São Paulo He began playing football at an early age, and he was spotted by São Paulo, who offered him a contract in 2010, aged 10, and as inducted into their youth academy. During his youth years, Antony struggled for game time and was close to being dismissed from the club's youth ranks, but the staff convinced his manager to keep him. While in the youth academy, Antony met
Helinho and
Igor Gomes, becoming friends in the process. In September 2018, Antony helped his team win the J-League Challenge tournament in Japan, and named the tournament's best player. Later that month, on 26 September, Antony, alongside Helinho and Igor Gomes, was promoted to the senior team, and he signed a contract until September 2023. He was demoted to the club's under-20 team, to take part in the Copa São Paulo de Futebol Júnior, which his team won. He scored in the final against
Vasco da Gama, and named the tournament's best player, for his 4 goals and 6 assists in 9 games he played in the competition. Following his displays in the tournament, Antony returned to the first team, and with São Paulo struggling in the
Campeonato Paulista, he began playing more first-team matches. He scored his first goal on 21 March, in a 1–1 draw against
São Caetano, with the
Tricolor conceding a goal in
stoppage time. He scored two goals, including one in the final against
Corinthians a month later, where his side lost 2–1 on aggregate. On 18 July, he agreed to an extension until 2024. On 5 March 2020, Antony made his debut in the
Copa Libertadores, starting in São Paulo's 2–1 loss to Peruvian side
Binacional. Following the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic, the season was halted for various months, and as such Antony made his last appearance for the club on 14 March, featuring in the 2–1 victory over rivals
Santos in the
San-São derby.
Ajax On 23 February 2020,
Ajax signed Antony on a five-year deal, effective from 1 July 2020, for an initial £13 million, which could have risen to £18.2 million. He made his debut for the club on 13 September 2020, scoring the only goal of an away win over
Sparta Rotterdam. He made his debut in the
UEFA Champions League on 27 October, in a 2–2 draw against
Atalanta, leaving the field in the 90th minute, following a collision with
Ruslan Malinovskyi, before scoring his first goal in the competition on 3 November 2020, in a 2–1 away win over
Midtjylland. During the
2020–21 season, Antony competed with
David Neres for a spot in the starting line-up, eventually appearing to 46 times. He finished the season with 11 goals and 10 assists, including a goal in the 3–1 defeat of
Vitesse in the
domestic cup final, helping Ajax win the
domestic double of the
Eredivisie and the
KNVB Cup. The following season, despite the signings of
Mohamed Daramy and
Steven Berghuis, Antony kept his place in the starting line-up, and with his two goals and five assists against
Sporting CP and
Borussia Dortmund, Ajax became the first Dutch club to
win all six Champions League group games in the competition's history. His three goals and one assist earned him the league's Player of the Month and Talent of the Month award for December. Nine days later, while on international duty for
Brazil national team, during a
World Cup qualification match, Antony suffered an ankle injury, which ruled him out for the remainder of the season. He ended the campaign with 12 goals and 10 assists, as Ajax retained their Eredivisie title. Following his return from injury against
Fortuna Sittard on 6 August, the
2022–23 season was preceded by a dispute over Antony' desire to leave Ajax. After Ajax rejected the interest expressed by
Manchester United for Antony, including an €85 million transfer bid, he failed to turn up to training, and was left out of the matchdays squads against Sparta Rotterdam and
Utrecht. In an interview, Antony revealed that he had wanted to leave in February, but he waited to the end of the summer window for the transfer to proceed, rejecting a contract renewal from Ajax to "follow his dreams". Two days later, Antony signed a five-year contract for a transfer fee of €95 million (£82 million), with a further €5 million (£4.27 million) in add-ons, the third
highest transfer fee ever paid by the club after
Paul Pogba and
Romelu Lukaku and this was Ajax's and the Eredivisie's biggest transfer ever. Upon his arrival at the club he was handed the number 21 shirt previously worn by
Edinson Cavani, who had recently departed the club. On 4 September, Antony scored on his debut for the club in a 3–1 home league victory over
rivals Arsenal. He scored again in United's next league match, a 6–3 defeat to
local rivals Manchester City on 2 October. The next week, he scored for a third successive league game to equalise the score at
Everton, as United won 2–1, becoming the first United player to score in their first three consecutive Premier League games. On 23 February 2023, Antony scored the winner in a 2–1
Europa League playoff match, coming on as a substitute at half-time, over
Barcelona, a day before his 23rd birthday. On 26 February, he started in the
2023 EFL Cup final as Manchester United beat
Newcastle United 2–0 at
Wembley Stadium, winning his first trophy with the club.
Betis Initial loan On 25 January 2025, Antony was loaned out to
La Liga club
Real Betis until the end of the
2024–25 season. He made his debut for the club on 2 February, in a 2–2 draw with
Athletic Bilbao, creating Betis' first goal, being named man of the match. Seven days later, Antony scored his first goals for Betis, and named man of the match in a 3–2 loss to
Celta Vigo. His form led him to be nominated to the
La Liga Player of the Month award. On 23 February, in a league match against
Getafe, Antony was sent off in the same match for a challenge on
Juan Iglesias. However, three days later, the red card was overturned by
Royal Spanish Football Federation, following a successful claim of wrongful dismissal. After the red card was overturned, Betis then won their next match 2–1 against Real Madrid. On 8 May, he scored the opening goal and assisted an extra time goal in a 4–3 aggregate victory over
Fiorentina, to help Betis reach their first ever
European final. In May 2025, Manchester United put Antony and several other players on the transfer list ahead of the 2025–26 season. Later that month, Antony announced his departure from Real Betis via social media, concluding a six-month loan spell with the club. He ended the season with 14 goal contributions in all competitions for Betis, helping the team qualify for the
UEFA Europa League and leading the media to label his time there as a "career revival".
Permanent move On 1 September 2025, Antony completed a permanent transfer to Real Betis from Manchester United. On 24 September, Antony provided a goal and a last-minute equaliser assist in the
UEFA Europa League against
Nottingham Forest, winning the
player of the match award. On 18 October, Antony scored his first league goals since his permanent move when he scored a brace in a 2–2 draw at
Villarreal. On 2 November 2025, Antony scored 2 goals and provided 1 assist against Mallorca, winning the Man of the Match award. On 6 November 2025, Antony scored against
Lyon in the Europa League. On 27 November, Antony provided an assist against
FC Utrecht in the Europa League. On 3 December, Antony provided an assist against
Torrent CF. On 6 December, Antony scored the opening goal in a 5–3 loss to
Barcelona. On 11 December, Antony scored the final goal in a 3–1 win against
Dinamo Zagreb in the UEFA Europe League. On 21 December, Antony provided an assist and created another goal by hitting the post so his teammate could tap in the equaliser against
Getafe. On 10 January 2026, Antony provided a late assist to tie the game against
Real Oviedo. On 17 January, Antony provided an assist in a 2–0 win against Villareal. On 29 January, Antony scored a long-range effort and provided an assist in a 2–1 win against
Feyenoord, securing automatic qualification for Real Betis into the round of 16 of the UEFA Europa League. On 8 February, Antony scored the winning goal in a 1–0 win against
Atlético Madrid, with a long-range effort. On 15 February, Antony provided an assist and created another goal as his shot was rebounded off the goalkeeper so his teammate could tap in the winning goal. On 1 March 2026, Antony scored the opening goal with a
bicycle kick in
the Seville derby. ==International career==