João Victor de Albuquerque Bruno (born 7 November 1988), known as João Victor, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder.

Club career

Early career

Born in Olinda, Pernambuco, João Victor played in his country with Clube Náutico Capibaribe, Associação Desportiva São Caetano and Treze Futebol Clube, helping the first club to promote to Série A in 2006. In 2009, he joined compatriot Luiz Felipe Scolari at Uzbekistan's FC Bunyodkor.

Mallorca

On 26 August 2010, both João Victor and fellow Brazilian Ratinho – his former teammate at Bunyodkor – signed a five-year deal with RCD Mallorca in Spain, following a successful trial. The former made his La Liga debut on 26 September in a 2–0 home win against Real Sociedad, and finished his first season with 32 games (21 starts) as the Balearic Islands side narrowly avoided relegation. On 7 October 2012, after just 15 minutes of an eventual 1–2 home loss to Granada CF, João Victor ruptured the cruciate ligament on his right knee, being sidelined for the remainder of the campaign. He remained out of action until July 2014, and renewed his contract at the Iberostar Estadi for two further years on 21 August.

Later years

João Victor left for Cyprus in the summer of 2015, joining Anorthosis Famagusta FC. He rarely settled with any team or in any country after leaving four seasons later, representing in quick succession Umm Salal SC, OFI Crete F.C. and Hyderabad FC. With João Victor acting as captain, Hyderabad won the 2021–22 edition of the Indian Super League. He contributed five goals to the feat. On 9 April 2023, João Victor scored from a penalty in the 2–1 victory over Aizawl FC in the group stage of the Super Cup.

Career statistics

Honours

Bunyodkor Hyderabad