Diogo Meireles Costa was born on 19 September 1999 in Sende, in the municipality of Celorico de Basto in the Norte region of Portugal. He came through the youth system of FC Porto from a young age, progressing through every age group at one of Iberia's most respected goalkeeping academies. He made his senior debut for Porto in 2020 and gradually displaced Agustín Marchesín as the club's first-choice goalkeeper.
At Porto he has been the first-choice keeper since the 2021-22 season, contributing to multiple Primeira Liga title victories and deep Champions League runs. He is widely considered one of the best distribution goalkeepers in European football, with an ability to initiate attacking sequences with precise long-range passing that has become central to Porto's possession-based system. He has played well over 150 matches for the club and has been capped in the Champions League knockout stages.
His performances at club level attracted sustained interest from leading Premier League and La Liga clubs throughout 2023, 2024 and 2025, though Porto maintained a valuation that kept the major clubs at bay. He renewed his contract with the club, and heading into 2026 he remains one of the most sought-after goalkeepers in European football outside of the traditional top five leagues.
For Portugal he debuted under Fernando Santos and has gone on to become the first-choice keeper under Roberto Martínez, establishing himself ahead of José Sá and Rui Patrício. He was Portugal's starter throughout the 2024 UEFA European Championship in Germany, where the Seleção reached the quarter-finals, and has continued as the undisputed number one through the 2026 World Cup qualifying campaign.
Standing 1.91 m, Diogo Costa is a right-footed goalkeeper whose sweeping, footwork and distribution ability place him among the elite modern goalkeepers in world football. He excels at playing high defensive lines, consistently coming out to claim crosses and sweeping behind the defence. His long passing — both short ground-based distribution and raking diagonal balls — draws comparisons to Ederson of Manchester City, with an added command of the penalty area reminiscent of the best European sweeper-keepers of the current era.