António Rodrigues da Silva was born on 30 October 2003 in Estoril, on the Lisbon coast of Portugal. He came through the youth academy of Benfica from an early age, developing rapidly in the club's famed youth structure at the Caixa Futebol Campus. His development was accelerated by the departure of several senior centre-backs, and he was handed his senior debut in the 2022-23 season at just eighteen, quickly establishing himself as one of the most composed young defenders in European football.
At Benfica he has cemented his place as a senior starter alongside Nicolás Otamendi in one of the most effective defensive partnerships in Liga Portugal. He contributed to the club's domestic title challenges in 2022-23 and 2023-24 and became a regular in UEFA Champions League group-stage football, drawing particular attention for his reading of the game and left-footed distribution from deep. By the 2024-25 season he had accumulated well over one hundred senior appearances before his twenty-first birthday.
His performances have made him one of the most closely watched centre-back prospects in Europe, with regular transfer interest reported from clubs across the Premier League, Serie A and La Liga. Benfica have continued to retain him on a long-term contract, and he has remained the defensive anchor of Roger Schmidt's and subsequent coaches' back lines.
For Portugal he debuted at senior level under Roberto Martínez in 2023, becoming one of the youngest senior internationals to represent the Seleção das Quinas in recent decades. He featured in the 2024 UEFA European Championship in Germany, where Portugal reached the quarter-finals before being eliminated by France. He has continued through the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign as a regular starter alongside Rúben Dias.
Standing 1.87 m, António Silva is a left-footed centre-back whose ball-playing ability, positional intelligence and calm under pressure draw consistent comparisons to a younger version of Rúben Dias. He reads the game at a level uncommon for a player of his age, combining the anticipation of a seasoned defender with the technical confidence to initiate Portugal's high defensive line. He is widely projected as one of the defining centre-backs of his generation in Iberian football.