França was born in
Codó,
Maranhão. After his senior beginnings with lowly
Nacional Futebol Clube and
Esporte Clube XV de Novembro (Jaú), he moved in 1996 to national powerhouse
São Paulo FC, where he proceeded to net eight goals overall in his debut year – even though he did not start regularly – and 182 goals in 323 games during his six-year stay (fourth all-time at the time of his departure); in 1998 and 2000, as the club won the
Campeonato Paulista, the player was crowned the league's best scorer, respectively at 12 and 18. In the 2002 summer, França signed with
Bayer 04 Leverkusen from Germany as the team sought replacements for aging
Ulf Kirsten (37). In
his debut season in the
Bundesliga he appeared scarcely, barred by
Dimitar Berbatov and
Oliver Neuville, netting only once, in his league debut in a 2–4 home loss against
VfL Bochum; In
2003–04, although the pair remained at the
BayArena, França received much more playing time, and finished just two goals short of the Bulgarian (14 to 16, in as many matches), adding to this a league-best 13
assists. Additionally, Neuville left the following summer. França moved to Japan subsequently, joining
Kashiwa Reysol, experiencing one
relegation and one promotion in his first two years and leaving the club in 2010, aged 34. ==International career==