João Lucas de Souza Cardoso (born September 20, 2001), better known as Johnny Cardoso or just Johnny, is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for La Liga club Atlético Madrid and the United States national team.
Cardoso was born in Denville Township, New Jersey to Brazilian parents and moved to Brazil when he was three months old.[3] He had stints at Avaí and Criciúma before moving to the youth academy of Internacional.[4]
Cardoso made his professional debut with Internacional in a 3–1 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A win over Atlético Mineiro on September 15, 2019.[5]
On December 27, 2023, Cardoso moved to La Liga club Real Betis on a reported five-year contract worth $6.3 million.[6] On January 21, 2024, Cardoso made his debut for Betis, starting and playing 73 minutes in a league match against FC Barcelona which finished in a 2–4 loss.[7] As part of Giovani Lo Celso's transfer from Tottenham Hotspur to Betis in 2024, Tottenham acquired a non-mandatory €25 million purchase option for Cardoso in summer 2025.[8][9] On February 4, 2025, Cardoso extended his contract with Betis until 2030.[10]
On July 16, 2025, Cardoso moved to Atlético Madrid on a five-year contract worth a reported €30 million.[11]
Eligible to represent both Brazil and the United States, Cardoso received his first call-up to the United States under-23 training camp in October 2019.[12] He received his first call up to the senior United States squad for matches against Wales and Panama in November 2020.[13]
Cardoso was subsequently called up again to the United States under-23 team for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship,[14] in which the United States failed to qualify for the Olympics.
Cardoso holds an Italian passport, which allows him to be registered as an EU player for European leagues.[15]
| Club | Season | League | State league[a] | National cup[b] | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Internacional | 2019 | Série A | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2020 | 13 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | |||
| 2021 | 27 | 0 | 4 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1[c] | 0 | — | 34 | 2 | |||
| 2022 | 24 | 3 | 10 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4[d] | 0 | — | 39 | 3 | |||
| 2023 | 22 | 2 | 12 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 11[c] | 0 | — | 49 | 2 | |||
| Total | 87 | 5 | 30 | 1 | 8 | 1 | 19 | 0 | — | 144 | 7 | |||
| Betis | 2023–24 | La Liga | 17 | 1 | — | — | 2[e] | 0 | — | 19 | 1 | |||
| 2024–25 | 28 | 3 | — | 3 | 0 | 15[f] | 1 | — | 46 | 4 | ||||
| Total | 45 | 4 | — | 3 | 0 | 17 | 1 | — | 65 | 5 | ||||
| Atlético Madrid | 2025–26 | La Liga | 2 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | |
| Career total | 134 | 9 | 30 | 1 | 11 | 1 | 36 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 211 | 12 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| United States | 2020 | 2 | 0 |
| 2021 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 9 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 22 | 0 | |
United States squads | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| |||||||||||||
