Facundo Axel Medina (born 28 May 1999) is an Argentine 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 le ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

or left-back for club Lens and the Argentina national team.

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 The 2016–17 Argentine Primera División – Torneo de la Independencia was the 127th season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The tournament was named in commemoration of the 200th anniversary of the Independence of Argentina. T ...

season. In January 2018, Medina completed a move to fellow

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; en, "First Division"), known officialy as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Binance for sponsorship reasons, is a professional football league in Argentina, organised by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). Th ...

side Talleres. 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 Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine sports club headquartered in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is mostly known for its professional football team which, since its promotion in 1913, has always played in the A ...

, Rosario Central and Gimnasia y Esgrima. He scored his first senior goal in February 2020 against

Huracán Huracan (; es, Huracán; myn, Hunraqan, "one legged"), often referred to as ''U Kʼux Kaj'', the "Heart of Sky", is a Kʼicheʼ people, Kʼicheʼ Maya mythology, Maya god of wind, storm, fire and one of the creator deities who participated in ...

. After a total of 37 appearances for Talleres, Medina departed in July 2020 to

Ligue 1 Ligue 1, officially known as Ligue 1 Uber Eats for sponsorship reasons, is a French professional league for men's association football clubs. At the top of the French football league system, it is the country's primary football competition. A ...

side Lens. Medina netted his first goal for Lens on 13 September against Lorient, scoring with an

overhead kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before ...

as his side won 3–2 away from home. He scored again on 3 February 2021 during a 2–2 draw at home to

Marseille Marseille ( , , ; also spelled in English as Marseilles; oc, Marselha ) is the prefecture of the French department of Bouches-du-Rhône and capital of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region. Situated in the camargue region of southern Franc ...

. His third Lens goal arrived on his Coupe de France starting debut in a defeat away to

Championnat National The Championnat de France National ( en, French National Championship), commonly referred to as simply National or Division 3, serves as the third division of the French football league system behind Ligue 1 and Ligue 2. Contested by 18 clubs, t ...

club

Red Star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. I ...

on 6 March. On 18 January 2023, he extended his contract with Lens until 2026.

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 The Argentina national under-20 football team is the representative of Argentina in FIFA-sponsored tournaments that pertain to that age level. Argentina is the most successful nation in the FIFA U-20 World Cup, winning the competition a record ...

squad. He subsequently featured on 29 August 2018 in a friendly with

Uruguay Uruguay (; ), officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay ( es, República Oriental del Uruguay), is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast; while bordering ...

. 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 The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for men's national Association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awa ...

in Russia. In December, Medina was selected for the

2019 South American U-20 Championship The 2019 South American U-20 Championship was the 29th edition of the South American U-20 Championship ( es, CONMEBOL Sudamericano Sub-20, pt, CONMEBOL Sul-Americano Sub-20), the biennial international youth football championship organised by C ...

. He was also picked for the subsequent FIFA U-20 World Cup. He featured eleven times in the tournaments. Medina was called by the U23s for the

2019 Pan American Games The 2019 Pan American Games ( es, Juegos Panamericanos de 2019, links=no), officially the XVIII Pan American Games and commonly known as the Lima 2019 Pan-Am Games or Lima 2019 ( qu, Limaq 2019), were a multi-sport event governed by the Panam Spo ...

. 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. In September 2020, having won the

2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament The 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament was the 13th edition of the CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted football tournament organised by the Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol (CONMEBOL) to deter ...

with the U23s months earlier, Medina received his first call-up to the Argentina senior squad from manager

Lionel Scaloni Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (; born 16 May 1978) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who currently coaches the Argentina national team. A versatile player, he operated as a right-back or right midfielder. Born in Puj ...

. He debuted in a

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international association football, football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022 ...

qualifying victory away to

Bolivia , image_flag = Bandera de Bolivia (Estado).svg , flag_alt = Horizontal tricolor (red, yellow, and green from top to bottom) with the coat of arms of Bolivia in the center , flag_alt2 = 7 × 7 square p ...

on 13 October, after replacing

Lautaro Martínez Lautaro Javier Martínez (born 22 August 1997) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for club Inter Milan and the Argentina national team. Martínez began his football career in his native Argentina, where he made his ...

for the final moments at the Estadio Hernando Siles.

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Argentina U23 *

Pan American Games The Pan American Games (also known colloquially as the Pan Am Games) is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas featuring summer sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The competition is held ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

* CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament:

2020 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of events, COVID- ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Medina, Facundo 1999 births Living people People from Lomas de Zamora Partido Argentine men's footballers Argentina men's international footballers Argentina men's youth international footballers Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Footballers at the 2019 Pan American Games Pan American Games gold medalists for Argentina Pan American Games medalists in football Men's association football defenders Men's association football central defenders Argentine expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine Primera División players Ligue 1 players Club Atlético River Plate footballers Talleres de Córdoba footballers RC Lens players Medalists at the 2019 Pan American Games Olympic footballers for Argentina Footballers at the 2020 Summer Olympics Footballers from Buenos Aires Province