Raphinha

Raphinha is a Brazilian left-footed football (soccer) player who primarily plays as a winger and is known for his dribbling skills and attacking play. He signed for Spanish football club FC Barcelona in July 2022 and currently serves as the team’s captain. He has also played for English club Leeds United and French team Stade Rennais FC.

Early life and youth career

Raphinha was born to Rafael Ribeiro Belloli, who is of Italian descent, and Lisiane Belloli, who is Brazilian. He was raised in Restinga, a favela on the outskirts of Porto Alegre, Brazil.

As a teenager Raphinha played football in the city’s várzea network (unregulated community tournaments played on clay pitches). He unsuccessfully tried out for the youth academies of Porto Alegre-based football teams Grêmio and Internacional. He subsequently played for Porto Alegre FC, a club managed by legendary Brazilian footballer Ronaldinho’s brother Roberto Assis until that club folded in 2012.

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He trained with Imbituba FC, a club based in the Santa Catarina state of Brazil, before joining the youth setup of Avaí FC, another team in the same state, in 2014. He played at the under-20 level for Avaí FC before moving to Europe and joining Portuguese team Vitória de Guimarães in February 2016.

Club career

Move to FC Barcelona

In July 2022 Raphinha signed for FC Barcelona in a deal worth about £50 million ($59 million) in upfront fees with an additional £5 million ($6 million) in add-ons and bonuses. He helped Barcelona win the 2022–23 La Liga (top-tier domestic professional league) title.

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Raphinha was chosen as one of the club’s first team captains in the 2024–25 season. He scored 34 goals and provided more than 20 assists in all competitions, winning the La Liga Player of the Season award as FC Barcelona won the league title and two domestic knockout tournaments, the Copa del Rey (King’s Cup) and Spanish Super Cup.

He was part of the FC Barcelona team that won La Liga in 2025–26 and was named the player of the match for the 2025 and 2026 Spanish Super Cups. In September 2026 he was named Barcelona’s first captain (out of five), becoming the first Brazilian player in the club’s history to top the club’s leadership hierarchy. He scored 12 goals and provided 3 assists in FC Barcelona’s first seven matches of the 2026–27 season.

International and World Cup career

In August 2021 Raphinha was selected as part of the Brazilian squad for the FIFA World Cup qualifiers. He made his full international debut in October that year against Venezuela, entering as a halftime substitute and providing two assists in a 3–1 win. A week later he scored his first two international goals during a 4–1 victory over Uruguay. Raphinha has since played more than 40 matches for the national team.

Raphinha played in all five of the Brazilian team’s matches at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, in which the team lost to Croatia on penalties in the quarterfinal. He was chosen as part of Brazil’s squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup and was part of the starting lineup in the team’s first two group stage matches, a 1–1 draw with Morocco and a 3–0 win against Haiti. He suffered a hamstring injury and did not play in the rest of the tournament, with Brazil losing 2–1 to Norway in the round of 16.