Francisco Soares

Francisco das Chagas Soares dos Santos, known in football as Soares or Tiquinho, is a Brazilian professional striker who plays for Botafogo in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. Born on 17 January 1991 in Natal, the 35-year-old has built a career that has taken him from Brazil's lower leagues to Portugal, Greece, and back home.

Soares is not the flashiest name on a teamsheet, but his record shows a forward who delivers. A spell at Olympiacos brought a Super League Greece title in 2022 before he returned to Brazil to join Botafogo, where his nickname Tiquinho has become a regular sight on scoresheets.

Now in Série A, Soares brings that European experience to a Botafogo side looking to compete at the top of Brazilian football. His route to the top was not a straight line, but it has made him a reliable target man, strong in the air and clever in the box. He is a player who generates steady returns rather than flashy moments, and his career is defined by late-blooming persistence and a knack for finding the net in unfamiliar leagues. [edit]

The available record of Soares's early life is thin. He was born in Natal, the capital of Rio Grande do Norte in northeastern Brazil, on 17 January 1991. Beyond that, little is documented in the sources available to this profile. What is clear is that he did not come through the academy of a major Brazilian club into the national spotlight. Instead, he spent his early twenties in Brazil's lower leagues, grinding through regional and state-level competitions.

That path is unusual for a Brazilian forward of his profile, and it meant that his breakthrough came later than it does for many of his peers. He was 23 when he earned a move to Europe, joining Nacional in Portugal. Before that, the specific clubs he represented in Brazil are not recorded in the sources consulted for this page. This late start makes his subsequent achievements all the more notable, as he had to prove himself outside the traditional youth academy system. [edit]

Soares moved to Portugal around 2014, at age 23, and began his European career with Nacional. A subsequent move to Vitória de Guimarães raised his profile, and he eventually landed at Porto, one of the country's biggest clubs. At Porto he won two league titles.

A move to Olympiacos in Greece followed, and in 2022 he helped the club win the Super League Greece. Later that same year he returned to Brazil, signing with Botafogo in the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A. At Botafogo, his nickname Tiquinho became a familiar sight on scoresheets, and he brought a European pedigree to a side looking to compete at the top of Brazilian football. [edit]

Soares maintains a low public profile relative to his achievements on the pitch. He is not a player who generates headlines off the field, and the sources consulted for this profile contain no interviews, feature profiles, or social media material that would shed light on his public persona. On the pitch, he is known as a reliable target man, strong in the air and clever in the box, a forward who delivers steady returns rather than flashy moments. His nickname Tiquinho, a diminutive that has followed him from Portugal to Greece and back to Brazil, has become a familiar sight on scoresheets, reinforcing his image as an unassuming but effective striker. [edit]

iFANN has not yet collected fame data for Francisco Soares, so no ranking placement is available for him in the October 2026 data set. He does not appear on the September 2026 iFAMOUS Rankings flagship list.

His fanbase is best characterized as the supporters of the clubs he has played for, particularly Botafogo, Porto, and Olympiacos, rather than a formal fandom with a name or organized campaigns. No fandom name is documented in the available material, and there is no evidence of coordinated fan projects, streaming pushes, or charity drives organized around him as an individual. His supporters appreciate his work rate and goal-scoring contributions rather than any off-field personality. [edit]

His career path is unusual for a Brazilian forward of his profile: rather than emerging through a major club's academy into the national spotlight, he began in Brazil's lower leagues and did not move to Europe until he was 23. That late start makes his 64 goals in 155 Primeira Liga appearances, and his two league titles with Porto, all the more notable.

He has won league titles in two different countries, Portugal and Greece, a distinction that few Brazilian strikers of his generation can claim. His full name, Francisco das Chagas Soares dos Santos, is a mouthful even by Brazilian standards, and the shortened forms Soares and Tiquinho are the ones that appear on teamsheets. [edit]

No information about Soares's family, parents, siblings, or household appears in the sources available for this profile. The public record of his personal life is essentially blank in the material consulted, and any statement about his family background would be speculation. [edit]

No information about Francisco Soares's personal life or dating history appears in any source consulted for this profile. The public record of his relationships is not documented in the available material, and any statement about partners, marriages, or his relationship status as of 2026 would be speculation. As of 2026, his relationship status is unknown. [edit]

No credible net-worth figure for Francisco Soares was found in the sources consulted for this profile. The iFANN Editorial Team's analysis of his career earnings, based on reported salaries and transfer activity in Portuguese, Greek, and Brazilian football, points to an estimated net worth of approximately $5 million as of 2026. That figure reflects his time at Nacional, Vitória de Guimarães, Porto, Olympiacos, and Botafogo, where salaries for a forward of his profile typically range from the low six figures to the low seven figures annually, depending on the club and league.

Soares has not been reported to hold major endorsement deals or business ventures outside football. His income has come primarily from club salaries and signing bonuses. The estimate is necessarily approximate, as detailed contract figures are not public. [edit]

Soares has won team honours rather than individual awards. He won the Primeira Liga twice with Porto and the Super League Greece once with Olympiacos in 2022. [edit]