Robinho was born in São Vicente, São Paulo State. In his early years, Robinho played a lot of futsal which was responsible for developing his dribbling and acceleration skills. He signed his first professional contract with Santos FC in 2002 at the age of 18. He made 24 appearances in his debut season and scored one goal as Santos won the 2002 Campeonato Brasileiro. He reached the final of the 2003 Copa Libertadores with Santos, but lost in the final to Boca Juniors. In 2004, Robinho finished with 21 goals in 37 games and led Santos to win another Campeonato Brasileiro.

Robinho earned his first cap for Brazil in the 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup match on 13 July, which Brazil lost 1–0 to Mexico. Although Brazil chose to send their under-23 team, the CONCACAF Gold Cup matches are considered as full international matches by FIFA. He was part of Brazil squad for 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, which Brazil went on to win. During the tournament, Robinho partnered Adriano in attack and scored in group matches against Greece and Japan.

In November 2004, Robinho’s mother was kidnapped at gunpoint. She was released unharmed the following month.

His form had brought him to the attention of many European clubs in the summer of 2004, but Robinho remained with Santos after the Brazilian club rejected all offers. His form suffered in the 2005 season, however, after his mother, Marina da Silva Souza, was kidnapped by gunmen at her Praia Grande home on 6 November; she was released unharmed six weeks later after a ransom was paid.

Robinho scored nine goals in 12 league games, and his value continued to increase as his talent became more and more apparent to the powers of European football. Santos began to realize it would become increasingly difficult to hold on to their star player. In July 2005, Spanish giants Real Madrid signed Robinho by agreeing to pay a fee equal to 60% of the buyout clause in his contract belonging to Santos (€24 million).

Capello was subsequently fired, however, and Bernd Schuster was appointed as head coach of Real Madrid. Robinho finished with 11 league goals and eight assists for Madrid in the 2007–08 La Liga season, as well as four goals during Real Madrid’s Champions League campaign. Robinho then got injured at the beginning of the second half of the season. He did not recover fully enough to help Madrid against Roma in the Champions League. The week before, however, Robinho saved Real Madrid’s La Liga title hopes with a two-goal performance on 3 March 2008 as Madrid defeated Recreativo de Huelva away from home. That game kept a resurgent Barcelona at bay and ultimately secured Real Madrid’s 31st league title and Robinho’s fourth.

On 1 September 2008, the final day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Robinho completed a €41–42 million (£32.5M) move to Manchester City on a four-year deal. This occurred on the same day the club was bought out by the Arab investment company Abu Dhabi United Group.

In an interview with The Guardian, Robinho stated that Manchester City being a big club and the presence of Brazilian friends Jô and Elano were incentives for him to join the team. He made his team debut and scored his first Premier League goal on 13 September 2008, coincidentally in a 3–1 home defeat to Chelsea. On 26 October, he scored his first Premier League hat-trick against Stoke City, and he scored his first European goal for Manchester City in a 3–2 UEFA Cup group stage win over Twente on 6 November. He was given the captain’s armband for the match against Hull City, due to Richard Dunne’s suspension, which ended in a 2–2 draw.

In 2009, he was a member of the Brazil team that won the 2009 Confederations Cup in South Africa. He played in every game in the competition, as Brazil defeated the United States 3–2 in the final to win the tournament.

In 2009, Robinho married Vivian Guglielminetti. The couple have two sons, Robson Jr., who was born on 17 December 2007 in Santos, and Gianluca, who was born on 20 April 2011 in São Paulo.

On 28 January 2010, Robinho returned to his home club Santos due to moving down the pecking order at Manchester City, joining them on a six-month loan deal. He had publicly stated that at Manchester City he would play every other game, and because of the upcoming World Cup, he wanted to play every game, and so returned to Brazil with Santos after declining a move to São Paulo. On his return to Santos, Robinho scored a backheel against aforementioned admirers São Paulo with five minutes to spare to complete a 2–1 victory for the Peixe. In the final match of his loan deal on 4 August, Robinho helped Santos win the Copa Brasil. Although Santos lost 2–1 to Vitória, they won the tie 3–2 on aggregate to win the competition for the first time in their history. Shortly afterwards, Robinho stated that he wanted to remain with Santos rather than return to England. Manchester City, however, refused to extend the loan deal and Santos failed to make a transfer bid.

Robinho returned to training with Manchester City in August 2010, but stated that he was seeking a move away from the club before the end of the summer transfer window on 31 August. Turkish clubs Fenerbahçe and Beşiktaş opened transfer negotiations with City, but Robinho rejected a move to Turkey, declaring that he would rather move to a club in Spain or Italy.

On 31 August 2010, Robinho moved to Milan from Manchester City for a fee of £15 million (€18M), signing a four-year contract. He made his debut as a substitute in a 2–0 defeat to newly promoted Cesena. He started his first game with Milan in their 1–0 win over Genoa. He scored his first goal in injury time against Chievo to make the score 3–1 on 16 October 2010. He continued his goalscoring form with a goal the following week in a Serie A match against Napoli on 25 October 2010. He then scored the first goal for Milan against Sampdoria, but Giampaolo Pazzini equalised on the hour mark to end as a draw.

On 4 December 2010, Robinho scored the second goal for Milan against Brescia in their 3–0 win at the San Siro. Eight days later, on 12 December, he again scored the second goal in a 3–0 victory for Milan against Bologna. He scored his first goal of 2011 against Bari to give Milan another 3–0 victory. On 29 January, he scored against Catania following a deflection from a Zlatan Ibrahimović free-kick to give Milan a 1–0 lead, then assisted Ibrahimović to give Milan a 2–0 win. On 12 February 2011, he scored his first brace for Milan against Parma to help Milan to a 4–0 win. Against Cagliari, Robinho scored a brace in the 37th week of Serie-A on 14 May 2011, leading to celebrations of the Scudetto winners after the match.

After Alexandre Pato took the number 9 jersey at Milan following the departure of club legend Filippo Inzaghi, Robinho was handed the number 7 jersey that previously belonged to Pato. Robinho started in Milan’s first game of the 2012–13 Serie A against Sampdoria, but was replaced by Urby Emanuelson due to an injury. Robinho made his comeback as a substitute against Cagliari, where Milan won 2–0. Four days later, Milan drew against Parma in an away match where Robinho came on as a substitute. Robinho came on as a substitute again against Inter, but Milan eventually lost 1–0. Robinho was then injured in training and was sidelined for the next five games. He made his comeback against Málaga as a substitute in the 80th minute; the game ended as a draw. He scored his first goal of the season against Juventus, which was the winner in a 1–0 victory on 25 November 2012.

On 18 July 2013, Robinho signed a new contract with Milan on a reduced wage, keeping him with the Rossoneri until 2016. His previous deal was set to expire on 30 June 2014.

Robinho suffered a groin strain early in the pre-season against Valencia on 27 July 2013, which disrupted his preparation for the upcoming season. Before he suffered the injury in the match, he missed a penalty, but scored a goal from open play less than a minute later.

On 31 October 2013, after a hiatus of two years, Robinho was recalled to the Seleção by coach Luiz Felipe Scolari. He took part in two games against Honduras and Chile on 16 and 19 November respectively.

Robinho scored his only goal in Milan’s Coppa Italia campaign at the San Siro in the quarter-finals against Spezia on 15 January 2014. He opened the scoring with a close-range header in a 3–1 victory against the Serie B club. In February, an injury of his left thigh prevented him from playing in the first leg of the Champions League first knockout round against Atlético Madrid. He made a substitute appearance during the second leg in Spain, but was unable to prevent a 5–1 aggregate defeat against the Rojiblancos.

On 6 August 2014, Robinho arrived in São Paulo–Guarulhos International Airport and subsequently returned to Santos in a one-year loan deal. Despite being out of new coach Filippo Inzaghi’s plans, the Italian side still will pay Robinho’s wages—while Peixe pays R$600,000 per month, Milan will pay another R$400,000.

After the World Cup, returning coach Dunga recalled Robinho to the Brazilian national squad. On 6 September 2014, Robinho played 13 minutes as a substitute in Brazil’s 1–0 win against Colombia in Miami. In May 2015, Robinho was included in Brazil’s 23-man squad for the 2015 Copa América held in Chile. He started their final group game against Venezuela after Neymar was suspended for the entire tournament. In the ninth minute, Robinho sent in the corner from which Thiago Silva volleyed Brazil into the lead in an eventual 2–1 victory which sent them into the quarter-finals as group winners. On 27 June, Robinho scored the opening goal of the quarter-final with Paraguay, which Brazil eventually lost 4–3 in a penalty shootout. He won his 100th International Cap on 25 January 2017 during a match against Colombia at the Olympic Stadium in Rio de Janeiro.

On 13 September, Robinho scored his first Brasileirão goal, netting his side’s second in a 2–1 home win over Coritiba. He scored again on 21 September with a left-footed strike in a 3–1 victory over Figueirense. On 30 June 2015, after already rescinding his link with Milan in May, he left Peixe after his contract expired.

On 16 July 2015, Robinho signed a six-month contract with Chinese Super League side Guangzhou Evergrande Taobao, managed by compatriot Luiz Felipe Scolari and linking up with his international teammate Paulinho. On 23 July 2015, he made his unofficial debut for Guangzhou in an international friendly against Bayern Munich. He won the Chinese Super League in the 2015 season.

On 1 February 2016, Robinho became a free agent after his contract expired with Guangzhou.

On 11 February 2016, Robinho signed a two-year contract with Atlético Mineiro.

Robinho was the highest goal scorer in Brazil in 2016, with 25 goals. He was selected for the Campeonato Brasileiro team of the year, in both the Craque do Brasileirão and the Bola de Prata awards.

Robinho scored a goal in the 2017 Campeonato Mineiro final over rivals Cruzeiro, which secured Atlético the title.

He left the club at the expiry of his contract in December 2017, having scored a total of 38 goals in 109 matches.

On 23 November 2017, an Italian court sentenced Robinho to nine years in prison after he and five other males were convicted of sexual assault in the January 2013 gang rape of a 22-year-old Albanian woman at a Milan nightclub. Under Italian law, his sentencing will not be enforced until after the completion of the appeal process. At the time of the sentencing, Robinho was in Brazil, and under Brazilian law, a Brazilian citizen cannot be extradited to a foreign country.

On 23 January 2018, Robinho signed for Turkish Süper Lig club Sivasspor.

On 1 January 2019, Robinho signed for İstanbul Başakşehir. He was a member of the 2019–20 Süper Lig winning squad, the first top flight title in the club’s history.

On 10 October 2020, Robinho rejoined Santos on a deal running until February 2021, with the option for an extension until December 2022. The announcement was met with criticism due to Robinho’s trial court conviction of sexual assault in Italy. One of Santos’ sponsors ended their deal with the club, stating that the signing was ‘disrespectful to women’, while others also pressed against it. On 16 October, Santos announced the suspension of his contract, stating that he would focus exclusively on his defense.