Brandon Fernandes

Early career

Born in Margao, Goa, Fernandes started playing competitive football at age six when his parents got him into the youth set-up at Fransa-Pax. After Fransa-Pax disbanded, he moved to the youth set-up at Velsao Pale Sports Club where he played for the club's under-14 side as an eight year old. After spending time with Velsao Pale, Fernandes moved to the Goa United Football Academy before being signed by Salgaocar to join their under-14 side. During his time at Salgaocar, he represented the team at the under-14, under-16, and under-19 levels. After impressive performances for both Salgaocar and the India under-20 side, Brandon was enrolled into the ASD Football Academy in Cape Town, South Africa. While with ASD, Fernandes attracted many scouts from around Europe resulting in trials from three English clubs, Leicester City, Reading, and Sunderland, but could not earn a contract at any of those clubs. Fernandes also played for the ASD Cape Town team in the SAFA Second Division, the third-tier of South African football, where he managed to score 12 goals from 12 matches, 4 of which were free-kicks. Before playing in the Lusophony Games in 2014, Fernandes was supposed to go on trial with AS Monaco but the trials never materialized. After impressing for Goa during the 2014 Lusophony Games, he rejected offers from seven different I-League clubs, stating that he would like to wait for an offer from a European club.

Sporting Goa

A year after his contract…

While playing for Velsao Pale, Fernandes was selected to join the India U14 side during the AFC U-14 Football Festival in 2007. He then went on to captain the India U17 which won the Coca-Cola Celebration Cup in 2010. Fernandes also scored in his first ever match for the India U20 team on 31 October 2011 against Turkmenistan during the 2012 AFC U-19 Championship qualifiers. Brandon is widely regarded as the best midfielders in India. He has played for India at all levels except the senior team. Many fans criticised the decision of the coach to snub the likes of Brandon Fernandez, Rahul Bheke, Sosairaj, Mandar, Adil who have been performing well for the last 2–3 seasons for the AFC Asian Cup 2019. In 2014, Fernandes represented his home state, Goa, during the 2014 Lusophony Games. He played in the final of the tournament, assisting twice and scoring once from the penalty spot, as Goa beat the under-20 team of Mozambique to become the champions at the Lusophony Games. Brandon played 4 times, and scored thrice during the Lusophony games.

Club

As of 26 February 2023

International

As of 14 October 2025

Fernandes was born on 20 September 1994 in Margao, Goa, to Konkani actor and singer Jaju Fernandes. His paternal uncle, Roseferns, is also involved in the Konkani stage as a theatre director and actor. Fernandes married Kim Alemao, in April 2022.