Guillermo "Guille" Luis Franco Farquarson (born 3 November 1976) is a former 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 played as a striker. Born and raised in Argentina, he played for the Mexico national team.

Early life

Guillermo Franco was born in

Corrientes Corrientes (; Guaraní: Taragui, literally: "Currents") is the capital city of the province of Corrientes, Argentina, located on the eastern shore of the Paraná River, about from Buenos Aires and from Posadas, on National Route 12. It has ...

, the capital city of the

Corrientes Province Corrientes (, ‘currents’ or ‘streams’; ), officially the Province of Corrientes (; ) is a Provinces of Argentina, province in northeast Argentina, in the Mesopotamia, Argentina, Mesopotamia region. It is surrounded by (from the north, cl ...

in Argentina.

Club career

San Lorenzo

Franco began his career with

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

side

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 ...

, playing with the team from 1996 to 2002 mainly as a

right winger In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

Monterrey

He then joined Mexican

Monterrey Monterrey (, , abbreviated as MtY) is the capital and largest city of the northeastern Mexican state of Nuevo León. It is the ninth-largest city and the second largest metropolitan area, after Greater Mexico City. Located at the foothills of th ...

in the middle of 2002, and made his debut during the 2002 Apertura. Franco was very successful with the ''Rayados'', and led the league in scoring during the 2004 Apertura with 15 goals in 16 games, playing as a striker. He was part of the team that won the

Mexican Primera División Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divi ...

championship in 2003 and achieved runner-up position twice in 2004 and 2005.

Villarreal

Subsequently, Franco spent three years in Spain playing for

Villarreal Villarreal (officially, in ) is a city and municipality in the province of Castellón which is part of the Valencian Community in the east of Spain. The town is located at 42 m above sea level, 7 km to the south of the province's capital ( ...

, but his spell was plagued with injuries. In his first season, Franco helped Villarreal reach the semifinal of the

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

where they lost to

Arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostly ...

. Franco also scored a goal that qualified Villarreal for the

UEFA Cup The asterisk ( ), from Late Latin , from Ancient Greek , , "little star", is a Typography, typographical symbol. It is so called because it resembles a conventional image of a star (heraldry), heraldic star. Computer scientists and Mathematici ...

, in a 1–0 victory against

Celta de Vigo Real Club Celta de Vigo (; ), commonly known as Celta Vigo, is a Spanish professional football club based in Vigo, Galicia, that competes in La Liga, the top tier of Spanish football. Nicknamed ''Os Celestes'' (The Sky Blues), the club was fou ...

West Ham United

In September 2009, Franco signed for

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 ...

on a one-year contract, becoming the first Mexican to play for the Hammers. On 25 September, it was disclosed that due to West Ham's perilous financial situation following former chairman

Björgólfur Guðmundsson Björgólfur Guðmundsson (2 January 1941 – 2 February 2025) was an Icelandic businessman and chairman and owner of West Ham United. Björgólfur was Iceland's second businessman to be worth more than a billion dollars — his son, Björgólf ...

's financial collapse, West Ham's CEO Scott Duxbury, and their Sporting and Football Technical Director

Gianluca Nani Gianluca Nani (born 1 October 1962) is an Italian sporting and football technical director. Football career Nani organised football tournaments in Spain before working as Brescia Calcio's sporting director commencing in 1999. During this time he w ...

, had part financed the deal from their own salaries. Franco made his debut for West Ham on 17 October 2009 in a 2–1 away defeat to

Stoke City Stoke City Football Club is a professional association football club based in Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire, England. The team competes in the , the second level of the English football league system. Founded as Stoke Ramblers in 1863, the cl ...

. He scored his first goal for the team on 31 October 2009 to put them 1–0 up against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

away from home, in a game that finished 2–2. Franco became the third Mexican player to score 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 ...

Jared Borgetti Jared Francisco Borgetti Echavarría (; born 14 August 1973) is a Mexican former professional footballer who currently works as a commentator for ESPN Deportes and ESPN Mexico. Borgetti earned a reputation as a prolific goal scorer, particu ...

and

Carlos Vela Carlos Alberto Vela Garrido (; born 1 March 1989) is a Mexican former association football, footballer. A versatile offensive player, Vela could be deployed as a forward (association football), forward, winger (association football), winger, an ...

being the first and second respectively. On 24 April 2010, Franco assisted

Scott Parker Scott Matthew Parker (born 13 October 1980) is an English professional football manager and former player who currently manages Premier League club Burnley. Parker began his career at Charlton Athletic, and was loaned to Norwich City, before ...

, who scored for the winner in a 3–2 victory against

Wigan Athletic Wigan Athletic Football Club is a professional association football club based in Wigan, Greater Manchester, England. The team competes in the EFL League One, the third level of the English football league system. Founded in 1932, they have p ...

; a win which would see them safe from relegation. In May it was announced that West Ham would release Franco.

Vélez Sársfield

The striker then spent one semester as a

free agent In professional sports, a free agent is a player or manager who is eligible to sign with other clubs or franchises; i.e., not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under a contract at present ...

, until he joined Vélez Sársfield back in Argentina in January 2011. He signed a one-year deal, and made his debut coming on as a second-half substitute for Santiago Silva in a 2–2 draw at Independiente in the first fixture of the 2011 Clausura. Subsequently, he played the starting minutes of the

Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Libertadores, also known as Copa Libertadores de América (), is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONMEBOL since 1960. It is the highest level of competition in South American club football. The tournam ...

debut against

Caracas FC Caracas Fútbol Club is a Venezuelan professional football team based in Caracas. The club has won twelve First Division titles making it the most successful in Venezuelan football history. They are nicknamed ''Los Rojos del Ávila'', or the ...

, suffering a shoulder injury that left him out for the remainder of the season. Having played less than 30 minutes, he offered the club to terminate his contract, or suspend his salary until he recovered, though Vélez rejected it. He returned for the

2011 Copa Libertadores The 2011 Copa Libertadores de América (officially the 2011 Copa Santander Libertadores de América for sponsorship reasons) was the 52nd edition of the Copa Libertadores de América, South America's premier international club football tournamen ...

quarter-finals, entering the field and scoring one goal from a penalty in a 4–2 victory over Libertad. He also played the last 5 games of the 2011 Clausura (one as a starter), helping his team win the Argentine league title.

Pachuca

On 21 January 2012, he joined

Pachuca Pachuca (; ), formally known as Pachuca de Soto, is the capital and largest city of the east-central Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo, located in the south-central part of the state. Pachuca Municipality, Pach ...

of the

. The next season, the Chicago Fire signed him.

Chicago Fire

Franco signed with Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire on 14 September 2012. On 21 January 2013 the club announced Franco's contract option was not picked up for the new season. On 29 January 2013, Franco announced his retirement from football.

International career

In 2004, Franco became a

naturalized Naturalization (or naturalisation) is the legal act or process by which a non-national of a country acquires the nationality of that country after birth. The definition of naturalization by the International Organization for Migration of the ...

Mexican citizen after settling in Mexico in 2002; and made senior national team debut in 2005. Franco played at the

2006 FIFA World Cup The 2006 FIFA World Cup was the 18th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football world championship tournament. It was held from 9 June to 9 July 2006 in Germany, which had won the right to FIFA World Cup hosts ...

and was a part of the

2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the tenth edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the twentieth soccer championship of North America, Central America and the Caribbean (CONCACAF). It was played from July 3 to 26, 2009 in the United Stat ...

squad. During the

2010 World Cup qualification 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

, he contributed two goals in six games. He played in all four matches for Mexico at the

2010 FIFA World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

. In September 2010, Franco announced his retirement from international football.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Franco goal.''

Honours

San Lorenzo * Argentine Primera División Clausura:

2001 The year's most prominent event was the September 11 attacks against the United States by al-Qaeda, which Casualties of the September 11 attacks, killed 2,977 people and instigated the global war on terror. The United States led a Participan ...

Copa Mercosur The Copa Mercosur (, , "Mercosur Cup") was a Association football, football competition played from 1998 to 2001 by the traditional top clubs from Brazil, Argentina, Paraguay, Uruguay and Chile. The competition was created by CONMEBOL to generate ...

Monterrey * Mexican Primera División Clausura:

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

Vélez Sársfield * Argentine Primera División Clausura:

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

Chicago Fire * MLS Brimstone Cup:

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

Mexico *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

2009 2009 was designated as the International Year of Astronomy by the United Nations to coincide with the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei's first known astronomical studies with a telescope and the publication of Astronomia Nova by Joha ...

Individual *

Golden Ball: Clausura 2003 *

Golden Boot: Apertura 2004

References

External links

*
FootballDatabase.com Profile
* * * * at Fútbol XXI {{DEFAULTSORT:Franco, Guillermo 1976 births Living people Footballers from Corrientes Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers Argentine men's footballers Naturalized citizens of Mexico Argentine emigrants to Mexico Men's association football forwards Mexican expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate men's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in England Argentine Primera División players San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers Chicago Fire FC players Liga MX players C.F. Monterrey players C.F. Pachuca players La Liga players Villarreal CF players Premier League players Major League Soccer players West Ham United F.C. players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States 2006 FIFA World Cup players 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2010 FIFA World Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Mexican Christians 21st-century Argentine sportsmen