Raphinha was born in Porto Alegre, Brazil, in 1996. He developed as a footballer in his home country and joined the youth system at Avai. His route into senior football took him away from Brazil, with the winger moving to Portugal and joining Vitoria Guimaraes. He made his senior breakthrough there in 2016 and gradually established himself in the first team.
After two seasons with Vitoria Guimaraes, Raphinha joined Sporting CP for the 2018/19 campaign. His single season in Lisbon brought the first senior trophies of his career, with Sporting winning both the Portuguese Cup and Portuguese League Cup. His performances also led to another move, this time to France, where he signed for Rennes in 2019.
Raphinha spent one season with Rennes before Leeds United brought him to the Premier League in October 2020. He became an important attacking player under Marcelo Bielsa, scoring six league goals during his first campaign. His second season was more productive in front of goal, with 11 Premier League goals helping Leeds preserve their top-flight status. Across his two seasons in England, he recorded 17 goals and 10 assists.
Barcelona signed Raphinha in July 2022. He scored 10 goals and provided 12 assists across all competitions during his first season in Spain as Barcelona won La Liga and the Spanish Super Cup. He registered another 10 goals during 2023/24 before his role changed significantly following the appointment of Hansi Flick.
The 2024/25 campaign became the most productive season of Raphinha’s career to that point. He scored 34 goals and created 22 assists in 57 Barcelona appearances as the club won La Liga, the Copa del Rey and the Spanish Super Cup. His European performances were particularly notable. He scored 13 goals in 14 UEFA Champions League matches, sharing the competition’s top-scorer position with Serhou Guirassy. His nine assists were the highest total in the tournament, giving him 22 direct goal contributions.
Barcelona rewarded his performances with a new contract in May 2025, extending his agreement until June 2028. In September that year he made his 150th appearance for the club, having scored 57 goals and provided 47 assists by that stage.
The 2025/26 campaign was interrupted by injury problems, but Raphinha added further honours. In January 2026 he played a decisive role in the Spanish Super Cup. He scored twice against Real Madrid in a 3-2 final victory and was named player of the match. Barcelona later successfully defended their La Liga championship, giving Raphinha his third Spanish league title since joining the club.
Raphinha also established himself as a senior Brazil international after making his debut against Venezuela in October 2021. He provided two assists in that match and subsequently became a regular member of the national squad. He appeared in every Brazil match at the 2022 FIFA World Cup and was selected for the 2024 Copa America, where he scored against Colombia and was included in the Team of the Tournament. He also featured at the 2026 World Cup before a thigh injury restricted his involvement.
By 2026, Raphinha had assumed additional responsibility at Barcelona and served as a first-team captain. He began the 2026/27 La Liga season with five goals in the opening three matches and received the league’s Player of the Month award for August.
His scoring run continued in September. After finding the net in each of Barcelona’s first four league matches, Raphinha scored consecutive La Liga hat-tricks. The second came in a 3-1 victory away to Sevilla on 19 September, taking his total to 12 goals from the opening seven league fixtures.
Raphinha subsequently joined Brazil for international duty and scored a penalty in a 4-2 friendly victory over Australia on 29 September. He was withdrawn at half-time with discomfort in his right thigh. The Brazilian Football Confederation released him from the squad after examinations identified swelling in the thigh, sending him back to Barcelona instead of keeping him for the following friendly against India.
