Rafinha

Club career Brazil and Schalke

Rafinha began his football career at the age of seven, playing for Gremio Londrinense, a futsal team from his home town of Londrina, Paraná. By age 12, he had begun training with PSTC, a local football club, before signing for Londrina Esporte Clube in 2000 at the age of 15. At the end of his second year with Londrina, Rafinha was signed by Coritiba. This meant moving hundreds of kilometers from his home town, but it also allowed Rafinha to display his talents on the national stage. For Coritiba, Rafinha made 23 appearances in the 2004 season and scored three goals in 13 appearances in the 2005 season.

At Coritiba, Rafinha eventually found his way into the Brazil under-20 national team and played in the 2005 FIFA World Youth Championship in the Netherlands. During the tournament, he scored two goals and played an integral part in Brazil's progress to the bronze medal. Rafinha's performance at the tournament alerted numerous European teams to his ability, with German club Schalke 04 ultimately signing the right-back from Coritiba for an estimated €5 million on a four-year contract. At Schalke, he made 42 appearances in 2005–06 season, two goals in 35 appearances in the 2006–07 season, The transfer had cost Genoa €8 million. He scored two goals in 34 appearances in his only Serie A season. After Genoa had failed to pay the transfer fee in time, however, Rafinha's former club Schalke sued Genoa through the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Bayern Munich

On 1 June 2011, Bayern Munich confirmed Rafinha's transfer from Genoa on the same day that they signed his former Schalke teammate Manuel Neuer. Rafinha signed a three-year contract, and reports say Bayern paid €5.75 million for him. He scored his first goal for Bayern against Villarreal, as a substitute in a 2–0 UEFA Champions League win on 14 September 2011. He finished the 2011–12 season with a goal in 35 appearances. Entering as an 83rd-minute substitute on 20 October 2012 during an away match against Fortuna Düsseldorf, he scored his first Bundesliga goal for Bayern in a 5–0 win. He played a total of 13 Bundesliga games throughout the season, adding another goal on 13 April in a 4–0 win over 1. FC Nürnberg. He finished the 2012–13 season with two goals in 17 appearances.

He finished the 2014–15 season with 41 appearances. He finished the 2015–16 season with 34 appearances. He finished the 2016–17 season with a goal in 28 appearances. He finished the 2017–18 season with a goal in 39 appearances. He made his first appearance of the 2018–19 season in the German Cup. He started the match and played the full 90 minutes.

Flamengo On 9 June 2019, Flamengo confirmed Rafinha's transfer from Bayern Munich. Rafinha signed a two-year contract.

Olympiacos On 23 August 2020, Rafinha joined Olympiacos after signing a one-plus-one-year contract. He was officially released on 2 February 2021, as he was no longer in the plans of manager Pedro Martins, especially after signing right full-back Kenny Lala as a free transfer a few days earlier. Although, before the mutual termination of his contract, he won the Greek Cup and alongside, Olympiacos set an agreement that, after winning that season's Super League Greece, Rafinha will get a commemorative medal for that title.

Grêmio On 29 March 2021, Rafinha joined Grêmio on a deal running until December.

São Paulo In December 2021, it was announced that he would join São Paulo starting from the 2022 season. Later on, he managed to captain his team to achieve both 2023 Copa do Brasil and 2024 Supercopa do Brasil, before leaving the club by the end of that year.

Return to Coritiba In January 2025, Rafinha rejoined Coritiba, but his contract was terminated two months later after he took part in a Bayern Munich legends game without his club's authorization.

Retirement On 8 April 2025, Rafinha retired from professional football when he was selected as a commentator for TNT Sports. He made his debut in a new role in the UEFA Champions League match, broadcasting the match between Arsenal and Real Madrid.

In January 2026, he returned to São Paulo FC as a sports director.

Schalke, Werder Bremen, and Barcelona, however, took their case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who eventually ruled in the clubs' favour, stating, "The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeals filed by FC Schalke 04, SV Werder Bremen and FC Barcelona against the decision issued on 30 July 2008 by the Single Judge of the FIFA's Players' Status Committee that consequently has been set aside in its entirety because the Olympics is not on the FIFA's International Calendar to avoid competing with the FIFA World Cup."

Schalke continued its bar on Rafinha from attending the Olympics. Despite his club's wishes, however, he ultimately did compete for the Brazil squad under the provision that their salaries were paid for by the Brazilian Football Confederation, which won bronze.

Senior team Rafinha made his senior debut for Brazil on 26 March 2008 in a friendly match against Sweden.

On 17 September 2015, Rafinha was called up by head coach Dunga for two qualifying fixtures for the 2018 World Cup, but five days later turned it down, while also denying claims of rejecting the call-up to represent his adopted homeland Germany.

In June 2017, Rafinha was called up for international friendlies against Argentina and Australia.

Despite his desire to compete in the FIFA World Cup, he was on the stand-by list for both the 2014 and 2018 World Cup Squad.

Post career

After retiring, Rafinha worked as a commentator for eight months on Sportv, a position he had previously held sporadically for Bayern matches on TNT Sports. In January 2026, he was hired by São Paulo FC as football coordinator, replacing Muricy Ramalho.

Career statistics Club

Honours Club Bayern Munich Bundesliga: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2014–15, 2015–16, 2016–17, 2017–18, 2018–19 DFB-Pokal: 2012–13, 2013–14, 2015–16, 2018–19 DFL-Supercup: 2012, 2016, 2017, 2018 UEFA Champions League: 2012–13 UEFA Super Cup: 2013 FIFA Club World Cup: 2013

Flamengo Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2019, 2020 Supercopa do Brasil: 2020 Campeonato Carioca: 2020 Copa Libertadores: 2019 Recopa Sudamericana: 2020 FIFA Club World Cup runner-up: 2019

Olympiacos Super League Greece: 2020–21 Greek Football Cup: 2019–20

Grêmio Campeonato Gaúcho: 2021 Recopa Gaúcha: 2021

São Paulo Copa do Brasil: 2023 Supercopa do Brasil: 2024 Copa Sudamericana runner-up: 2022 Campeonato Paulista runner-up: 2022

Individual South American Team of the Year: 2019 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2019 Bola de Prata: 2019 Campeonato Carioca Team of the Year: 2020 Campeonato Paulista Team of the Year: 2022 Troféu Mesa Redonda Team of the Year: 2023