Tomás Franco Tavares, a right-back of Cape Verdean descent, was born in Peniche and joined Benfica's academy in 2010 from the Fernando Chalana football school. He signed his first professional contract on 2 July 2018 and made his debut for the reserve side in August 2019.

His senior breakthrough came quickly: he debuted in the UEFA Champions League against RB Leipzig on 10 September 2019 and in the Primeira Liga later that month, finishing 2019/20 with 26 official appearances across all competitions. Momentum stalled thereafter. A loan to Alavés in October 2020 was cut short in January 2021 and he finished that season at Farense, before spending 2021/22 on loan at Basel in Switzerland, where he scored his first senior goal.

He returned to Lisbon for Roger Schmidt's first season but was behind Alexander Bah and Gilberto and did not feature for the first team. On 24 January 2023 Benfica sold him permanently to Spartak Moscow on a three-and-a-half-year contract. He was capped by Portugal at under-17, under-19 and under-21 level.