Hélder Lopes (footballer)

Hélder Filipe Oliveira Lopes (born 4 January 1989) is a Portuguese professional footballer who plays for Israeli club Hapoel Be'er Sheva as a left-back.

He made 101 Primeira Liga appearances for Beira-Mar and Paços de Ferreira before spending the majority of his professional career abroad, featuring in La Liga with Las Palmas and winning national honours at AEK Athens and Hapoel Be'er Sheva.

Parma and Portugal
Born in Vila Nova de Gaia, Porto District, Lopes spent his youth career at SC Coimbrões, Padroense F.C. and CD Candal, graduating from the latter in 2008. In that summer he moved abroad, joining Parma F.C. but failing to make a single appearance for the club.

Returning to his homeland in January 2009, Lopes made his senior debut with SC Mirandela by starting in a 1–1 Segunda Divisão home draw against SC Maria da Fonte. He subsequently represented C.F. Oliveira do Douro, S.C. Espinho and C.D. Tondela, all in the lower leagues; with the latter team, he achieved promotion to the Segunda Liga.

Lopes signed a two-year deal with Primeira Liga side S.C. Beira-Mar on 5 July 2012. He made his professional debut on 30 September, coming on as a second-half substitute for Rúben Ribeiro in a 1–1 home draw with Vitória de Setúbal.

On 28 June 2013, Lopes was transferred to F.C. Paços de Ferreira also in the top tier. He scored his first goal as a professional on 3 January 2015, in a 1–2 home loss to Rio Ave FC.

Las Palmas
On 31 May 2016, Lopes agreed to a two-year contract with La Liga club UD Las Palmas. His competitive debut took place on 1 October, as he started and played 69 minutes in a 2–2 draw at CA Osasuna.

AEK Athens
On 21 June 2017, free agent Lopes signed a two-year deal at AEK Athens FC. He made his official debut on 2 August, in a 1–0 away defeat against PFC CSKA Moscow in the second leg of the UEFA Champions League third qualifying round.

Lopes scored his first goal for the team on 6 January 2018, in a 4–1 victory over against Panetolikos F.C. after an assist from Masoud Shojaei. He appeared in 31 matches in all competitions in his first season, helping the club to win its first Super League Greece since 1994.

On 29 September 2018, in an away fixture against OFI Crete FC, Lopes suffered an anterior cruciate ligament injury. On 8 January 2019, he agreed to a contract extension until the summer of 2022.

Hapoel Be'er Sheva
In August 2021, Lopes joined Hapoel Be'er Sheva F.C. of the Israeli Premier League. In his first season, the team won the State Cup, with him scoring the decisive strike in the penalty shootout after a 2–2 final draw with Maccabi Haifa FC. On 16 July, they lifted the Super Cup, with him also on target as they won on the same method against the same adversary; in between the two honours, the club exercised the option of a second year on his contract.

Personal life
Lopes' twin brother, Tiago, was also a footballer and a defender.

Honours
AEK Athens
 * Super League Greece: 2017–18

Hapoel Be'er Sheva
 * Israel State Cup: 2021–22
 * Israel Super Cup: 2022