HANDBALL PLAYERS from Portugal

Top 8

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the most legendary Portuguese Handball Players of all time. This list of famous Portuguese Handball Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography's online popularity.

1. Luís Frade (b. 1998)

With an HPI of 36.31, Luís Frade is the most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 11 different languages on wikipedia.

Luís Diogo Sousa Frade (born 11 September 1998) is a Portuguese handball player for FC Barcelona and the Portuguese national team.

2. Pedro Portela (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 30.23, Pedro Portela is the 2nd most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 7 different languages.

Pedro André Caseiro Portela (born 6 January 1990) is a Portuguese handball player for Sporting CP and the Portuguese national team. He represented Portugal at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. In 2025 he was part of the Portugal team that reached the semifinals of the World Championship for the first time in history. They lost the semifinals to Denmark and the third place playoff to France.

3. Alexandre Cavalcanti (b. 1996)

With an HPI of 29.75, Alexandre Cavalcanti is the 3rd most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 7 different languages.

Alexandre de Oliveira Cavalcanti (born 27 December 1996) is a Portuguese handballer for MT Melsungen and the Portuguese national team. He represented Portugal at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. In 2025 he was part of the Portugal team that reached the semifinals of the World Championship for the first time in history. They lost the semifinals to Denmark and the third place playoff to France.

4. António Areia (b. 1990)

With an HPI of 28.10, António Areia is the 4th most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 7 different languages.

António Antunes Baeta Rodrigues Areia (pronounced [ɐ̋ˈtonju ɐˈɾɐjɐ]; born 21 June 1990) is a Portuguese handball player for FC Porto and the Portuguese national team. He represented Portugal at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. In 2025 he was part of the Portugal team that reached the semifinals of the World Championship for the first time in history. They lost the semifinals to Denmark and the third place playoff to France. In the last seconds of the match he missed the shot, that would put Portugal level and take the match to extra time.

5. Miguel Martins (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 28.06, Miguel Martins is the 5th most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 6 different languages.

Miguel Soares Martins (pronounced [miˈɣɛl mɐɾˈtĩʃ]; born 4 November 1997) is a Portuguese handball player for Aalborg Håndbold and the Portuguese national team. In addition to regular handball, Martins also plays Beach Handball.

6. Diogo Branquinho (b. 1994)

With an HPI of 27.11, Diogo Branquinho is the 6th most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 6 different languages.

Diogo Ferraz Branquinho (pronounced [diˈoɣu βɾɐ̃ˈkiɲu]; born 25 July 1994) is a Portuguese handball player for Sporting CP and the Portuguese national team. He represented Portugal at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. In 2025 he was part of the Portugal team that reached the semifinals of the World Championship for the first time in history. They lost the semifinals to Denmark and the third place playoff to France.

7. Humberto Gomes (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 26.60, Humberto Gomes is the 7th most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 5 different languages.

Humberto Jorge Simões Dias Ramos Gomes (born 1 January 1978) is a Portuguese handball player for Póvoa AC and the Portuguese national team. He represented Portugal at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. He had the best saves-to-shots ratio of any goalkeeper with at least 20% of total shots received by their team in 2021 World Men's Handball Championship where he stops 43% of shots.

8. Gustavo Capdeville (b. 1997)

With an HPI of 20.67, Gustavo Capdeville is the 8th most famous Portuguese Handball Player.  His biography has been translated into 4 different languages.

Gustavo Alexandre Cascão Capdeville (born 31 August 1997) is a Portuguese handball player for Benfica and the Portugal national team. He represented Portugal at the 2020 European Men's Handball Championship. In 2025 he was part of the Portugal team that reached the semifinals of the World Championship for the first time in history. They lost the semifinals to Denmark and the third place playoff to France.