[5] He and his identical twin, Fabio, were then spotted by a representative of Fluminense playing five-a-side in their neighbourhood; he invited them to join the club and they began living there when they were 11 years old.

[5] The club then took part in the 2005 Nike Premier Cup in Hong Kong, where Rafael was spotted by Manchester United scout Les Kershaw, who remarked that the twins reminded him of "two little whippets".

[12] Rafael made first start in European competition in United's 3–0 away win over Aalborg BK in the UEFA Champions League on 30 September.

[15] On 19 April 2009, in the FA Cup semi-final against Everton, Rafael and his twin brother Fábio started a match together for Manchester United for the first time.

[16] At the end of Rafael's first professional season, he and his Manchester United teammate Jonny Evans were shortlisted as nominees for the PFA Young Player of the Year award.

[18] In recognition of his successful first season in English football, Rafael was handed a two-year extension to his Manchester United contract, tying him to the club until 2013.

[22] On 7 April 2010, Rafael was sent off for the first time in his United career, receiving two yellow cards either side of half-time against Bayern Munich in the second leg of the Champions League quarter-final tie.

[24] Despite this red card, Sir Alex Ferguson praised Rafael for his performance and stated that "he absolutely dominated Franck Ribéry".

[27] Rafael suffered a concussion in United's 3–2 away victory over Blackpool on 25 January, the match following his one-game ban, and was taken to hospital for X-rays before later being released.

[29] Rafael made his first competitive start of the season since the Community Shield victory back in August against Crystal Palace in the League Cup on 20 November 2011, a game which United lost 2–1 in extra time.

On 31 December, Rafael started his first league game of the season against Blackburn Rovers, playing in an unusual defensive midfield role with Park Ji-sung before moving to right-back for the second half.

After receiving a layoff from Shinji Kagawa, he cut inside onto his left foot and curled a shot past Pepe Reina and into the top corner.

[36] On 8 September 2020, Turkish club İstanbul Başakşehir announced the signing of Rafael on a free transfer, on a two-year contract with the option of a third year.

[39] In July 2023, Rafael suffered a serious injury to his left knee in the classic against Vasco, at the Nilton Santos Stadium, in the Brazilian Championship.

[6] On 26 July 2010, Rafael was called up to the Brazilian senior team for the first time, as he was included in new coach Mano Menezes' first squad for their friendly against the United States on 10 August.

Porto right back Danilo was selected ahead of Rafael for the game against Denmark on 26 May, but he did eventually come on as a substitute to make his senior international debut.