Joe Mendes

Joe Mendes
Mendes with Sweden U21 in 2023
Personal information
Full name Josafat Wooding Mendes
Date of birth (2002-12-31) 31 December 2002 (age 23)
Place of birth Stockholm, Sweden
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)
Position Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Samsunspor
Number 2
Youth career
2007–2013 Väsby United
2014–2020 AIK
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021 Hammarby IF 0 (0)
2021 → Hammarby TFF 26 (4)
2022–2023 AIK 24 (0)
2023–2025 Braga 25 (1)
2024–2025 → Basel (loan) 29 (1)
2025– Samsunspor 29 (1)
International career‡
2018 Sweden U17 2 (0)
2022–2024 Sweden U21 16 (0)
2023 Sweden 1 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 August 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 16:47, 16 October 2024 (UTC)

Josafat Wooding "Joe" Mendes (born 31 December 2002) is a Swedish professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Süper Lig club Samsunspor.

Early life

Born and raised in Stockholm, Mendes started to play football as a youngster for local club AFC United, before moving to AIK at age 12. In 2020, he appeared in several friendlies for the club's first team, but did not feature in any competitive games.

Club career

Hammarby IF

In 2021, Mendes joined Hammarby Talang FF in Ettan, Sweden's third division. During the first half of the season, he scored once in 12 league appearances, while also providing six assists.

On 19 July 2021, Mendes was promoted to their parent club Hammarby IF in Allsvenskan, the domestic first tier, signing a two-year deal. He made his competitive debut only days later, on 22 July, coming on as a substitute in a 3–1 home win against Maribor in the UEFA Europa Conference League.

Return to AIK

On 21 December 2021, it was announced that Mendes returned to his former club AIK, in an undisclosed deal between the two rival clubs. He signed a four-year contract with the Allsvenskan club, effective in January 2022.

Braga

On 28 January 2023, Portuguese side Braga announced the signing of Mendes on a five-and-a-half-year contract.

Loan to Basel

On 2 September 2024, Mendes joined Swiss club Basel on a season-long loan with an option to buy.

Samsunspor

Mendes with Samsunspor in 2025

On 10 July 2025, Mendes signed a five-year contract with Süper Lig club Samsunspor for a fee of €1.2 million, which could rise to €1.5 million with add-ons.

International career

Mendes with Sweden U21 in 2023

In 2018, Mendes won two caps for the Swedish U17 national team, playing in two friendlies against Belgium and Czech Republic. He made his full international debut for Sweden on 12 January 2023 in a friendly 2–1 win against Iceland.

Personal life

Born in Sweden, Mendes is of DR Congolese and Angolan descent. He is the cousin of the Swedish footballer Jardell Kanga.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 25 August 2024
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Europe Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Hammarby Talang FF 2021 Ettan 26400——264
Hammarby IF 2021 Allsvenskan 0010—1020
AIK 2022 Allsvenskan 24040—00280
2023 Allsvenskan 0010—6181
Total 24050—61361
Braga 2022–23 Primeira Liga 4110001061
2023–24 Primeira Liga 170002080270
2024–25 Primeira Liga 3000001040
Total 2411020100371
Career total 74670201711017
  1. ↑ Includes Svenska Cupen, Taça de Portugal
  2. ↑ Includes Taça da Liga
  3. 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League
  4. ↑ Seven appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  5. ↑ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League

International

Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Sweden 2023 1 0
Total 1 0

Honours

Braga

Basel

References

  1. 1 2 "Josafat Mendes" (in Swedish). Swedish Football Association. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  2. ↑ "Landslagsläger för P16 på Bosön" (in Swedish). AIK. 29 November 2018. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  3. ↑ "Summering av året som gått" (in Swedish). AIK. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  4. ↑ "Truppen mot IF Karlstad Fotboll" (in Swedish). AIK. 18 January 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  5. ↑ "Truppen mot Akropolis IF" (in Swedish). AIK. 19 February 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  6. ↑ "Truppen mot IFK Norrköping" (in Swedish). AIK. 4 September 2020. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  7. ↑ "Jättetalangen lämnar AIK – för Hammarby". Expressen (in Swedish). 15 January 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  8. ↑ "Talangkollen: Vårsäsongen i siffror" (in Swedish). Ettan Fotboll. 15 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  9. ↑ "Joe Mendes flyttas till A-truppen" (in Swedish). Hammarby IF. 19 July 2021. Archived from the original on 23 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  10. ↑ "Tvåmålsseger i hemmamötet med slovenerna" (in Swedish). Hammarby IF. 22 July 2021. Archived from the original on 9 April 2023. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  11. ↑ "Hammarby (SWE) 3 – 1 Maribor (SVN)". UEFA. 22 July 2021. Retrieved 22 July 2021.
  12. ↑ "Joe Mendes lämnar Hammarby" (in Swedish). Hammarby Fotboll. 21 December 2021. Archived from the original on 28 May 2022. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  13. ↑ "AIK Fotboll värvar Josafat "Joe" Mendes" (in Swedish). AIK Fotboll. 21 December 2021. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  14. ↑ "JOE MENDES ASSINA PELO SC BRAGA" (in Portuguese). S.C. Braga. 28 January 2023. Retrieved 31 January 2023.
  15. ↑ "Joe Mendes leihweise zum FCB" (in German). FC Basel. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  16. ↑ "Joe Mendes cedido ao FC Basel" (in Portuguese). S.C. Braga. 2 September 2024. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  17. ↑ "Mercado SC Braga (oficial): Joe Mendes no Samsunspor" [SC Braga Market (official): Joe Mendes to Samsunspor]. A Bola (in Portuguese). 10 July 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  18. ↑ "Joe Mendes transferido para o Samsunspor" [Joe Mendes transferred to Samsunspor] (in Portuguese). S.C. Braga. 10 July 2025. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
  19. ↑ "Sverige – Island – Matchfakta – Svensk fotboll". svenskfotboll.se (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 12 January 2023. Retrieved 13 January 2023.
  20. ↑ "Josafat Mendes, Josafat Wooding Mendes – Footballer". bdfutbol.com.
  21. ↑ Parker, Cindy. "Jardell kanga längd". Archived from the original on 28 September 2022. Retrieved 28 September 2022.
  22. ↑ "Josafat Mendes". Soccerway. Retrieved 12 July 2021.
  23. ↑ "Sp. Braga vence a Taça da Liga pela terceira vez" [Sp. Braga wins Taça da Liga for the third time]. Público (in Portuguese). 27 January 2024. Retrieved 28 January 2024.
  24. ↑ "Statistik-Meister Basel: So wurde der FCB Champion 2024/25" [Statistics champion Basel: How FCB became champion 2024/25]. Swiss Football League (in German). 12 May 2025. Retrieved 12 May 2025.
  25. ↑ "100. Schweizer Cupfinal: FC Basel holt sich zum siebten Mal das Double" [100th Swiss Cup Final: FC Basel wins the double for the seventh time]. Swiss Football League (in German). 1 June 2025. Retrieved 6 June 2025.