Sebastián Coates Nion (; born 7 October 1990) is a Uruguayan 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 Uruguayan club Nacional. Having begun his career at Nacional, where he was a regular from his debut in 2009, Coates joined

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 ...

in 2011. He spent time out on loan, back at Nacional, and at

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 ...

, and then joined the latter permanently in 2015. In January 2016, he moved to Sporting, initially on loan before signing permanently in February 2017. Following his move, Coates became an important member of the Sporting squad, captaining the side, and leading the club to a number of trophies, including the club's first league title in 19 years during the 2020–21 season. Coates made his international debut at the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

, and was voted Young Player of the Tournament after Uruguay won the final. He also represented the country at the 2012 Olympics, the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

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 ...

and

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

, and the

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 ...

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 ...

and

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Early life

Coates was born in

Montevideo Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...

. On his paternal side, he is of

Scottish Scottish usually refers to something of, from, or related to Scotland, including: *Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family native to Scotland *Scottish English *Scottish national identity, the Scottish ide ...

ancestry, although his family does not speak English.

Club career

Nacional

Coates joined Nacional at 11, and worked his way up through the age groups, appearing as captain at every level. In 2009, aged 18, he signed a contract and began playing for the first team. His first appearance came against Bella Vista, a performance for which he was named man of the match by Uruguay's ''

El País (; ) is a Spanish-language daily newspaper in Spain. is based in the capital city of Madrid and it is owned by the Spanish media conglomerate PRISA. It is the second-most circulated daily newspaper in Spain . is the most read newspaper in ...

''. He subsequently started every game for Nacional, notwithstanding suspension and national duty.

Liverpool

In August 2011, Coates was the subject of substantial interest from

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

. He was given permission to have a medical at Melwood ahead of his proposed move on 26 August, and the following day watched Liverpool's match against

Bolton Wanderers Bolton Wanderers Football Club ( ) is a professional association football, football club based in Horwich, Metropolitan Borough of Bolton, Greater Manchester, England, which competes in EFL League One, League One, the third level of the Englis ...

. On 30 August, after receiving a work permit, Liverpool announced that they had signed Coates on "a long-term contract" for an undisclosed fee, reported to be around £7 million. On 18 September, Coates made his debut for Liverpool against

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 ...

, replacing the injured Daniel Agger in the 27th minute, in a 4–0 defeat. Coates went on to make his first start for the club on 21 September against Brighton & Hove Albion in the League Cup. Liverpool won the match 2–1 and Coates started the next match in this competition against Stoke City which Liverpool also won 2–1. Liverpool progressed through all stages to win the tournament resulting in Coates winning his first medal as a Liverpool player. On 21 March 2012, he scored his first goal for Liverpool against

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

, with a scissor kick from the edge of the box in the 3–2 loss at

Loftus Road Loftus Road, currently known as MATRADE Loftus Road Stadium for sponsorship reasons, is a football stadium in Shepherd's Bush, West London, Greater London, England, which is home to Queens Park Rangers F.C., Queens Park Rangers Football Club, w ...

. Coates suffered a knee injury playing for Uruguay in a friendly match against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

in August 2013. The injury sidelined the player for much of the 2013–14 season. The second half of the season saw Coates return to Nacional on loan, helping him to secure a place in Uruguay's World Cup team.

Sunderland

On 1 September 2014, Coates was loaned out to fellow Premier League side

on a season-long loan, joining up with fellow Uruguayan manager Gus Poyet. He made his debut as a starter on the 23rd in the third round of the League Cup, against Stoke City at the Stadium of Light. At half-time, he was substituted for Patrick van Aanholt and Sunderland lost 1–2. His first league match of his loan was on 3 December, playing the entirety of a 1–4 home defeat against

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. Coates had to fill in at left back in the Tyne-Wear derby against Newcastle on 21 December after Anthony Réveillère suffered an injury in the warm up, but coped well as Sunderland won 1–0. However, after Sunderland were beaten 1–3 by Hull in the next game, Coates fell out of favour and failed to make another Premier League start under Poyet. After the manager was sacked and replaced by

Dick Advocaat Dirk Nicolaas "Dick" Advocaat (; born 27 September 1947) is a Dutch former association football, football player and coach. He is currently the manager of the Curaçao national football team. Advocaat was successful as a football player and as a ...

, Coates became more involved. He played every minute of Sunderland's run of five unbeaten games that kept them from relegation with a game to spare. On 1 July 2015, Sunderland announced that they had signed Coates on a permanent four-year deal for an undisclosed fee reported to be in the region of £2 million. He scored an

own goal An own goal occurs in sports when a player performs actions that result in scoring points for the opposition, such as when a Association football, footballer puts a ball into their own net. In some parts of the world, the term has become a met ...

on 1 November as the team lost 6–2 away to Everton.

Sporting CP

On 28 January 2016, Coates signed for

Sporting CP Sporting Clube de Portugal (), otherwise referred to as Sporting CP or simply Sporting (particularly within Portugal), or as Sporting Lisbon in other countries,

on loan until the end of the season, as new ''Black Cats'' manager

Sam Allardyce Samuel Allardyce (born 19 October 1954) is an English football manager and former professional player. Allardyce made 578 league and cup appearances in a 21-year career spent mostly in the Football League, as well as brief spells in the North ...

sought to balance the books. He made his debut on 8 February in a goalless home draw with Rio Ave, and totalled 13 matches (all starts) over the season as the

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

-based club came second. On 10 May, his loan was extended for the following campaign. On the first day of the 2016–17 season, at home to Marítimo, Coates scored his first goal for the ''Leões'' to open a 2–0 win by heading in João Mário's corner kick. He joined Sporting on a permanent basis on 2 February 2017. In the

Taça da Liga The Taça da Liga (), known outside Portugal as Portuguese League Cup, is an annual club football competition organised by the Liga Portuguesa de Futebol Profissional (LPFP) for teams competing in the top two tiers of Portuguese football – the ...

final on 26 January 2019, Coates missed his spot-kick but Sporting prevailed over

FC Porto Futebol Clube do Porto, Order of Prince Henry, MHIH, Order of Merit (Portugal), OM (), commonly known as FC Porto or simply Porto, is a Portuguese professional sports club based in Porto. It is best known for the professional association footbal ...

3–1 in the penalty shoot-out to win their second straight league cup title. Four months later in the final of the

Taça de Portugal The Taça de Portugal (; ) is an annual association football competition and the premier knockout tournament in Portuguese football. For sponsorship reasons, it has been known as Taça de Portugal Generali Tranquilidade since the 2024–25 seaso ...

on 25 May, Sporting and Porto again required a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner after the match ended 2–2; Coates converted his kick to help Sporting to a 5–4 win. On 31 August 2019, Coates conceded three penalties and was sent off as Sporting fell 2–3 to Rio Ave. All three fouls were against Iranian forward Mehdi Taremi. Coates captained and was a key player for the side that won the

2020–21 Primeira Liga The 2020–21 Primeira Liga (also known as Liga NOS for sponsorship reasons) was the 87th season of the Primeira Liga, the top professional league for Portuguese association football clubs. The season started later than usual, on 18 September 20 ...

, the club's first league title in 19 years. He was praised for leading a back-line that kept 20 clean sheets and only conceded 20 goals in 34 matches, being awarded as the 2020-21 Primeira Liga's best player. On 30 November 2023, in a 1–1 UEFA Europa League group stage draw away at

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, Coates played his 343rd match for Sporting CP, overtaking Ânderson Polga as the foreign player with most appearances for the ''Lions''.

International career

After playing for the Uruguay under-20s he was called up for

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of 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 the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

's first leg match in the CONMEBOL–CONCACAF playoff against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

in qualification for 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. ...

, where he was an unused substitute. He made his full international debut against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

in the

second group match, playing the full 90 minutes of a 1–1 draw at the Estadio Malvinas Argentinas in

Mendoza, Argentina Mendoza (), officially the City of Mendoza (), is the capital of the Provinces of Argentina, province of Mendoza Province, Mendoza in Argentina. It is located in the northern-central part of the province, in a region of foothills and high plain ...

. He played the remainder of the tournament, apart from being suspended for their quarter-final win over the hosts, and Coates went on to win the award for the Best Young Player at the end of the tournament, and his nation won the competition. He was called up by

Óscar Tabárez Óscar Washington Tabárez Silva (; born 3 March 1947), known as ''El Maestro'' (The Teacher), is a Uruguayan former professional football manager and former player. After an unassuming career as a player and after working as a primary school ...

for the

Uruguay Olympic football team The Uruguay national under-23 football team (also known as Uruguay Olympic football team) represents Uruguay in under-23 international football competitions such as the Olympic Games, CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament and Pan American Games. The se ...

that played at the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics, officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

which were held in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

. He played every minute of their campaign, however Uruguay ultimately failed to qualify for the knockout round. At the

2013 FIFA Confederations Cup The 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup was the ninth FIFA Confederations Cup, which was held in Brazil from 15 to 30 June 2013 as a prelude to the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The most recent winners of the six continental championships appeared in the tourn ...

in Brazil, he made one brief substitute appearance in a 2–1 victory against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

and a start in an 8–0 win against

Tahiti Tahiti (; Tahitian language, Tahitian , ; ) is the largest island of the Windward Islands (Society Islands), Windward group of the Society Islands in French Polynesia, an overseas collectivity of France. It is located in the central part of t ...

in the group, as Uruguay finished the tournament in fourth place. Although injury saw Coates miss out the entire Premier League season, he made a full recovery in time to be selected in the final 23-man squad for the

2014 FIFA World Cup The 2014 FIFA World Cup was the 20th FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for list of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams organised by FIFA. It took place in Brazil fr ...

. He made one appearance as the side reached the last 16, playing two minutes as a substitute for his Liverpool teammate

Luis Suárez Luis Alberto Suárez Díaz (; born 24 January 1987) is a Uruguayan professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Inter Miami CF, Inter Miami. Known for his go ...

in the 2–1 group stage victory over

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. The following year at the 2015 Copa América in Chile, Coates played Uruguay's final

group A group is a number of persons or things that are located, gathered, or classed together. Groups of people * Cultural group, a group whose members share the same cultural identity * Ethnic group, a group whose members share the same ethnic iden ...

match, a 1–1 draw against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

, due to the suspension of captain

Diego Godín Diego Roberto Godín Leal (born 16 February 1986) is a Uruguayan former professional Association football, footballer who played as a centre-back. Regarded as one of the best defenders of his generation, he started out at C.A. Cerro, Cerro and ...

; Uruguay were eliminated in the quarter-finals by the hosts. In May 2018, he was named in Uruguay's 23 man

squad In military terminology, a squad is among the smallest of Military organization, military organizations and is led by a non-commissioned officer. NATO and United States, U.S. doctrine define a squad as an organization "larger than a fireteam, ...

for the 2018 World Cup in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. Coates scored his second goal for Uruguay in a friendly match against

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the southern half of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and borders North Korea along the Korean Demilitarized Zone, with the Yellow Sea to the west and t ...

on 28 March 2023.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first.''

Honours

Nacional *

Primera División Uruguaya Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air Primera Air Scandinavia Aktieselskab, A/S, was a Denmark, Danish airline owned by Primera Travel Group. It provided scheduled and charter passenger services from Northern Europe to mo ...

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 ...

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 ...

Liverpool *

Football League Cup The English Football League Cup, often referred to as the League Cup and currently known as the Carabao Cup for sponsorship reasons, is an annual Single-elimination tournament, knockout competition in men's domestic football in England. Orga ...

: 2011–12 Sporting CP *

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (), also known as Liga Portugal Betclic for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Portugal and the highest level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga ...

: 2020–21, 2023–24 *

: 2018–19 *

: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2020–21, 2021–22 *

Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira The Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira (; English: Cândido de Oliveira Super Cup, or simply Portuguese Super Cup) is an annual Portuguese association football, football match played since 1979 between the winners of the top-tier league (Primeira L ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

Uruguay *

Individual * Copa América Best Young Player:

* SJPF Primeira Liga Team of the Year: 2016, 2017 * LPFP Primeira Liga Player of the Year: 2020–21 * Sporting CP Player of the Year: 2020 *

Team of the Year: 2020–21, 2023–24 *

Player of the Month: April 2021

References

External links

Profile
at the Liverpool F.C. website
Profile
at the Uruguayan Football Association website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Coates, Sebastian Living people 1990 births 2011 Copa América players Footballers at the 2012 Summer Olympics 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2022 FIFA World Cup players Copa América–winning players Men's association football central defenders Club Nacional de Football players Liverpool F.C. players Sunderland A.F.C. players Sporting CP footballers Olympic footballers for Uruguay Uruguayan Primera División players Premier League players Primeira Liga players Footballers from Montevideo Uruguay men's international footballers Uruguay men's under-20 international footballers Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Uruguayan expatriate men's footballers Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in England Uruguayan expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Uruguayan men's footballers Uruguayan people of Scottish descent