Jalil Juan José Elías (; born 25 April 1996) is a 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 currently plays as

defensive midfielder 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. ...

. Born in Argentina, he plays for the Syria national team.

Club career

Newell's Old Boys

Elías' career started with

Newell's Old Boys Club Atlético Newell's Old Boys () is an Argentine sports club based in Rosario, Santa Fe. The club was founded on 3 November 1903, and is named after Isaac Newell of the English county of Kent, one of the pioneers of Argentine football. A ...

in 2015, beginning in the youth system. He was an unused substitute in two

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 ...

matches in June and October 2015 against

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

and Nueva Chicago respectively. His professional debut arrived on 23 November 2015, he played the full ninety minutes in a

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

qualification play-off with

Lanús Lanús () is the capital of Lanús Partido, Buenos Aires Province in Argentina. It lies just south of the capital city Buenos Aires, in the Greater Buenos Aires conurbation, metropolitan area. The List of cities in Argentina, city has a populati ...

. He followed that with twenty-seven league appearances in his following three campaigns with Newell's Old Boys between 2016 and 2017. He scored his first career goal on 11 June 2017 in a

Copa Argentina The Copa Argentina (English: ''Argentine Cup''), officially known as the "Copa Argentina AXION energy" due to sponsorship reasons, is an official football cup competition organized by the Argentine Football Association (AFA). The first editions ...

win over

Central Norte Club Atlético Central Norte is an Argentine football club from the city of Salta, from the Salta Province. The team plays in the Torneo Federal A, the regionalised third division of the Argentine football league system. History Central Norte w ...

Godoy Cruz

In January 2018, Elías joined Godoy Cruz on loan until June 2019. Prior to departing, he signed a new contract with Newell's Old Boys until 2021. Like with his parent club, his debut for Godoy Cruz came versus Lanús. He appeared fourteen times for Godoy, with the club subsequently signing him permanently in the following August. He made thirty appearances in the 2018–19 season.

Unión Santa Fe

Prior to leaving the club on loan in July 2019 to Unión Santa Fe. Elías scored one goal across one season with them; he netted in a 3–3 draw away to Banfield on 3 November. In mid-2020, he was linked with a transfer to Italy with

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

San Lorenzo

On 10 February 2021, Elías joined

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 a permanent deal. Starting from the

2023 Argentine Primera División The 2023 Argentine Primera División - Liga Profesional (officially the Torneo Binance 2023, until the 26th round, for sponsorship reasons) was the 133rd season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The league season began on 27 Januar ...

, he was made the vice-captain of the club.

Johor Darul Ta'zim

On 4 January 2024, Elías signed with the Malaysian club

Johor Darul Ta'zim Johor, also spelled Johore,'' is a state of Malaysia in the south of the Malay Peninsula. It borders with Pahang, Malacca and Negeri Sembilan to the north. Johor has maritime borders with Singapore to the south and Indonesia to the east and w ...

. He made his debut for the club on 18 May 2024 in a 3–1 win over

Negeri Sembilan Negeri Sembilan (, Negeri Sembilan Malay: ''Nogoghi Sombilan'', ''Nismilan''), historically spelled as Negri Sembilan, is a States and federal territories of Malaysia, state in Malaysia which lies on the Peninsular Malaysia#Other features, wes ...

Vélez Sarsfield

On 10 August 2024, Elías returned to Argentina, joining Vélez Sarsfield on a six-month loan from Johor Darul Ta'zim.

International career

Born in Argentina, Elías is of

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

n descent. In December 2023, he was called up to the Syrian national team for the

2023 AFC Asian Cup The 2023 AFC Asian Cup was the 18th edition of the AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial international Association football, football tournament organised by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). It involved 24 national teams after its expansion in 20 ...

in Qatar.

Career statistics

Honours

Vélez Sarsfield *

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Elias, Jalil 1996 births Living people Footballers from Rosario, Santa Fe Syrian men's footballers 21st-century Syrian sportsmen Syria men's international footballers Argentine men's footballers Syrian people of Argentine descent Argentine people of Syrian descent Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Newell's Old Boys footballers Godoy Cruz Antonio Tomba footballers Unión de Santa Fe footballers San Lorenzo de Almagro footballers Malaysia Super League players Johor Darul Ta'zim F.C. players Club Atlético Vélez Sarsfield footballers 2023 AFC Asian Cup players Sportspeople of Syrian descent Argentine expatriate men's footballers Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Syria Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Syrian expatriate men's footballers Syrian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia Expatriate men's footballers in Syria Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia 21st-century Argentine sportsmen