Rafaelson Bezerra Fernandes

Vitória

A Vitória youth graduate, Rafaelson was accused of faking his age in April 2015, a claim later dismissed by the club. He was promoted to the first team in September, by manager Vagner Mancini. Rafaelson made his professional debut on 5 September 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Robert in a 2–1 home loss against Botafogo for the Série B championship. His first goal came on 31 October, netting the last in a 3–2 home loss against Náutico. He contributed with seven appearances during the campaign, as his side achieved promotion to Série A. On 30 June 2016, Rafaelson made his top tier debut, replacing Tiago Real in a 3–2 home win against Sport Recife.

Vegalta Sendai

In February 2018, Rafaelson joined Japanese club Vegalta Sendai on a loan deal. A month later, he made his first appearance for the team in the J.League Cup game against Albirex Niigata, but suffered a serious injury in the match that required three months of recovery. In August 2018, his transfer to Vegalta Sendai was made permanent. However, in January 2019, he departed from the club after his contract expired, without having appeared in any league game.

Næstved

On 13 April 2019, Rafaelson moved to Denmark and joined Næstved. He scored five goals after 24 league appearances for the team in two seasons.

First spell at Nam Định

In December 2019, Rafaelson arrived in Vietnam. He went on a trial with V.League 1 club Nam Định. After two friendly games, Nam Định…

In November 2024, FIFA authorized Rafaelson to represent the Vietnam national team after five years of residency in the country. He was named in Vietnam's preliminary squad for the 2024 ASEAN Championship. He was later named in the final squad for the tournament. On 6 November 2025, Rafaelson returned to his national team after 10 months.

2024 ASEAN Championship

Rafaelson made his debut for the Vietnam national team on 21 December 2024 where he scored two goals and made 2 assists in a 5–0 victory against Myanmar in the last group stage game in the 2024 ASEAN Championship. He thus became the first Vietnamese naturalized player to score in an official game. In the first leg semi-final at Jalan Besar Stadium, he scored the second goal, securing a 2–0 victory for Vietnam against Singapore. In the second leg game at Việt Trì Stadium, Rafaelson netted another two goals, contributing significantly to Vietnam's 3–1 win. Rafaelson continued his scoring streak by adding two more goals in Vietnam's 2–1 win against Thailand in the first leg of the ASEAN Championship final. During the second leg of the final at Rajamangala Stadium, he broke his fibula and tibia bone and was substituted off and sent to the hospital in the 32nd minute. Later, Vietnam won the final with a 5–3 aggregate score against Thailand. With 7 goals scored during the ASEAN Championship campaign, Rafaelson won the Top scorer and Best player award.

2025–present: Post-injury

After a successful…

Rafaelson was born in a poor family in Pirapemas, Maranhão. His father was a teacher and his mother was a farmer. At the age of 14, he moved alone to Salvador, Bahia, where he joined the youth academy of Bahia. After two years, he joined the youth side of Vitória.

Rafaelson married Marcele Seippel in January 2018 and has two children. In August 2024, after five years of residency in Vietnam, Rafaelson applied for Vietnamese citizenship at the Nam Định Department of Justice, expressing his wish to represent the Vietnam national team in the future. A month later, on 20 September 2024, he officially obtained Vietnamese citizenship with the Vietnamese personal name Nguyễn Xuân Son.