Paulo Josué

Paulo Josué
Personal information
Full name Paulo Josué Stürmer dos Reis[1]
Date of birth (1989-03-13) 13 March 1989
Place of birth Canela, Brazil
Height 1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)
Position Forward
Team information
Current team
 Kuala Lumpur City
Number 28
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2011–2012 Juventude 1 (0)
2013 Esportivo 15 (5)
2013–2014 Juventude 6 (1)
2014 Passo Fundo 2 (0)
2014 Marcílio Dias 6 (1)
2015 Lajeadense 13 (1)
2015 Votuporanguense 8 (1)
2015–2016 Lajeadense 3 (0)
2017 Votuporanguense 15 (2)
2017 Boa Esporte 0 (0)
2017– Kuala Lumpur City 237 (89)
International career‡
2023– Malaysia 32 (13)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 September 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of 28 July 2026

Paulo Josué Stürmer dos Reis (born 13 March 1989) is a professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or a forward for Malaysia Super League club Kuala Lumpur City which he captains. Born in Brazil, he plays for the Malaysia national team.

Josué also holds the records for being both the all-time top scorer and the player with the highest number of appearances for Kuala Lumpur City in their history.

Club career

Career in Brazil

Josué had played with six different Brazilian clubs before moving abroad.[2]

Kuala Lumpur City

On 2 June 2017, Josué joined Malaysia Premier League club Kuala Lumpur City in a mid-season transfer.[3] He scored 6 goals from 9 league matches and helped the club win the 2017 Malaysia Premier League which saw the club promoted to the 2018 Malaysia Super League. Josué scored 7 goals during his debut in the Malaysia Super League. His contribution helped Kuala Lumpur maintain its top-flight status in the Malaysia Super League.

In the 2019 season, Josué did not manage to stop the club from being relegated as the club finished bottom of the table.

Josué was made the captain of Kuala Lumpur City in 2020, a rare achievement for a foreign player.

In the 2021 season, Josué captained the team to the final of the 2021 Malaysia Cup. Against the overwhelming favourites Johor Darul Ta'zim, Kuala Lumpur City managed to beat the odds and won the game 2–0. Josué scored the second goal to claim the cup. He also notably scored a hat-trick in a 3–1 league win over Penang on 4 May 2021 and also recorded a hat-trick of assist in a league match against Perak on 17 March 2021 in a 3–0 win during the season.

On 9 April 2022, Josué scored a brace in a 2–0 win over Melaka United to gain the 3 points in the league. During the 2022 AFC Cup campaign, Josué scored a brace in a 2–1 win over Singaporean side Tampines Rovers on 30 June 2022. The win helped his side qualify for the knockout stage of the AFC Cup, where they faced Vietnamese side Viettel and defeated them in a penalty shoot-out. Josué would then go on to score a brace in a 5–2 home win against Indonesian club PSM Makassar on 24 August, which saw Kuala Lumpur City advance to the quarter-finals against Indian club ATK Mohun Bagan at the Salt Lake Stadium on 7 September. Josué scored in the 60th minute before the opponent scored in the 90th minute to equalise the match at 1–1. With five minutes added in stoppage time, Josué assisted Fakrul Aiman in the 90+2nd minute, who scored the winner. In the 90+5th minute, Romel Morales sealed the victory with a scoreline of 3–1, which enabled the club to advance to the semi-final against Uzbekistani club Sogdiana Jizzakh at the Sogdiyona Sport Majmuasi. Josué aided his team in another penalty shoot-out, which saw Kuala Lumpur City advance to the 2022 AFC Cup Final against Omani club Al-Seeb at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium on 22 October. Unfortunately, Kuala Lumpur City lost the final in a 3–0 defeat.

In 2023, Josué helped Kuala Lumpur City advance to the 2023 Malaysia FA Cup final but lost to Johor Darul Ta'zim 2–0.

During the 2024–25 ASEAN Club Championship against Philippines club Kaya–Iloilo on 22 August, Josué assisted Haqimi Azim to score the winner. On 14 September 2024, Josué scored his first club hat-trick in a 5–0 league win over Kedah Darul Aman. On 1 December 2024, Josué made history by surpassing Fandi Ahmad as the top goalscorer of all time for Kuala Lumpur City. He went on to win the FAM Football Awards 'Best Striker' award for the 2024–25 season. It was also his best season during his time with the club where he went on to score 20 goals and recorded 11 assists in 29 appearances across all competition played.

International career

Having played in Malaysia for the past seven years, Josué obtained Malaysian citizenship on 25 February 2023, allowing him to be registered as a local player and making him eligible for selection to the Malaysia national team. He received his first call-up on 18 March 2023 for a training camp ahead of friendly matches against Turkmenistan and Hong Kong. He made his debut for Malaysia against Turkmenistan on 23 March 2023 at the Sultan Ibrahim Stadium.

He played as a false nine in the starting line-up against the Solomon Islands in a friendly and scored his first international goal on 14 June 2023 at the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium. He was deployed in the same role again against the Papua New Guinea in another international friendly on 20 June 2023, where he scored his first international hat-trick in a 10–0 victory for Malaysia at the same venue.

Josué also represented the nation at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup held in Qatar. On 25 January 2024, with Malaysia trailing 2–3 against South Korea, he assisted the goal scored by Romel Morales in the 90+15th minute of stoppage time, securing Malaysia their first point of the tournament.

During the 2024 ASEAN Championship match against the Timor-Leste, with Malaysia trailing 2–1, he scored a brace to secure a 3–2 comeback win and all three points for the team.

Josué was than selected as the captain for Malaysia during the 2026 ASEAN Championship where he went on to score a brace in the first match in a 2–1 win against Myanmar on 25 July 2026.

Career statistics

Club

As of 1 July 2026
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup [a] League cup [b] Continental [c] Total
AppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Kuala Lumpur 2017 96–60–156
2018 2174251–3010
2019 2123154–297
2020 1040000–104
2021 201000111–3111
2022 2062141753413
2023 24113040103111
2024–25 22 17 1 1 2 1 4 1 29 20
2025–26 21 5 1 0 6 2 0 0 28 7
Total 16868145431012623789
Career total 16868145431012623789

International

As of match played 25 July 2026[4]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Malaysia 202384
2024164
202522
202622
Total2812
List of international goals scored by Paulo Josué
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
114 June 2023Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Terengganu, Malaysia Solomon Islands1–14–1Friendly
220 June 2023Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium, Terengganu, Malaysia Papua New Guinea2–010–0Friendly
36–0
47–0
511 June 2024Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Chinese Taipei2–13–12026 FIFA World Cup qualification
618 November 2024G. M. C. Balayogi Athletic Stadium, Gachibowli, India India0–11–1Friendly
711 December 2024Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Timor-Leste2–23–22024 ASEAN Championship
83–2
929 May 2025Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Kuala Lumpur Cape Verde1–11–1Friendly
1014 October 2025Bukit Jalil National Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Laos5–15–12027 AFC Asian Cup qualification
1125 July 2026Thuwunna Stadium, Yangon, Myanmar Myanmar1–12–12026 ASEAN Championship
122–1
1328 July 2026Kuala Lumpur Stadium, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Laos1–04–0

Honours

Club

Kuala Lumpur City

International

Malaysia

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Paulo Josué Stürmer dos Reis". Sports21. Archived from the original on 30 August 2018. Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  2. ↑ Paulo Josue. my.soccerway. Retrieved 7 December 2017.
  3. ↑ "Kuala Lumpur dapatkan pemain import baru". Stadium Astro. 2 June 2017. Archived from the original on 9 August 2017. Retrieved 4 September 2021.
  4. ↑ "Paulo Jusuè". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 12 October 2018.
  5. ↑ BERNAMA (9 August 2024). "Malaysia Beat Lebanon 1-0 In Final Of 2024 Merdeka Tournament". BERNAMA. Retrieved 8 September 2024.
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