Facundo Medina

Facundo Medina

Medina with Lens in 2020
Personal information
Full name	Facundo Axel Medina [1]
Date of birth	(1999-05-28) 28 May 1999 (age 24) [2]
Place of birth	Villa Fiorito, Argentina [3]
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in) [4]
Position(s)	Centre-back, left-back [5]
Team information
Current team	Lens
Number	14
Youth career
	River Plate
2018	Talleres
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2020	Talleres	33	(1)
2020–	Lens	110	(6)
International career‡
2018–2019	Argentina U20	12	(0)
2019–2021	Argentina U23	17	(1)
2020–	Argentina	3	(0)
Medal record Representing   Argentina Men's Football Pan American Games 2019 Lima Team Competition
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 23:02, 29 March 2024 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 03:35, 19 June 2023 (UTC)

Facundo Axel Medina (born 28 May 1999) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for Ligue 1 club Lens and the Argentina national team. ^[2]

Club career

Medina's career got underway with a stint with River Plate, who he was an unused substitute for four times during the 2016–17 Argentine Primera División season. ^[2] In January 2018, Medina completed a move to fellow Argentine Primera División side Talleres. ^{[6] [7]} After featuring for their U20s at the 2018 U-20 Copa Libertadores in February, he made his first league appearances in August when he played in matches against Boca Juniors, Rosario Central and Gimnasia y Esgrima. ^[2] He scored his first senior goal in February 2020 against Huracán. ^[2] After a total of 37 appearances for Talleres, Medina departed in July 2020 to Ligue 1 side Lens. ^[8]

Medina netted his first goal for Lens on 13 September against Lorient, scoring with an overhead kick as his side won 3–2 away from home. ^{[2] [9]} He scored again on 3 February 2021 during a 2–2 draw at home to Marseille. ^[2] His third Lens goal arrived on his Coupe de France starting debut in a defeat away to Championnat National club Red Star on 6 March. ^[2] On 18 January 2023, he extended his contract with Lens until 2026. ^[10]

International career

After playing in all three of Talleres' fixtures at the beginning of 2018–19, Medina received a call-up to the Argentina U20 squad. ^{[11] [12]} He subsequently featured on 29 August 2018 in a friendly with Uruguay. ^{[11] [12]} He had previous experience with the U20s during his time with River Plate, and was also called up to train against the senior squad during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. ^{[6] [13]} In December, Medina was selected for the 2019 South American U-20 Championship. ^[14] He was also picked for the subsequent FIFA U-20 World Cup. ^[15] He featured eleven times in the tournaments. ^[2] Medina was called by the U23s for the 2019 Pan American Games. ^[16]

Medina appeared in all five of Argentina's matches at the Pan American Games, as they came away with the trophy after defeating Honduras in the final. ^[2] In September 2020, having won the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament with the U23s months earlier, Medina received his first call-up to the Argentina senior squad from manager Lionel Scaloni. ^[3] He debuted in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying victory away to Bolivia on 13 October, after replacing Lautaro Martínez for the final moments at the Estadio Hernando Siles. ^[2]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 29 March 2024 ^[2]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup		League cup		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Talleres	2018–19	Argentine Primera División	16	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	17	0
	2019–20	Argentine Primera División	17	1	2	0	1	0	—		0	0	20	1
	Total		33	1	3	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	37	1
Lens	2020–21	Ligue 1	24	2	2	1	—		—		—		26	3
	2021–22	Ligue 1	31	1	3	0	—		—		—		34	1
	2022–23	Ligue 1	32	2	3	1	—		—		—		35	3
	2023–24	Ligue 1	23	1	1	0	—		7 [lower-alpha 1]	0	—		31	1
	Total		110	6	9	2	—		7	0	—		126	8
Career total			143	7	12	2	1	0	7	0	0	0	163	9

1. Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 19 June 2023 ^[2]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Argentina	2020	1	0
	2021	1	0
	2023	1	0
Total		3	0

Honours

Argentina U23 ^{[3] [17]}

• Pan American Games: 2019
• CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2020 ^[18]

References

1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Argentina" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
2. "Argentina - F. Medina". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
3. "No tuvo lugar en River, brilló en Talleres y fue campeón como juvenil en la Selección: la historia de Facundo Medina, el nuevo elegido por Scaloni". Infobae. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
4. "Facundo Medina". RC Lens. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
5. "Facundo Medina". World Football. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
6. "Facundo Medina refuerza la defensa de Talleres para la Superliga". Talleres. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
7. "Ficha Estadistica de FACUNDO MEDINA". BDFA. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
8. "Facundo Medina rejoint le RC Lens". Lens. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
9. "Un argentino ex River y Talleres anotó de chilena el mejor gol del fin de semana en Europa". Infobae. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
10. "RC Lens : Facundo Medina officiellement prolongé jusqu'en 2026". La Voix du Nord (in French). 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
11. "Facundo Medina, el lateral de Talleres que fue convocado a la selección argentina sub 20". Mundod Lavoz. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
12. "Jugó Facundo Medina de Talleres y ganó la selección sub 20". Mundod Lavoz. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
13. "Facundo Medina, el último "propio" en sumarse a la pretemporada de Talleres". Mundod Lavoz. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
14. "Convocados para el Sudamericano Sub 20". AFA. 22 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
15. "Lista de convocados para el Mundial". AFA. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
16. "Lista de convocados de la Selección Sub 23 para los Juegos Panamericanos". AFA. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
17. "La selección de fútbol vence a Honduras y se queda con la medalla dorada de los Juegos Panamericanos". Infobae. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
18. "Argentina win ticket to Tokyo as continental champions". FIFA.com. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020.

External links

• Facundo Medina at Soccerway