Théo Bernard François Hernandez (; born 6 October 1997) is a French 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

left-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categ ...

for

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

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

and the France national team. He is known for his speed, dribbling, and goal scoring ability. Théo is the younger brother of fellow professional footballer Lucas Hernandez, and the son of

Jean-François Hernandez Jean-François Hernandez (; born 23 April 1969) is a French former professional footballer who played as a central defender. Club career Born in Tours of Spanish descent, Hernandez played for Toulouse FC, FC Sochaux-Montbéliard and Olympique d ...

, a retired footballer.

Club career

Atlético Madrid

Born in

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 ...

, Hernandez moved to Spain at the age of two. He then joined

Atlético Madrid Club Atlético de Madrid, S.A.D. (; meaning "Athletic Club of Madrid"), commonly referred to as Atlético Madrid or simply Atlético, is a Spanish professional football club based in Madrid that plays in La Liga. The club play their home game ...

's academy in 2007, aged nine. After progressing through the youth categories, he was promoted to the reserves in

Tercera División Tercera División () was the fourth tier of the Spanish football league system. Until 1977, it was the third tier of the Spanish football league system. Founded in 1929, it was below the ''Primera División'' (also known as La Liga), the ''Segund ...

in summer 2015. On 3 February 2016, Hernandez renewed his contract. Two days later, he was called up to the first team for a

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 ...

match against

Eibar Eibar (, ) is a city and municipality within the province of Gipuzkoa, in the Autonomous Community of Euskadi. It is the capital of the '' eskualde / comarca'' of Debabarrena. Eibar has 27,138 inhabitants ( Eustat, 2018). Its chief industry is ...

due to injuries, but remained an unused substitute in the 3–1 home win.

Alavés

On 4 August 2016, Hernandez extended his contract until 2021, being immediately loaned to fellow league club

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

for one year. He made his professional debut late in the month, starting in a 0–0 home draw with

Sporting de Gijón Real Sporting de Gijón, S.A.D. (), commonly known as Real Sporting, Sporting Gijón, or simply Sporting is a Spanish professional association football, football club from Gijón, Principality of Asturias. Founded on 1 July 1905, it plays in the ...

. On 16 October 2016, Hernandez was given a straight

red card A red card is a type of penalty card that is shown in many sports after a rules infraction. Red card may also refer to: Art, entertainment, and media * ''Red Card'' (album), 1976 release by Streetwalkers * Red card, suit (cards) of hearts or di ...

in a 1–1 home draw to

Málaga Málaga (; ) is a Municipalities in Spain, municipality of Spain, capital of the Province of Málaga, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Andalusia. With a population of 591,637 in 2024, it is the second-most populo ...

after a hard tackle on Ignacio Camacho. He scored his first professional goal the following 7 May, netting the game's only goal in a home victory over

Athletic Bilbao Athletic Club (; ), commonly known as Athletic Bilbao (), or simply Athletic, is a professional Football club (association football), football club based in the city of Bilbao in the Southern Basque Country, Basque Country, Spain. They are known ...

. A regular starter during the

Basque Basque may refer to: * Basques, an ethnic group of Spain and France * Basque language, their language Places * Basque Country (greater region), the homeland of the Basque people with parts in both Spain and France * Basque Country (autonomous co ...

team's

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

in 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 ...

, Hernandez helped them reach the final for the first time in their 91-year history. During the decisive match on 27 May 2017, he scored the equaliser through a

direct free kick A free kick is a method of restarting play in association football. It is awarded after an infringement of the Laws of the Game (association football), laws by the opposing team. Direct and indirect free kicks Free kicks may be either dire ...

in an eventual 1–3 loss 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 ...

Real Madrid

On 5 July 2017, Hernandez signed a six-year deal with

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 ...

after they met his release clause of €24 million. He made his competitive debut on 16 August, replacing Marco Asensio in a 2–0 home win against Barcelona for that year's

Supercopa de España The Supercopa de España, also known as the Spanish Super Cup, is a super cup tournament in Football in Spain, Spanish football. Founded in 1982 Supercopa de España, 1982 as a two-team competition, the current version has been contested since 2 ...

. Hernandez made three appearances during the 2017–18 edition 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 ...

, helping the club win its third consecutive and 13th overall title in the competition. On 10 August 2018, he was loaned to

Real Sociedad Real Sociedad de Fútbol, more commonly referred to as Real Sociedad ( ; ''Royal Society'') in English, and Erreala or Reala in Basque language, Basque, is a Spanish professional sports club in the city of San Sebastián, Donostia / San Sebastián, ...

AC Milan

On 7 July 2019, Hernandez joined

club

in a deal worth maximum of €20 million. The transfer was approved and carried out by

Paolo Maldini Paolo Cesare Maldini (; born 26 June 1968) is an Italian football executive and former professional footballer who played as a left-back or as a centre-back for AC Milan and the Italy national team. He is widely regarded as one of the greates ...

, who met with him informally in

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

to persuade him to join. Hernandez made his debut on 21 September, playing 18 minutes in the 2–0 defeat against

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

in the

Derby della Madonnina The Derby della Madonnina (; named after the ''Madonnina'' statue on top of the Milan Cathedral), also known as the Derby di Milano (), is a derby football match between the two prominent Milanese clubs, Inter Milan and AC Milan. In the past, ...

. He scored his first goal for the ''Rossoneri'' on 5 October, helping the visitors come from behind to win 2–1 at

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 ...

. During his first season with Milan he managed to score 7 goals in all competitions and had 3 assists. TheoHernandez2022Salzburg

On 23 December 2020, Hernandez's 93rd-minute winning goal gave AC Milan a victory over

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 ...

to keep them top of Serie A. During the 2020–21 season, Hernandez was the only defender in the top five European leagues to have scored two braces. He was also the defender with the most successful dribbles in Serie A that season with 73. During his second season with the team, he managed to score 8 goals and assisted 7 in all competitions. On 6 January 2022, Hernandez wore the captain's armband for the first time against

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 ...

. Three days later, he scored a brace in a 3–0 win against

Venezia Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, becoming first defender to score at least three braces in AC Milan's Serie A history. On 11 February, Hernandez renewed his contract with Milan until 2026. On 15 May 2022 against Atalanta, Hernandez ran for 95 metres before scoring the second goal of a 2–0 win. A week later, Milan were crowned with their first Serie A title in 11 years, Hernandez's contributions were 5 goals and 6 assists, the most for any defender in Serie A that season. On 25 October 2023, Hernandez faced his older brother,

Lucas Lucas or LUCAS may refer to: People * Lucas (surname) * Lucas (given name) Arts and entertainment * Luca Family Singers, or the Lucas, a 19th-century African-American singing group * Lucas, a 1960s Swedish pop group formed by Janne Lucas Perss ...

, for the first time as an opponent playing competitive senior football in the

group stage away game against

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

, a 3–0 loss for Milan. The two faced each other once again two weeks later, with Milan prevailing 2–1 at home and Théo assisting the winning goal scored by

Olivier Giroud Olivier Jonathan Giroud (; born 30 September 1986) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Striker (association football), striker for Major League Soccer club Los Angeles FC. Giroud began his senior club career ...

. On 2 December 2023, amidst an injury crisis in Milan's central defense, Hernandez volunteered to play as a centre-back for the first time in his senior career and was highly praised for his performance by the Italian football media as Milan won 3–1 against

Frosinone Frosinone (; local dialect: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Italian region of Lazio, administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is about southeast of Rome, close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of th ...

. On 27 September 2024, Hernandez contributed to a 3–0 win against

Lecce Lecce (; ) is a city in southern Italy and capital of the province of Lecce. It is on the Salentine Peninsula, at the heel of the Italian Peninsula, and is over two thousand years old. Because of its rich Baroque architecture, Lecce is n ...

with a goal, which became his 29th in the Serie A. As a result, he equaled Paolo Maldini's goalscoaring record for AC Milan in the Serie A competitions and was praised on social media by the club and Maldini himself. On 6 October 2024, his 27th birthday, Hernandez had a controversial game in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

, which ended in a 2–1 loss for Milan to

Fiorentina ACF Fiorentina, commonly referred to as Fiorentina (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Florence, Tuscany. The original team was founded by a merger in August 1926, while ...

, followed by his post-game argument with a referee that culminated in a

and a subsequent two-game suspension. During the first half, Hernandez caused a penalty (shot saved by

Mike Maignan Mike Peterson Maignan (; born 3 July 1995) is a French professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for Serie A club AC Milan, which he captains, and the France national football team, ...

) and failed to score from the penalty spot himself, with his shot saved by

David de Gea David de Gea Quintana (; born 7 November 1990) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for club Fiorentina. Considered one of the best keepers of his generation, he is known for his reflexes and shot-stopping capabilitie ...

. In the second, he assisted the equalizing goal scored by

Christian Pulisic Christian Mate Pulisic (born September 18, 1998) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a Midfielder#Winger, winger for club AC Milan and the United States men's national soccer team, United States natio ...

with a curling cross from the left side and nearly caused another penalty kick for a risky tackle inside Milan's penalty box, with the referee ultimately deciding against it after a video review. On 14 January 2025, he scored his 30th Serie A goal for Milan in a 2–1 away victory over

Como Como (, ; , or ; ) is a city and (municipality) in Lombardy, Italy. It is the administrative capital of the Province of Como. Nestled at the southwestern branch of the picturesque Lake Como, the city is a renowned tourist destination, ce ...

, becoming the club's highest-scoring defender, surpassing

's previous record.

International career

On 26 April 2018, Hernandez received his first call to the

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

senior squad. He made his debut on 7 September 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

, a 2–0 home victory. He started and played the whole game. In October 2021, ahead of the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

semi-finals against

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

, Théo for the first time received a call-up to the national team from

Didier Deschamps Didier Claude Deschamps (; born 15 October 1968) is a French professional football manager and former player who has been managing the France national team since 2012. He played as a defensive midfielder for several clubs, in France, Italy, Engl ...

together with his brother

; the two were later fielded in the 3–4–1–2 formation as a left centre-back and a left wing-back, respectively, making it the first time they played together in a senior competitive game. On 7 October, he scored a late-time winner in the 3–2 victory against the aforementioned opponent, sending his team to the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

for the first time in history of the tournament. In November 2022, Hernandez was named in France's final squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. On 14 December, he scored a goal in a 2–0 win over

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in the semi-finals. In June 2024, he was named in the squad for

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

in Germany. In their quarter-final match against

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

on 5 July, he scored the winning penalty kick of the shoot-out to send his country into the next round.

Personal life

Hernandez's father, Jean-François, was also a footballer. 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 ...

from France, he too played for

; his older brother

, who plays for

and

, was also developed at the club. In 2022, French newspaper ''

L'Équipe ''L'Équipe'' (, French for "the team") is a French nationwide daily newspaper devoted to sport, owned by Éditions Philippe Amaury. The paper is noted for coverage of association football, rugby, motorsport, and cycling. Its predecessor, '' ...

'' found that Jean-François – who went missing in 2004 – was living in Thailand, and had allegedly been legally blocked by his ex-partner from seeing their children. He has been dating Italian model Zoe Cristofoli since June 2020. On 8 April 2022, the couple's son was born.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Alavés *

runner-up: 2016–17 Real Madrid *

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 ...

: 2017–18 *

UEFA Super Cup The UEFA Super Cup is an annual super cup Association football, football match organised by UEFA and contested by the winners of the two main European club competitions: the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The competition's offic ...

FIFA Club World Cup The FIFA Club World Cup (FIFA CWC) is an international men's association football competition organised by the ''Fédération Internationale de Football Association'' (FIFA), the sport's global sports governing body, governing body. The compe ...

AC Milan *

: 2021–22 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

: 2024–25 France *

: 2020–21; third place: 2024–25 *

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 ...

runner-up:

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 ...

Individual *AC Milan Player of the Season: 2019–20 *Best Rossoneri Goal of the Season: 2022–23 *

Serie A Team of the Year The AIC Serie A Team of the Year (in Italian: ''Squadra dell’anno AIC'') is an annual award given to a set of eleven footballers in the top tier of Football in Italy, Italian football, the Serie A, who are considered to have performed the best d ...

: 2019–20, 2020–21, 2021–22, 2022–23 * Serie A Goal of the Month: May 2022, May 2023 *Serie A Goal of the Season: 2021–22 * ESM Team of the Season: 2022–23

References

External links

Profile
at the AC Milan website * * } {{DEFAULTSORT:Hernandez, Theo 1997 births Living people Footballers from Marseille French men's footballers Men's association football fullbacks Atlético Madrid B players Deportivo Alavés players Real Madrid CF players Real Sociedad footballers AC Milan players Tercera División players La Liga players Serie A players UEFA Champions League–winning players France men's youth international footballers France men's international footballers 2022 FIFA World Cup players UEFA Euro 2024 players UEFA Nations League–winning players French expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain French expatriate sportspeople in Italy French expatriate sportspeople in Spain French people of Spanish descent Sportspeople of Spanish descent 21st-century French sportsmen