Igor Jesus: Bio, Salary, Net Worth, Lifestyle, Club and International Career

Botafogo has proven to be the ultimate surprise package of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup, ousting the odds with some amazing performances in the group stages. The Brazilian side have represented their country proudly, pulling off the major shocker of defeating PSG in the group stages and even keeping a clean sheet against the reigning UEFA Champions League winners. Botafogo are now primed to potentially top Group B, and a major reason for their success so far has been their vibrant forward, Igor Jesus.

The Brazilian forward was born on 25 February, 2001 and has been a success story for Botafogo since joining them in 2024. The 24-year-old scored in both of Botafogo's first two matches at the Club World Cup, which included an instinctive strike to stun PSG. Jesus has scored nine goals in 27 appearances across the 2024/25 season for his side and his proactiveness in front of goal has started earning him major interest.

The 24-year-old is being strongly linked to a potential summer move to Premier League side Nottingham Forest. The English heavyweights are reportedly planning to sign both Igor Jesus and Jair Cunha from Botafogo after the Club World Cup ends, which could result in a whole new chapter in the Brazilian forward's career. With that being said, how much do you know about the Botafogo striker? Here, we take a look at Igor Jesus' lifestyle, net worth, and footballing journey so far.

Igor Jesus Bio

Igor Jesus Family and Early Life

Life was tough for Igor Jesus as he grew up in Cuiaba, which is the capital city of the Mato Grosso state in Brazil. In fact, Jesus and his family didn't stay in a lavish environment city but actually in the riverbanks of the Cuiaba River. The family had a modest fishing business and the members earned their livelihood by helping clean fishes at a local market stall. Igor himself also helped his grandfather with his fishing business, but his mother, Dona Dianna, was always someone who pushed his footballing dream.

She ensured that he balanced his dream for football and also focused on education at the same time. Igor Jesus joined the academy of the Coritiba football club, which currently plays in Serie B. He joined the academy at the age of 13, honing his skills in the youth teams for four years. Igor Jesus' impressive work earned him a call-up to the Coritiba senior team in 2019, as he made his senior debut for them on 23 January, 2019. Thus began a sparkling football career where the 24-year-old has had to rely on his grit and tenacity to climb up the Brazilian football scene.

Playing Style and Strengths

Igor Jesus is not your ordinary box striker who demands the ball played to him to key spaces in the final third. He is a proactive and hard-working centre-forward who loves to move around the frontline and often wanders into the wide areas to interchange positions with wingers. He is a sturdy forward who can bully defenders with his physical prowess and is surprising quick with the ball in his feet, being able to move it forward quickly.

Jesus is a major threat on counter-attacks because of his pace and ability to outrun defenders. He is also blessed with some decent creativity, being able to play in his teammates into the empty areas in the final third to enhance his side's attacking threat. The 24-year-old loves to carve out goal-scoring opportunities for himself, and is actually a very efficient finisher who has a variety of tricks up his locker when it comes to converting opportunities inside the final third.

Igor Jesus Net Worth

Igor Jesus has been playing at the professional level since 2019. He has spent the majority of his senior football career outside the country, spending five years with UAE Pro League club Shaba Al Ahli to get experience of how football works outside Brazil. The 24-year-old is currently estimated to have a market value of around £12.8 million. Nottingham Forest are strongly pushing to sign both him and Jair Cunha from Botafogo for a rumored fee of £30 million. That means Igor Jesus is being valued at potentially at least around £15 million, with his valuation and worth both rising thanks to his heroics at the Club World Cup.

Jesus could see his brand value rise even more if able to maintain his goal heroics for Botafogo deep in the Club World Cup. His popularity will also soar with a potential move to the Premier League, which might attract more brands to tie up with him, having a major impact on Igor Jesus net worth.

Igor Jesus Salary

Let us take a look at the Igor Jesus salary. The 24-year-old has been with Botafogo for under a year since joining them on 7 July, 2024. The striker is estimated to be one of the highest-paid players in the Botafogo squad currently, with the club granting him a pretty decent wage package after he joined them from Shabab Al Ahli. However, there is no public information on the Igor Jesus salary that he received at the UAE club, with there only being clarity on the kind of finances he's earning at the Brazilian side.

Note: Salaries and net worth are approximate and based on available data from various sources.

Igor Jesus Wife

Igor Jesus is blessed to be supported by his wife, Angelica Richter, who has been with him through his ups and downs all across his career. Richter, Igor Jesus wife is actually over 10 years older than Jesus and met him during his time playing for Cortiba FC. She works as a sports nutritionist who graduated with a degree in nutrition from the Tuiuti University in Parana, Brazil. The couple like to maintain a discreet profile in staying with each other off the pitch, but Richter has often posted images and videos of her attending matches in which Igor Jesus plays in. She has over 14,000 followers on her Instagram profile, where Richter often posts pictures of herself with the Brazilian forward.

Igor Jesus Career

Igor Jesus has had to work extremely hard to become the recognized Brazilian international footballer that he is currently. In his career so far, the 24-year-old has played in his home nation of Brazil and also spent a considerable amount of time in Asian football, while playing in the United Arab Emirates.

He has played for two Brazilian clubs in Coritiba FC as well as his current club, Botafogo. Jesus was able to hone the majority of his skills as a centre-forward during his time playing for UAE side Shabab Al-Ahli, where was able to transform himself into a hard-working, tenacious forward who is willing to work that extra bit much to win the key duels.

Club Career

He started his professional career with Coritiba FC, making his debut in a Campeonato Paranaense game against Maringa. His first senior goal at the professional level was against Athletico Paranaense a week after he made his official debut. Jesus helped Coritiba get promoted to the Brazilian top division (Campeonato Brasileiro Serie A) in 2020, scoring three goals in 24 league games in the 2019 campaign.

He made 10 appearances in the Brasileiro Serie A for Coritiba FC in 2020 before UAE Pro League club Shabab Al-Ahli came calling that year. He would play for the UAE giants for four years and actually attained quite a lot of success with them. Jesus won the UAE Pro League title, UAE President's Cup and the UAE League Cup with Shabab Al Ahli. He made 88 appearances for the club, having over 60 goal contributions as well.

Igor Jesus' heroics with the UAE club urged Botafogo to bring him back to Brazil in 2024. He has attained quite a bit of success in the short period with the club, winning both the Brasileiro Serie A and the Copa Libertadores titles with them. That has allowed him to show his quality at the FIFA Club World Cup, where he's scored some niec goals to help his side get big wins in the group stages.

International Career

The Igor Jesus international career is a rather fascinating one because he never played for Brazilian youth teams when coming up through the ranks at Coritiba. He did not represent the Selecao across any youth levels, instead making the direct jump to the senior Brazilian national football team. Jesus made his official international debut in Brazil's 2-1 win over Chile in a FIFA World Cup qualifier on 11 October, 2024. He has made only a handful of appearances for Brazil so far, but has already had a few goal contributions to prove his quality to lead the line for his national team.

Note: The numbers can be different in different sources due to differences in accounting of assists and goals based on different rules.

Igor Jesus Awards And Achievements

Igor Jesus has already won quite a few trophies in his career. He won the Brasileiro Serie A title and the Copa Libertadores with Botafogo. The 24-year-old also won the UAE Pro League title and UAE Super Cup titles (twice) with Shabab Al-Ahly. Unfortunately for him, Jesus is yet to win any major individual trophies in his career.