Reinildo Mandava

Reinildo Mandava
Mandava playing for Lille in 2021
Personal information
Full name Reinildo Isnard Mandava[1]
Date of birth (1994-01-21) 21 January 1994 (age 32)
Place of birth Beira, Mozambique
Height 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in)[2]
Position Left-back
Team information
Current team
 Sunderland
Number 17
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2012–2014 Ferroviário da Beira
2014–2015 GD Maputo
2015–2018 Benfica B 1 (0)
2017 → Fafe (loan) 16 (1)
2017–2018 → Sporting Covilhã (loan) 30 (4)
2018–2019 Belenenses SAD 16 (0)
2019 → Lille (loan) 3 (0)
2019–2022 Lille 63 (1)
2022–2025 Atlético Madrid 74 (2)
2025– Sunderland 17 (0)
International career‡
2013– Mozambique 56 (5)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:12, 11 February 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:15, 5 January 2026 (UTC)

Reinildo Isnard Mandava (born 21 January 1994), also known mononymously as Reinildo, is a Mozambican professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Premier League club Sunderland and the Mozambique national team.

Club career

Reinildo with Atlético Madrid in 2022

Born in Beira, Reinildo began his football career with Ferroviário da Beira and GD Maputo.[3] In December 2015, he signed for Portuguese club Benfica[4] and was assigned to their reserve team. In June 2017, he was loaned out to Sporting da Covilhã in LigaPro for one season.[5][6]

In 2018 he moved to Belenenses SAD,[7][8] and in January 2019 he moved to French club Lille on loan with a €3 million option to purchase the player at the end of the season.[9][10] On 31 May 2019, it was confirmed that Lille had completed the permanent purchase of Reinildo.[11]

On 31 January 2022, Spanish club Atlético Madrid announced the transfer of Reinildo on a three-and-a-half-year contract.[12] He left the club on 30 June 2025, following the expiry of his contract.[13]

On 8 July 2025, English club Sunderland announced the signing of Reinildo on a two-year contract.[14] He made his Sunderland debut in the club's opening game of the 2025–26 Premier League season, a 3–0 win over West Ham,[15][16] becoming the first Mozambican to play in the Premier League.[17]

International career

He made his debut for the Mozambique national team on 22 December 2013 in a friendly match against Swaziland, which ended in a 1–1 draw.[3] He scored his first international goal on 20 June 2015 against the Seychelles, and found the net again a few days later against the same team. Both matches were part of the qualifying rounds for the 2016 African Nations Championship.

In December 2023, he was included in the list of twenty-seven Mozambican players selected by Chiquinho Conde to take part in the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. This marked Reinildo’s first appearance in a major international tournament.[18]

In December 2025, he was named in the list of 25 Mozambican players selected by Chiquinho Conde to take part in the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations.[19]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 11 February 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Europe Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Benfica B 2016–17[20] LigaPro 1 0 — — — — 1 0
Fafe (loan) 2016–17[20] LigaPro 16 1 0 0 0 0 — — 16 1
Sporting Covilhã (loan) 2017–18[20] LigaPro 30 4 0 0 1 0 — — 31 4
Belenenses SAD 2018–19[20] Primeira Liga 16 0 1 0 2 1 — — 19 1
Lille (loan) 2018–19[20] Ligue 1 3 0 — — — — 3 0
Lille 2019–20[20] Ligue 1 16 0 2 0 2 0 2[c] 0 — 22 0
2020–21[20] Ligue 1 29 0 0 0 — 6[d] 0 — 35 0
2021–22[20] Ligue 1 18 1 2 0 — 6[c] 0 1[e] 0 27 1
Lille total 66 1 4 0 2 0 14 0 1 0 87 1
Atlético Madrid 2021–22[20] La Liga 17 0 — — 4[c] 0 — 21 0
2022–23[20] La Liga 22 0 5 0 — 6[c] 0 — 33 0
2023–24[20] La Liga 16 2 2 0 — 1[c] 0 0 0 19 2
2024–25[20] La Liga 19 0 4 0 — 6[c] 0 1[f] 0 30 0
Total 74 2 11 0 — 17 0 1 0 103 2
Sunderland 2025–26[20] Premier League 17 0 0 0 0 0 — — 17 0
Career total 219 8 16 0 5 1 31 0 2 0 273 9

International

As of match played 5 January 2026[3]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Mozambique 2013 1 0
2014 1 0
2015 7 2
2016 1 0
2017 3 0
2018 4 0
2019 5 0
2020 3 0
2021 6 0
2022 4 0
2023 0 0
2024 12 2
2025 8 1
2026 1 0
Total 56 5
Scores and results list Mozambique's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Reinildo goal.[21][22][23]
List of international goals scored by Reinildo Mandava
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 20 June 2015 Estádio do Ferroviário, Beira, Mozambique  Seychelles 2–0 5–1 2016 African Nations Championship qualification
2 4 July 2015 Stade Linité, Victoria, Seychelles  Seychelles 4–0 4–0 2016 African Nations Championship qualification
3 6 January 2024 FNB Stadium, Johannesburg, South Africa  Lesotho 1–0 2–0 Friendly
4 22 January 2024 Alassane Ouattara Stadium, Abidjan, Ivory Coast  Ghana 2–2 2–2 2023 Africa Cup of Nations
5 9 October 2025 Estádio do Zimpeto, Maputo, Mozambique  Guinea 1–1 1–2 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification

Honours

Lille

Mozambique

Individual

References

  1. ^ "Squad List: FIFA Club World Cup 2025: Atlético De Madrid (ESP)" (PDF). FIFA. 14 June 2025. p. 4. Retrieved 15 June 2025.
  2. ^ "Página oficial del Atlético de Madrid". Atlético Madrid.
  3. ^ a b c "Reinildo Mandava". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 23 February 2022.
  4. ^ "Reinildo no Benfica, Amâncio no Sporting em Lisboa" (in Portuguese). O País. 28 December 2015. Archived from the original on 1 July 2018. Retrieved 28 May 2016.
  5. ^ O defesa-esquerdo moçambicano Reinildo, emprestado pelo Benfica por uma temporada. SAPO Desporto (in Portuguese)
  6. ^ Reinildo Mandava at Soccerway. Retrieved 28 May 2016. Edit this at Wikidata
  7. ^ Reinildo chega para a defesa Archived 12 July 2018 at the Wayback Machine A Bola (in Portuguese)
  8. ^ Reinildo Mandava at ForaDeJogo (archived) Edit this at Wikidata
  9. ^ LE LATÉRAL GAUCHE REINILDO MANDAVA PRÊTÉ AU LOSC, losc.fr, 31 January 2019
  10. ^ Reinildo: Du Mozambique à Lille, le parcours atypique du joueur africatopsports.com
  11. ^ Lille purchase Reinildo Mandava in €3m deal, getfootballnewsfrance.com, 31 May 2019
  12. ^ "¡Bienvenido, Reinildo Mandava!" [Welcome, Reinildo Mandava!] (in Spanish). Atlético Madrid. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
  13. ^ "Thank you, Reinildo!". Club Atlético de Madrid. 30 June 2025. Retrieved 30 June 2025.
  14. ^ "Reinildo Mandava signs for Sunderland". Sunderland. 8 July 2025. Retrieved 8 July 2025.
  15. ^ "Seven debutants in Sunderland XI for Premier League opener". Sunderland AFC. 16 August 2025. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  16. ^ "Sunderland 3–0 West Ham". BBC Sport. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  17. ^ "Reinildo to make Mozambique the league's 127th nation". Premier League. 10 July 2025. Archived from the original on 19 August 2025. Retrieved 19 August 2025.
  18. ^ Ouest-France (29 December 2023). "CAN 2024. Les listes des joueurs retenus en sélection pour la Coupe d'Afrique des Nations". Ouest-France.fr (in French). Retrieved 31 December 2023.
  19. ^ "CAN 2025. La liste du Mozambique pour la Coupe d'Afrique des nations : Mexer dans le groupe, 9 nouveaux arrivants". Ouest-France (in French). 9 December 2025. Retrieved 18 December 2025..
  20. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Reinildo". Soccerway. Retrieved 9 January 2023.
  21. ^ "CHAN 2016: Nooij sacked after Tanazania [sic] lose to Uganda". bbc.com. 22 June 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  22. ^ "Four-star Mambas move on as Chipolopolo survive". CAF Online. 5 July 2015. Retrieved 16 April 2022.
  23. ^ Adjei-Mintah, Yaw (7 January 2024). "Black Stars AFCON opponent, Mozambique, secures win in friendly game". citisportsonline.com. Retrieved 15 January 2024.
  24. ^ "Lille beat PSG to clinch first French Super Cup". Sky Sports. 1 August 2021. Retrieved 1 August 2021.
  25. ^ "COSAFA Cup 2015 – Match Details". RSSSF.com.
  26. ^ "Trophées UNFP : cinq Parisiens, deux Lillois et deux Lyonnais dans l'équipe type" [Trophées UNFP : five Parisiens, two Lillois and two Lyonnais in the typical team]. Le Figaro (in French). 24 May 2021. Retrieved 24 May 2021.
allikas: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reinildo_Mandava