Álvaro Santos

Santos was born in São Paulo and began his career at Brazilian side América Mineiro from Belo Horizonte in 2000.

Helsingborgs IF

He moved to Swedish club Helsingborgs IF for a three years stint. He made an impact immediately upon his arrival – during his first month in Europe he was instrumental in Helsingborg's elimination of Inter Milan in the 2000–01 UEFA Champions League's third qualification round. Helsingborg qualified for the Champions League group stage, where Alvaro Santos was a key player. Three years later, his goal record in Sweden's top flight Allsvenskan drew the attention of regular Danish champions FC København. During his years with Helsingborg, he became a huge favourite among supporters of the club, and his impact at the club is, regarding the years since the club's top flight comeback in 1993, only rivaled by those of Henrik Larsson's and Roland Nilsson's. Many fans actually rank him higher than Henrik Larsson, and in Helsingborg, Santos is nicknamed "God".

Copenhagen

His three years in Copenhagen were a success, scoring a total of 50 goals in 120 games for the club. At the end of the 2005–06 season, his last with the Danish champions, he finished second on the top goalscorer list with 15 goals for 33 games. Additionally, his friendly reputation earned him the nickname Verdens Flinkeste Mand (lit. "The World's Nicest Man") by the club's fans.

Sochaux

On 24 July 2006, Santos signed a four-year contract with FC Sochaux to take…

In the summer 2017, Santos was hired as assistant coach of Helsingborgs IF's U17 squad. Ahead of the 2018 season, he was named head coach of the team. In 2019, he took charge of Helsinborg's U19 squad. He left the role on 16 May 2022, as he had been promoted to Helsingborg's first team staff, serving as assistant coach under manager Jörgen Lennartsson. He managed to stay there for just 5 days before Lennartsson was fired. Helsingborg then confirmed that Santos, along with Mattias Lindström, would lead the team temporarily. A few days later, Santos and Lindström were confirmed as the new manager-duo for the club. At the end of 2022, Helsingborg were relegated from the Allsvenskan and the new 2023 season started with three consecutive defeats, so the club decided to let Santos and the rest of the staff go on May 17, 2023. On 30 June 2023, Santos returned to Denmark, as he was hired assistant coach of FC Helsingør, under manager Daniel Pedersen. On 23 October 2023, Santos was named new manager of FC Helsingør. Two wins in 32 games. These were the sad statistics for FC Helsingør, who finished in last place in the Danish 1st Division, which is why the club confirmed on June 1, 2024 that they had fired Santos as head coach. In November 2024, ahead of th 2025 season, it was confirmed, that Santos had been appointed manager of Eskilsminne IF. In December 2025, ahead of the 2026 season, he was appointed manager of Hittarps IK. But just two weeks into 2026, Santos accepted a new job…

Helsingborgs IF

Allsvenskan: 2011 Svenska Cupen: 2011 Svenska Supercupen: 2011 FC Copenhagen

Royal League: 2004–05, 2005–06 Danish Superliga: 2003–04, 2005–06 Danish Cup: 2003–04 Danish Super Cup: 2004 Sochaux

Coupe de France: 2006–07