Matheus Cunha

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For the Brazilian football goalkeeper, see Matheus Cunha (footballer, born 2001).

In this Portuguese name, the first or maternal family name is Santos Carneiro and the second or paternal family name is da Cunha.
Matheus Cunha
File:Matheus Cunha em 2021.jpg
Cunha playing for Brazil U23 at the 2020 Summer Olympics
Personal information
Full name Matheus Santos Carneiro da Cunha[1]
Date of birth (1999-05-27) 27 May 1999 (age 27)[2]
Place of birth João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)[2]
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 Manchester United
Number 10
Youth career
–2017 Coritiba
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2017–2018 Sion 29 (10)
2018–2020 RB Leipzig 35 (2)
2020–2021 Hertha BSC 39 (12)
2021–2023 Atlético Madrid 40 (6)
2023 → Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 17 (2)
2023–2025 Wolverhampton Wanderers 65 (27)
2025– Manchester United 13 (2)
International career‡
2019–2021 Brazil U23 24 (21)
2021– Brazil 19 (1)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing File:Flag of Brazil.svg Brazil
Olympic Games
Gold medal – first place 2020 Team
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:16, 15 December 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:14, 18 November 2025 (UTC)

Matheus Santos Carneiro da Cunha (born 27 May 1999) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward, attacking midfielder, or winger for Premier League club Manchester United and the Brazil national team.

Cunha played youth football in Brazil for Coritiba. At the age of 18, he moved to Europe to join Swiss club Sion. He then played for Bundesliga clubs RB Leipzig and Hertha BSC, before joining Atlético Madrid in August 2021. In January 2023, he moved to Wolverhampton Wanderers, initially on loan. In August 2025, he completed a move to Manchester United on a five-year deal.

Cunha won a gold medal with the Brazil under-23 team at the 2020 Summer Olympics. He made his senior international debut in September 2021.

Early life

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Cunha was born in the city of João Pessoa, Brazil.[3] He originally played futsal for a club in Recife, before switching to football.[4]

Club career

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Sion

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Cunha played youth football for Coritiba, before joining Swiss club Sion at the age of 18 in July 2017, after impressing scouts at the Dallas Cup youth tournament.[3] In May 2018, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–1 victory over Thun.[5]

RB Leipzig

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File:Matheus Cunha (cropped) 20180920 Fussball, UEFA Europa League, RB Leipzig - FC Salzburg by Stepro StP 7968 (cropped).jpg
Cunha with RB Leipzig in 2018

On 24 June 2018, Cunha joined Bundesliga club RB Leipzig on a five-year deal.[6] He scored his maiden Bundesliga goal against his future club Hertha BSC, to mark a 3–0 win in November 2018.[7] He scored a goal against Bayer Leverkusen in April 2019 that won the Bundesliga Goal of the Month award,[8] and was nominated for the FIFA Puskás Award.[4] He finished the 2018–19 UEFA Europa League season with 6 goals.

Hertha BSC

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On 31 January 2020, having played 10 games mostly as a substitute and scored once for RB Leipzig in the first half of the season, Cunha moved to fellow Bundesliga team Hertha BSC on an undisclosed "long-term" contract.[9]

Atlético Madrid

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On 25 August 2021, Cunha joined Atlético Madrid on a five-year deal for an estimated fee of €30 million.[10] He scored his first goal against Levante to seal a 2–2 draw.[11]

Wolverhampton Wanderers

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File:Matheus Cunha (cropped) Wolves vs West Ham United Full Time.jpg
Cunha with Wolverhampton Wanderers in 2023

On 1 January 2023, Cunha joined Wolverhampton Wanderers on loan for the remainder of the 2022–23 season,[12] in a deal which stipulated the move would become permanent in the summer of 2023, certain clauses in the loan agreement having been met.[13] Cunha's first appearance was as a second-half substitute in a 1–1 draw away to Aston Villa on 4 January.[14] His first goal for Wolves came in a 4–2 defeat at home to Leeds United on 18 March.[15]

Cunha's first goal of the 2023–24 Premier League season came in a 3–2 defeat away to Crystal Palace on 3 September 2023.[16] He scored his first FA Cup goal, a penalty, in extra-time of a 3–2 Third Round replay victory over Brentford at Molineux on 16 January 2024.[17] He scored again in the next round against Wolves' bitterest rivals, West Bromwich Albion, in a 2–0 victory at The Hawthorns on 28 January, a goal that led to crowd unrest breaking out in sections of the ground designated for West Brom supporters.[18] On 4 February, he scored his first Wolves hat-trick in a 4–2 away victory against Chelsea, becoming just the second Wolves player (after Diogo Jota in January 2019) to score a hat-trick in the Premier League and only the fourth opposition player to score a hat-trick at Stamford Bridge in Premier League history.[19] He scored 14 goals over the season.[20]

Cunha scored his first goal of the 2024–25 season in a 6–2 home defeat to Chelsea.[21] Cunha also scored in defeats to Aston Villa and Brentford before he scored a late equaliser against Brighton to give Wolves their second point of the season.

Cunha then scored Wolves' second goal in a 2–0 win over Southampton which was the team's first win of the season.[22] Two weeks later Cunha scored a brace in a 4–1 win over Fulham to lift the team out of the relegation zone.[23]

On 14 December, in a 2–1 home loss to Ipswich Town in the last game before Gary O'Neil's dismissal, Cunha appeared to elbow an employee of the visiting club in the back of the head, before reaching to the same man's face and pulling his glasses off.[24] Cunha was charged with misconduct by the Football Association.[25] On 31 December, Cunha was given a two game ban from the FA with a fine of £80,000 following the incident.[26] On 1 February 2025, he extended his contract with the club until 2029 shortly after he scored in Wolves' 2–0 victory over Aston Villa.[27] Cunha finished the 2024–25 season with 15 league goals, marking a personal best and ranking as his club's highest scorer.[28]

Manchester United

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On 1 June 2025, fellow Premier League club Manchester United announced an agreement with Wolves for the transfer of Cunha.[29] On 12 June 2025, United completed the transfer for a reported fee of £62.5m.[30][31] On 17 August, he made his debut for the club in a 1–0 loss against Arsenal in the league.[32]

On 27 August 2025, during the second round of the Carabao Cup against EFL League Two side Grimsby, Cunha missed the winning penalty during a penalty shootout, which would have sent United into the third round of the Carabao Cup, but after fellow new United signing Bryan Mbuemo also missed his penalty, United lost.[33] Later that year, on 25 October, he netted his first goal for the club in a 4–2 win over Brighton.[34] On December 15th, Cunha scored his second goal for the club in a 4-4 draw against Bournemouth.

International career

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Under-23 team

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With Brazil's under-23 team, Cunha was the top scorer of the 2019 Toulon Tournament and the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, winning the former and finishing as runner-up in the latter, thus securing qualification to the Olympics for the Brazil team with the latter performance. On 17 June 2021, he was named in Brazil's squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo.[35] In August 2021, he won a gold medal with Brazil at the Olympics, having scored 3 goals in 5 appearances at the tournament.[36] Overall, Cunha scored 21 goals in 24 games for the under-23 team.[citation needed]

Senior team

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In September 2020, Cunha was called up to the senior Brazil squad for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification matches against Bolivia and Peru on 9 and 13 October 2020, respectively.[37][38]

Cunha made his debut for the senior national team on 2 September 2021, in a World Cup qualifier against Chile, a 1–0 away victory. He substituted Gabriel Barbosa in the 78th minute.[39]

He scored his first international goal for Brazil on 25 March 2025, in a 4–1 away defeat to Argentina.[40]

Style of play

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Known for his creativity, intelligent movement, and clinical finishing, coupled with flair and determination, Cunha is usually deployed as an inside forward on the left in systems featuring a front three, though he can also operate as a central attacking midfielder or centre-forward.[41][42][43] His main strengths are his ability to carry the ball into dangerous areas, to beat defenders in one-on-one situations with change of pace, and his consistent contribution of both goals and assists.[41][42] He is also known for his ability to shoot effectively from outside the box.[44]

However, his playing style is also noted for being highly instinctive and emotional, sometimes lacking tactical discipline. Cunha has described himself as a "maverick" who prefers freedom over structure. Despite not being known for his work rate, he has demonstrated impressive defensive ability, particularly in ball recoveries and interceptions.[42][45]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played 15 December 2025[46]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Sion 2017–18 Swiss Super League 29 10 1 0 — 2[c] 0 — 32 10
RB Leipzig 2018–19 Bundesliga 25 2 2 1 — 12[c] 6 — 39 9
2019–20 Bundesliga 10 0 1 0 — 2[d] 0 — 13 0
Total 35 2 3 1 — 14 6 — 52 9
Hertha BSC 2019–20 Bundesliga 11 5 0 0 — — — 11 5
2020–21 Bundesliga 27 7 1 1 — — — 28 8
2021–22 Bundesliga 1 0 0 0 — — — 1 0
Total 39 12 1 1 — — — 40 13
Atlético Madrid 2021–22 La Liga 29 6 2 1 — 5[d] 0 1[e] 0 37 7
2022–23 La Liga 11 0 1 0 — 5[d] 0 — 17 0
Total 40 6 3 1 — 10 0 1 0 54 7
Wolverhampton Wanderers (loan) 2022–23 Premier League 17 2 2 0 1 0 — — 20 2
Wolverhampton Wanderers 2023–24 Premier League 32 12 3 2 1 0 — — 36 14
2024–25 Premier League 33 15 2 2 1 0 — — 36 17
Wolves total 82 29 7 4 3 0 — — 92 33
Manchester United 2025–26 Premier League 13 2 0 0 1 0 — — 14 2
Career total 238 61 15 7 4 0 26 6 1 0 284 74
  1. ^ Includes Swiss Cup, DFB-Pokal, Copa del Rey, FA Cup
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ a b Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b c Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Appearance in Supercopa de España

International

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As of match played 18 November 2025[47]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Brazil 2021 4 0
2022 4 0
2023 3 0
2025 8 1
Total 19 1
As of match played 18 November 2025
Brazil score listed first, score column indicates score after each Cunha goal.
List of international goals scored by Matheus Cunha
No. Date Venue Cap Opponent Score Result Competition
1 25 March 2025 Estadio Monumental, Buenos Aires, Argentina 13 File:Flag of Argentina.svg Argentina 1–2 1–4 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

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Brazil U23

Individual

References

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