Paul Francis

Club career Born in Guadalcanal Province, Francis began his career at local side East Guadalcanal Frigates and represented the team at the 2020 Guadalcanal Cup. As a 14-year-old, he was named to the Guadalcanal provincial football team for the 2020 Solomon Cup, where he scored two goals. Francis's ability was noticed by Guadalcanal coach Eddie Marahare, who also served as the head coach for 2020–21 league champions Henderson Eels.

Aged 15, Francis made his senior debut for Eels in the 2021 season during the match against Southern United on 12 June 2021 and his first goals came during the 4–1 win against Marist on July 11, in which he scored a brace. In his first full season, Francis scored 11 goals in all competitions with Waneagu as the team's top scorer. before being re-called by Waneagu at mid-season. He then joined Real Kakamora in 2024. Almost immediately, Francis became a beloved cult hero among the club's supporters, and finished 3rd in the league's golden boot race that season, scoring 17 goals for Kakamora in 20 matches played. However, Kakamora's league license was controversially not renewed by the S-League the following year, preventing them from competing in the competition. Despite drawing interest from multiple prominent clubs in the region, Francis signed with Fiji Premier League club Nasinu on a one-year contract instead, who were coming off a campaign in which they narrowly avoided relegation. Despite missing significant time due to injuries and an illness suffered by his daughter, Francis managed to score 10 goals in 10 matches with the club in the 2025 season, which included a hat trick against Nadi in March. Although he was absent for almost half the club's matches, Francis still finished with the third-most goals out of any Fiji Premier League player that season. Despite initially finalizing an agreement to return to Nasinu in 2026 with Kakamora still unable to compete, he began to attract interest from clubs in Australia's NPL Victoria.

International career Francis has represented the Solomon Islands U20 and U23 teams since 2022 during the OFC U-19 Championship and the 2023 OFC Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He also represented the Solomon Islands "B" national team during the 2024 MSG Prime Minister's Cup, scoring the team's only goal at the tournament during a 3–1 loss against Vanuatu.

He was first called up to the Solomon Islands senior team for the 2023 Tri-Nations Series and was included on the bench during a 2–0 victory against Fiji on 20 March 2023. As a second-half substitute on 14 November 2024, Francis made his debut for Solomon Islands during a 3–2 loss against New Caledonia during 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification. Francis's exclusion from the team's other two matches, including a 1–0 loss to 10-man Fiji, drew significant controversy from fans of Solomon football and led to calls for the sacking of national team head coach Josh Smith. Smith was sacked in early 2026 after winning only three matches in his tenure, with the incident being cited as one of the causes which led to his ousting.

Career statistics

Club Only league statistics are known.

Scores and results list Solomon Islands' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Francis goal.