Paulo Henrique Sampaio Filho, commonly known as Paulinho (; born 15 July 2000), is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward or winger for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras and the Brazil national team.
Having progressed through Vasco da Gama's academy, Paulinho was promoted to the club's first-team squad under the management of Milton Mendes on 19 June 2017. On 13 July 2017, two days before his seventeenth birthday, Paulinho made his professional debut when he was brought on as a 93rd-minute substitute in a 4âÂÂ1 Brasileirão Série A away win over Vitória. Minutes after entering the field of play, he recorded his professional assist when he set up teammate Guilherme for his side's fourth goal. Eleven days later, he made his first professional start and scored twice in a 2âÂÂ1 league away win over Atlético Mineiro, becoming the youngest player ever to score at Brasileirão Série A and the first player born at 2000s to score at Brasileirão Série A. On 3 December 2017, Paulinho opened the scoring of a 2âÂÂ1 home win over Ponte Preta at the last round of 2017 Brasileirão Série A and helped Vasco da Gama to reach a qualification to Copa Libertadores next season.
Paulinho made his first Copa Libertadores assist when he set up Evander to open the score in a 4âÂÂ0 away win over Universidad de Concepción, by the 1st leg of Copa Libertadores second qualifying stage. On the 2nd leg, Paulinho made his first Copa Libertadores goal opening the score in a 2âÂÂ0 home win over Universidad de Concepción. His goal made him the first player born at 2000s to score at Copa Libertadores.
On 27 April 2018, German club Bayer Leverkusen announced that they had reached an agreement with Vasco da Gama for the transfer of Paulinho. The clubs agreed to a â¬20 million fee, a club-record deal for Vasco. He joined Leverkusen ahead of the 2018âÂÂ19 season and signed a five-year contract.
On 1 December 2022, Paulinho joined Atlético Mineiro on loan until June 2023. He made his debut on 21 January 2023 in a Campeonato Mineiro 2âÂÂ1 win over Caldense and scored his first goal in the following match, a 2âÂÂ1 win over Tombense.
On 1 July, he signed a four-and-a-half-year deal with the club on a free transfer.
On 27 August, Paulinho scored the first official goal in Atlético Mineiro's newly inaugurated stadium Arena MRV, with a brace in a Série A 2âÂÂ0 win over Santos.
Paulinho was the top scorer of the 2023 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A season, with 20 goals in 36 appearances.
Paulinho announced his departure from Atlético Mineiro at the end of the 2024 season. During his two-season stint with the club, he scored 50 goals and provided 12 assists in 120 matches, winning the Campeonato Mineiro titles in 2023 and 2024. In addition to being the top scorer of the Campeonato Brasileiro in 2023, he was also the team's overall top scorer for both years (shared with Hulk in 2024) and became the club's second-highest scorer in Copa Libertadores history, with 14 goals.
On 31 December 2024, Palmeiras announced the signing of Paulinho on a five-year deal with the club paying â¬18 million for his signature.
In March 2017, Paulinho, along with VinÃÂcius Júnior, Lincoln and Alan, helped Brazil win the South American Under-17 Championship. He scored two goals during the tournament, including the opening goal in Brazil's 5âÂÂ0 win over Chile in the final.
In October 2017, Paulinho helped Brazil reach 3rd place of 2017 FIFA U-17 World Cup. Paulinho scored the winning goals against Spain at Brazil's debut, North Korea and in quarterfinals against Germany.
On 17 June 2021, Paulinho was named in the Brazil squad for the 2020 Summer Olympics. Coming on as a substitute, he scored in Brazil's opening game against Germany.
Paulinho received his first call-up to the Brazil senior team on 6 November 2023, making his debut in a World Cup qualifier against Colombia ten days later.
Following the goal he scored in a 4âÂÂ2 victory over Germany at the 2020 Olympics, Paulinho celebrated by imitating an archer in homage to Oshosi, a popular orisha or spirit in Afro-Brazilian religion. Paulinho later stated that he performed the celebration to draw attention to the prejudice that followers of Candomblé and other minority religions face in Brazil. He was subsequently invited by the Mocidade Samba School to participate in the next year's carnival. One of Paulinho's aunts is the television news commentator, Flávia Oliveira.
Atlético Mineiro
Brazil U15
Brazil U17
Brazil U21
Brazil U23
Individual
Records