Waldo was born in
Niterói,
Rio de Janeiro. After joining
Madureira Esporte Clube's youth setup in the early 1950s, he made his debut as a senior in 1953. Waldo left Fluminense on 1 July 1961 with a record of 319 goals in only 403 matches, the club's all-time scorer. after a
friendly between the two sides. Waldo made his debut in the
Spanish top division on 3 September 1961, in a 3–0 away loss against
Real Zaragoza. He scored his first two goals for the club six days later, in a 3–0 home win over
Real Oviedo. On 19 November 1961, Waldo scored four times in a 6–2 home rout of
FC Barcelona, and finished his
first season abroad with 14 goals from 30 appearances. On 12 June 1963, he equalised as Valencia came from behind to win 2–1 at
GNK Dinamo Zagreb in the first leg of the
Fairs Cup final (4–1 on aggregate). Waldo netted a career-best 24 league goals in the
1966–67 campaign, and started in the 2–1
Spanish Cup final victory against
Athletic Bilbao on 2 July 1967. He represented the
Che until 1970, scoring 157 goals in 294 competitive matches. In summer 1970, Waldo joined
Valencian Community neighbours
Hércules CF. He retired after
one season in the
Segunda División, aged 36. ==International career==