Fabián Cornelio Balbuena González (born 23 August 1991) is a Paraguayan professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for the Paraguay national team. He played for Cerro Porteño PF, Rubio Ñu,

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

and Libertad in the

Paraguayan Primera División The División Profesional de la Paraguayan Football Association, Asociación Paraguaya de Fútbol (; "Professional Division of the Paraguayan Football Association"), also known as the Primera División (; "first division"), or due to sponsorship ...

, before joining

Corinthians The First Epistle to the Corinthians () is one of the Pauline epistles, part of the New Testament of the Christian Bible. The epistle is attributed to Paul the Apostle and a co-author, Sosthenes, and is addressed to the Christian church in C ...

of Brazil in 2016. He played 120 games for Corinthians, winning the

Campeonato Paulista The Campeonato Paulista Série A1, commonly known as Campeonato Paulista, nicknamed Paulistão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. Run by the São Paulo State Football Federation (FPF), ...

twice and the

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

once, and was named in the latter's 2017

team of the year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

. After three years with

West Ham United West Ham United Football Club is a professional Association football, football club based in Stratford, London, Stratford, East London, England. The club competes in the Premier League, the top tier of English football league system, English f ...

in the

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

, he signed for Dynamo Moscow. Balbuena made his senior international debut for Paraguay in 2015. He played for his national team at four

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

tournaments, coming fourth in

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

Club career

Paraguay

Born in

Ciudad del Este Ciudad del Este (, Spanish for Eastern City; often shortened as CDE) is the second-largest city in Paraguay and capital of the Alto Paraná Department, situated on the Paraná River. It is located 327 km east of Asunción, the capital, and i ...

, Balbuena was promoted to Cerro Porteño PF's first team in 2010, after the arrival of new manager Eduardo Rivera. He immediately became a starter under Rivera, playing in all the remaining seven matches of the campaign as his side achieved a mid-table position. Balbuena became a regular starter in 2011, being also

team captain In team sport, captain is a title given to a member of the team. The title is frequently honorary, but in some cases the captain may have significant responsibility for strategy and teamwork while the game is in progress on the field. In eithe ...

as the club achieved promotion from División intermedia. Balbuena joined Rubio Ñu ahead of the 2013 season, but remained at the club for only six months before moving to defending champions

Club Nacional Club Nacional is a Paraguayan professional football club based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1904, the club currently plays in the Paraguayan Primera División, and holds its home games at Estadio Arsenio Erico. Int ...

. At the latter side, he was also first-choice and reached the 2014 Copa Libertadores Finals, losing it to

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

. On 15 August 2014, Libertad bought 50% of Balbuena's federative rights, and the player signed a four-year deal with the club. They won the 2014 Clausura tournament.

Corinthians

On 16 February 2016, Balbuena moved abroad for the first time in his career after agreeing to a three-year deal with Série A side

. He made his debut for the club nine days later by starting in a 1–1

away draw against São Bento, and scored his first goal on 19 March in a 4–0 home routing of Linense for the same competition. A key defensive unit at ''Timão'', Balbuena lifted the

2017 Campeonato Paulista The 2017 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 116th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the sixteen teams are drawn, with seeding, into four groups o ...

2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The 2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A was the 61st season of the Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, the top level of professional football in Brazil, and the 14th edition in a double round-robin since its establishment in 2003. The season began on ...

and

2018 Campeonato Paulista The 2018 Campeonato Paulista de Futebol Profissional da Primeira Divisão - Série A1 was the 117th season of São Paulo's top professional football league. Format *In the first stage the sixteen teams are drawn, with seeding, into four groups o ...

during his spell. On 24 April 2018, he signed a new four-year contract.

West Ham United

On 14 July 2018, Balbuena signed for

club

on a three-year deal, for an undisclosed fee. He made his debut on 12 August in a 4–0 defeat by

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

. On 27 October he scored his first goal for the Hammers to open the scoring at

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

, but deflected

Wilfred Ndidi Onyinye Wilfred Ndidi (born 16 December 1996) is a Nigerian professional footballer who plays as a defensive midfielder for club Leicester City and the Nigeria national team. Ndidi is known for his defensive ability and intelligence. Club ca ...

's long-range shot into his own net for the equaliser; he was the first Paraguayan to score in England's top division since

Antolín Alcaraz Antolín Alcaraz Viveros (born 30 July 1982) is a Paraguayan former professional Association football, footballer who played as a Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back. He rarely settled with a team in his early career, bef ...

in May 2012. On 18 October 2020, Balbuena scored West Ham's first goal as they overturned a 3–0 deficit with eight minutes remaining to draw at London rivals

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. The following 24 April, he was sent off in a 1–0 home loss to another capital team, Chelsea, for catching

Ben Chilwell Benjamin James Chilwell (born 21 December 1996) is an English professional footballer who plays as a left-back or left wing-back for club Chelsea, and the England national team. Beginning his career at Leicester City, Chilwell had a loan spe ...

when making a clearance; the decision was criticised by manager

David Moyes David William Moyes (born 25 April 1963) is a Scottish professional Manager (association football), football manager and former Association football, player, who currently manages Premier League club Everton F.C., Everton. He was the 2003, 200 ...

and various pundits. The

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

was overturned after West Ham appealed. In May 2021, Balbuena was told by West Ham that his contract would not be renewed when it expired at the end of the 2020–21 season.

Dynamo Moscow

On 9 July 2021, he signed a four-year contract with

Russian Premier League The Russian Premier League (RPL; , ''Rossiyskaya premyer-liga''; РПЛ), also written as Russian Premier Liga, is a professional association football league in Russia and the highest level of the Russian football league system. It was establis ...

club

FC Dynamo Moscow FC Dynamo Moscow (''FC Dynamo Moskva'', , ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Dynamo returned to the Russian Premier League for the 2017–18 season after one season in the second-tier Russian Footba ...

. On 10 July 2022, Balbuena suspended his contract with Dynamo Moscow for the 2022–23 season, having taken advantage of the

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

ruling relating to the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Eight days later, he returned to

for the period of his Dynamo contract suspension, until 30 June 2023. At the end of this suspension, Balbuena returned to Dynamo in July 2023. After returning to the Moscow club, Balbuena was chosen as the team captain for the next season. Balbuena left Dynamo on 31 May 2025 as his contract expired.

International career

First called up on 19 March 2015, Balbuena made his full international debut for Paraguay national team on 31 March by starting in a 1–0 friendly loss against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

at the

Arrowhead Stadium Arrowhead Stadium is an American football stadium in Kansas City, Missouri, United States. It primarily serves as the home venue of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). It was built at the same time as neighboring Kauff ...

. He was also named among the 23-man squads for the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

and the

Copa América Centenario The Copa América Centenario (, , ; literally ''Centennial America Cup'') was an international men's soccer tournament that was hosted by the United States in 2016. The competition was a celebration of the centennial of CONMEBOL and the Copa Am� ...

. He made his first competitive appearance at the latter in the final group game, a 1–0 loss to hosts the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in which he was substituted at half time for attacker

Juan Iturbe Juan Manuel Iturbe Arévalo (born 4 June 1993) is a professional footballer who plays as a winger for Cerro Porteño. Born in Argentina, Iturbe represented the Paraguay national team in a friendly match in 2009. After the friendly, he declare ...

. At the

2019 Copa América The 2019 Copa América was the 46th edition of the Copa América, the international men's association football championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. It was held in Brazil and took place between 14 June and 7 Ju ...

in Brazil, Paraguay faced the host team in the quarter-finals, and Balbuena was sent off after an hour for fouling

Roberto Firmino Roberto Firmino Barbosa de Oliveira (born 2 October 1991) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a forward or attacking midfielder for Saudi Pro League club Al-Ahli, which he captains. After starting his career with Figueiren ...

when the Brazilian was clear on goal; the game ended goalless and Brazil won on penalties. On 23 September 2022, Balbuena scored his first international goal, a late header that was the only goal of a friendly win over the

United Arab Emirates The United Arab Emirates (UAE), or simply the Emirates, is a country in West Asia, in the Middle East, at the eastern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is a Federal monarchy, federal elective monarchy made up of Emirates of the United Arab E ...

Wiener Neustadt Wiener Neustadt (; Lower_Austria.html" ;"title=".e. Lower Austria">.e. Lower Austria , ) is a city located south of Vienna, in the state of Lower Austria, in northeast Austria. It is a self-governed city and the seat of the district administr ...

, Austria. In a 1–0 friendly loss away to

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

on 16 November, Balbuena and opponent

Alexander Succar Alexander Nasim Succar Cañote (born 12 August 1995) is a Peruvian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Peruvian club Universidad César Vallejo and the Peru national team. Club career Succar played in the youth ranks of Ac ...

were sent off for fighting.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Paraguay' goal tally first.''

Honours

Club

Cerro Porteño PF * División Intermedia: 2011 Libertad * Primera División: Clausura 2014 Corinthians *

2017 2017 was designated as the International Year of Sustainable Tourism for Development by the United Nations General Assembly. Events January * January 1 – Istanbul nightclub shooting: A gunman dressed as Santa Claus opens fire at the ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Paraguay *

Copa America Copa or COPA may refer to: COPA COPA may refer to: * Child Online Protection Act The Child Online Protection Act (COPA) was a United States law, law in the United States, United States of America, passed in 1998 with the declared purpose of ...

copper medals:

Individual

* Bola de Prata: 2017 * Campeonato Brasileiro Team of the Year:

* Best Centre-back in Brazil:

Team of the Year:

Centre-back of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Balbuena, Fabian 1991 births Living people Footballers from Ciudad del Este Paraguayan men's footballers Men's association football central defenders Paraguayan Primera División players Club Cerro Porteño (Presidente Franco) footballers Club Rubio Ñu footballers Club Nacional footballers Club Libertad footballers Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Sport Club Corinthians Paulista players Premier League players West Ham United F.C. players FC Dynamo Moscow players Russian Premier League players 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players Paraguay men's international footballers Paraguayan expatriate men's footballers Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in England Paraguayan expatriate sportspeople in Russia Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Russia 2024 Copa América players Footballers at the 2024 Summer Olympics Olympic footballers for Paraguay 21st-century Paraguayan sportsmen