Pau López Sabata (; born 13 December 1994) is a Spanish 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

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for

Liga MX 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 Divis ...

club

Toluca Toluca , officially Toluca de Lerdo , is the States of Mexico, state capital of the State of Mexico as well as the seat of the Municipality of Toluca. Toluca has a population of 910,608 as of the 2020 census. The city forms the core of the Grea ...

, on loan from

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

club

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. He totalled 101

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

games over five seasons, with Espanyol, Betis and

Girona Girona (; ) is the capital city of the Province of Girona in the autonomous community of Catalonia, Spain, at the confluence of the Ter, Onyar, Galligants, and Güell rivers. The city had an official population of 106,476 in 2024, but the p ...

. Abroad, he represented

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 ...

in England (no appearances),

in France and

in Mexico. López reached the final of the 2017 European Under-21 Championship with

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

. He made his

senior Senior (shortened as Sr.) means "the elder" in Latin and is often used as a suffix for the elder of two or more people in the same family with the same given name, usually a parent or grandparent. It may also refer to: * Senior (name), a surname ...

debut the following year.

Club career

Espanyol

López was born in

Catalonia Catalonia is an autonomous community of Spain, designated as a ''nationalities and regions of Spain, nationality'' by its Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia of 2006, Statute of Autonomy. Most of its territory (except the Val d'Aran) is situate ...

. He joined Espanyol's youth setup in 2007 at the age of 12, after starting out at hometown club

. He made his senior debut with the former's B team in the 2013–14 season, in the

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

. On 12 June 2014, López signed a new four-year contract with Espanyol, also being promoted to the main squad. He played his first match as a professional on 17 December, starting in a 1–0 home win against Alavés in the

round of 32 A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, w ...

of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

and being first choice in the tournament as his team reached the semi-finals for the first time in nine years. López's debut in

occurred on 1 February 2015, after starter

Kiko Casilla Francisco "Kiko" Casilla Cortés (; born 2 October 1986) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. He started playing for Real Madrid, but only represented the reserve teams in the early stage of his career. He went on to ...

was

sent off In sports, an ejection (also known as dismissal, sending-off, disqualification, or early shower) is the removal of a participant from a contest due to a violation of the sport's rules. The exact violations that lead to an ejection vary depending ...

in the 40th minute of the fixture at

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

for handling

Iago Aspas Iago Aspas Juncal (; born 1 August 1987) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a striker for La Liga club Celta, which he captains. He has spent most of his career with Celta, appearing in 524 official games across 16 seasons and ...

' shot outside of the

penalty area The penalty area or 18-yard box (also known less formally as the penalty box or simply box) is an area of an association football pitch. It is rectangular and extends to each side of the goal and in front of it. If any part of the ball is ove ...

, and he conceded once in an eventual 3–2 defeat. After the latter's departure to

Real Madrid Real Madrid Club de Fútbol (), commonly referred to as Real Madrid, is a Spanish professional Football club (association football), football club based in Madrid. The club competes in La Liga, th ...

in the summer, he became the starter. On 6 January 2016, during an away fixture against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

in the

Spanish Cup The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanish f ...

, López repeatedly stamped on

Lionel Messi Lionel Andrés "Leo" Messi (; born 24 June 1987) is an Argentine professional Association football, footballer who plays as a forward (association football), forward for and Captain (association football), captains both Major League Soccer ...

after the two players became entangled, in an action that eluded the referee but was caught on camera. On 31 August, he joined

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 ...

club

on loan for the 2016–17 season, being third choice behind

Hugo Lloris Hugo Hadrien Dominique Lloris (born 26 December 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Lloris began his career wi ...

and Michel Vorm, he failed to make a single competitive appearance. After his return to the RCDE Stadium, López continued to start under new manager Quique Sánchez Flores.

Betis

On 4 July 2018, López signed a five-year deal with fellow top-tier club Betis on a free transfer. Under

Quique Setién Enrique "Quique" Setién Solar (; born 27 September 1958) is a Spanish former footballer who played as a central midfielder, currently manager of Chinese Super League club Beijing Guoan. As a player, he was nicknamed ''El Maestro'', and was bes ...

, he missed just five league matches in his only season as the team finished in 10th place.

Roma

López joined

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Roma Roma or ROMA may refer to: People, characters, figures, names * Roma or Romani people, an ethnic group living mostly in Europe and the Americas. * Roma called Roy, ancient Egyptian High Priest of Amun * Roma (footballer, born 1979), born ''Paul ...

on 9 July 2019 on a five-year contract, for a reported fee of €23.5 million. He made his debut on 25 August in a 3–3 home draw with

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, making a further 31 appearances by the end of the campaign for the fifth-placed team. On 26 January 2020, he made a mistake in the

Derby della Capitale The Derby della Capitale (), also known as Derby Capitolino and Derby del Cupolone, as well as The Rome Derby in English and Derby di Roma in Italian, is the Association football, football local derby in Rome, Italy, between SS Lazio, Lazio and ...

to gift a goal to

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

Francesco Acerbi Francesco Acerbi (; born 10 February 1988) is an Italian professional Association football, footballer who plays as a centre-back for club Inter Milan and the Italy national football team, Italy national team. Acerbi began his senior playing c ...

in a 1–1 draw. In 2020–21, López started as back-up to

Antonio Mirante Antonio Mirante (born 8 July 1983) is an Italian professional footballer who last played as a goalkeeper for Serie A club AC Milan. Club career Juventus and loans After starting his professional career with Juventus, Mirante was loaned to Croto ...

, before returning to the team after the veteran's injury. His season was ended prematurely by a shoulder injury against

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

in the

semi-finals A single-elimination knockout, or sudden-death tournament is a type of elimination tournament where the loser of a match-up is immediately eliminated from the tournament. Each winner will play another in the next round, until the final match-up, ...

of the

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

Marseille

On 8 July 2021, López was loaned to

club

for the upcoming season, with an option to buy in the summer of 2022. Facing competition from experienced

Steve Mandanda Steve Mandanda Mpidi (; born 28 March 1985) is a professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Stade Rennais FC, Rennes. A product of the Le Havre AC, Le Havre academ ...

, he made his debut on 11 September in a 2–0 win away to

Monaco Monaco, officially the Principality of Monaco, is a Sovereign state, sovereign city-state and European microstates, microstate on the French Riviera a few kilometres west of the Regions of Italy, Italian region of Liguria, in Western Europe, ...

, and retained his place over the France international throughout the campaign. Marseille exercised their option to purchase López on 8 January 2022, effective as of 1 July. On 16 August 2024, he was loaned to Spanish top-tier Girona for the season. On 7 January 2025, López was supposed to join

Lens A lens is a transmissive optical device that focuses or disperses a light beam by means of refraction. A simple lens consists of a single piece of transparent material, while a compound lens consists of several simple lenses (''elements'') ...

on a six-month deal with an option to buy in July. The following day, however, the loan was called off because, according to the French club, Girona intended to keep the player until the end of the month when they ended their participation in the league phase 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 ...

. López signed for

of the Mexican

on 27 January 2025, still owned by Marseille; he replaced Brazilian

Tiago Volpi Tiago Luis Volpi (born 19 December 1990) is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Grêmio. Career Early career Volpi started his career at Fluminense in 2008, before moving to ...

, who asked to be released for personal reasons.

International career

López made his international debut on 26 December 2015, having a

player of the match In team sport, a player of the match award (also known as man of the match or woman of the match) is often given to the most outstanding player in a particular match. This can be a player from either team, although the player is generally chose ...

performance for

in a 1–0 friendly loss to the Basque Country. On 28 March 2016, he played his first game with the Spain under-21 team, in a 1–0 win against

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

at the

Estadio Nueva Condomina Estadio Nueva Condomina, currently known as Estadio Enrique Roca de Murcia for sponsorship reasons, is a multi-use stadium in Murcia, Spain. Completed in 2006, it is used mostly for football matches and hosts the home matches of Real Murcia. Th ...

. On 17 May 2016, López and Espanyol teammate

Marco Asensio Marco Asensio Willemsen (; born 21 January 1996) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for club Paris Saint-Germain and the Spain national team. After starting his career with Mallorca, Asensio si ...

were called up to the senior team for a friendly against

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina, sometimes known as Bosnia-Herzegovina and informally as Bosnia, is a country in Southeast Europe. Situated on the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula, it borders Serbia to the east, Montenegro to the southeast, and Croatia to th ...

. He only won his first

cap A cap is a flat headgear, usually with a visor. Caps have crowns that fit very close to the head. They made their first appearance as early as 3200 BC. The origin of the word "cap" comes from the Old French word "chapeau" which means "head co ...

more than two years later, after coming on as a 75th-minute substitute for

Kepa Arrizabalaga Kepa Arrizabalaga Revuelta (born 3 October 1994), often referred to simply as Kepa, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Chelsea. After progressing through Athletic Bilbao's youth academy, Arrizabalaga be ...

in a 1–0 win over the same opposition in

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Toluca *

: Clausura 2025 Spain U21 *

UEFA European Under-21 Championship The UEFA European Under-21 Championship, the UEFA Under-21 Championship or simply the Euro Under-21, is a biennial football competition contested by the European men's under-21 national teams of the UEFA member associations. Since 1992, the comp ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Individual *

Squad of the Season: 2020–21

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Lopez, Pau 1994 births Living people 21st-century Spanish sportsmen Spanish men's footballers Footballers from Girona Men's association football goalkeepers La Liga players Segunda División B players RCD Espanyol B footballers RCD Espanyol footballers Real Betis players Girona FC players Tottenham Hotspur F.C. players Serie A players AS Roma players Ligue 1 players Olympique de Marseille players Liga MX players Deportivo Toluca F.C. players Spain men's under-21 international footballers Spain men's international footballers Catalonia men's international footballers Spanish expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Spanish expatriate sportspeople in England Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Italy Spanish expatriate sportspeople in France Spanish expatriate sportspeople in Mexico