of appearances in the Athletico goal, reaching 62 matches for the club by July 2026, and picked up a Paraná state championship winner's medal with the side in 2024.

His performances at youth level had already caught attention beyond the results themselves: he was named the best goalkeeper of the 2021 Revelations Cup, a marker that came before either of his continental titles with Brazil's junior sides. He has yet to be called into the senior Brazil squad.