Julián Álvarez (footballer)

Julián Álvarez (born 31 January 2000) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for the Premier League club Manchester City and the Argentina national team. Nicknamed La Araña ("The Spider"), he is known for his aggressive pressing, dynamic scoring ability, and link-up play. He was a member of the Argentina team that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.

Julián Álvarez

Álvarez playing for Argentina at the 2022 FIFA World Cup
Personal information
Full name	Julián Álvarez^[1]
Date of birth	(2000-01-31) 31 January 2000 (age 23)^[1]
Place of birth	Calchín, Córdoba, Argentina^[2]
Height	1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)^[1]
Position(s)	Forward
Club information
Current team	Manchester City
Number	19
Youth career
2014–2016	Atlético Calchín
2016–2018	River Plate
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2018–2022	River Plate	57	(23)
2022–	Manchester City	22	(7)
2022	→ River Plate (loan)	17	(11)
International career^‡
2018–2019	Argentina U20	15	(2)
2019–2020	Argentina U23	7	(1)
2021–	Argentina	20	(7)
Honours Men's football Representing  Argentina FIFA World Cup Winner 2022 Qatar Copa América Winner 2021 Brazil CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions Winner 2022 England
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 18:59, 8 April 2023 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 23 March 2023

Club career

River Plate

 

Álvarez with River Plate in 2019

Álvarez joined River Plate from Atlético Calchín in 2016, notably participating in the Generation Adidas Cup with the club's youth teams.^[3][4][5] Prior to signing for River, Álvarez had trials with Boca Juniors and Real Madrid; scoring twice in five games for the latter in a youth tournament.^[4][6][7] He was unable to join Real due to age restrictions.^[4] Álvarez was moved into River Plate's senior squad under manager Marcelo Gallardo during the 2018–19 season, with his professional debut arriving on 27 October 2018 during a Primera División fixture with Aldosivi; he was subbed on for Rodrigo Mora with 26 minutes remaining of a 1–0 victory.^[3][8][9]

Álvarez appeared late on during the second leg of the 2018 Copa Libertadores finals, with River beating rivals Boca Juniors.^[3] Álvarez scored the first goal of his senior career on 17 March 2019, netting in a 3–0 league win over Independiente.^[3] During the succeeding December, he scored in the 2019 Copa Argentina Final against Central Córdoba as River won 3–0 to secure the trophy In 2020, Álvarez netted five goals in six Copa Libertadores group stage encounters.

On 25 May 2022, Álvarez scored six goals for River Plate in an 8–1 win over Alianza Lima in the Copa Libertadores.^[10]

Manchester City

On 31 January 2022, his 22nd birthday, it was confirmed that Álvarez had signed for Premier League champions Manchester City on a five-and-a-half-year contract, but with the player remaining at River Plate on loan until July.^[11] He scored on his competitive debut on 30 July, where City lost 1–3 to rivals Liverpool in the Community Shield.^[12] On 7 August, Álvarez made his Premier League debut after coming on as a substitute for Erling Haaland in a 2–0 away win over West Ham United.^[13] On 31 August, Álvarez scored his first two Premier League goals in a 6–0 win against Nottingham Forest at the Etihad Stadium.^[14]

International career

In 2018, Álvarez was selected by the Argentina U-20s to train against the senior team at the 2018 FIFA World Cup.^[15][16] In December, Álvarez was picked for the 2019 South American U-20 Championship.^[17] In preparation for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, he scored the second goal against Saudi Arabia in what was a 5–0 victory, during a friendly tournament played in Spain. After that, he received a call-up from Fernando Batista for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in May 2019.^[18] Four matches and one goal, versus South Africa, arrived for him in Poland.^[3] Batista subsequently called Álvarez up for the U-23s in the succeeding September, which preceded his selection for the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament; which Argentina won, with Álvarez scoring once (versus Venezuela) in seven matches.^[3][19]

Álvarez made his debut for the Argentina senior team on 3 June 2021, in a World Cup qualifier against Chile. He substituted Ángel Di María in the 62nd minute.^[20] On 29 March 2022, he scored his first international goal in a 1–1 draw against Ecuador.^[21]

He was included in Argentina's World Cup Winning 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.^[22] On 30 November, he scored his first World Cup goal in a 2–0 win in the last group stage match against Poland.^[23] Álvarez followed with a second World Cup goal on 3 December, when he scored in Argentina's 2–1 win against Australia.^[24] He continued his scoring streak by adding two more goals in Argentina's 3–0 win against Croatia in the semi-finals, becoming the youngest player since Pelé in 1958 to score two goals in a World Cup semi-final at 22 years, 316 days old.^[25][26] On 18 December, he was involved in Argentina's second goal as his team defeated France 4–2 on penalties after the match ended 3–3 in extra-time of the final to win the World Cup.^[27]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 11 April 2023^[3]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup^[a]		League cup^[b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
River Plate	2018–19	Argentine Primera División	5	1	1	0	—		1^[c]	0	1^[d]	0	8	1
	2019–20	Argentine Primera División	7	0	3	1	2	0	5^[c]	1	—		17	2
	2020	Argentine Primera División	10	2	3	1	1	1	11^[c]	5	—		25	9
	2021	Argentine Primera División	35	20	—		—		10^[c]	2	1^[e]	2	46	24
	Total		57	23	7	2	3	1	27	8	2	2	96	36
Manchester City	2022–23	Premier League	22	7	4	3	2	1	8^[f]	2	1^[g]	1	37	14
	Total		22	7	4	3	2	1	8	2	1	1	37	14
River Plate (loan)	2022	Argentine Primera División	17	11	1	1	0	0	8^[c]	6	0	0	26	18
Career total			96	41	12	6	5	2	43	16	3	3	159	68

1. Includes Copa Argentina, FA Cup
2. Includes Copa de la Superliga, EFL Cup
3. Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
4. Appearance(s) in FIFA Club World Cup
5. Appearance in Trofeo de Campeones de la Superliga Argentina
6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
7. Appearance in FA Community Shield

International

As of match played 23 March 2023^[28]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Argentina	2021	5	0
	2022	14	7
	2023	1	0
Total		20	7

Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Álvarez goal.

List of international goals scored by Julián Álvarez

No.	Date	Venue	Cap	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	29 March 2022	Estadio Monumental Isidro Romero Carbo, Guayaquil, Ecuador	7	Ecuador	1–0	1–1	2022 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	27 September 2022	Red Bull Arena, Harrison, United States	11	Jamaica	1–0	3–0	Friendly
3	16 November 2022	Zayed Sports City Stadium, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates	12	United Arab Emirates	1–0	5–0	Friendly
4	30 November 2022	Stadium 974, Doha, Qatar	15	Poland	2–0	2–0	2022 FIFA World Cup
5	3 December 2022	Ahmad bin Ali Stadium, Al Rayyan, Qatar	16	Australia	2–0	2–1	2022 FIFA World Cup
6	13 December 2022	Lusail Stadium, Lusail, Qatar	18	Croatia	2–0	3–0	2022 FIFA World Cup
7					3–0

Honours

River Plate^[3]

• Argentine Primera División: 2021
• Copa Argentina: 2018–19
• Supercopa Argentina: 2019
• Trofeo de Campeones: 2021
• Copa Libertadores: 2018
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2019

Argentina U23^[3]

• CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament: 2020

Argentina^[3]

• FIFA World Cup: 2022^[29]
• Copa América: 2021^[30]
• CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022^[31]

Individual

• South American Youth Championship Team of the Tournament: 2019^[32]
• Argentine Primera División top scorer: 2021
• South American Footballer of the Year: 2021
• South American Team of the Year: 2021
• Etihad Player of the Month for November : 2022

References

1. (PDF). FIFA. 29 November 2022. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 November 2022.
2. . Club Atlético River Plate. Archived from the original on 19 June 2022.
3. "Argentina - J. Álvarez". Soccerway. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
4. "Julian Alvarez: The ex-Real Madrid kid spearheading River Plate's Libertadores quest". Goal.com. 17 December 2020. Retrieved 18 December 2020.
5. "Álvarez: Llego al gol por consecuencia del juego". River Plate. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
6. "Se probó en Real Madrid - La historia del pibe al que Gallardo le dio la 9 de River para la Copa Libertadores". Clarín. 9 August 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
7. "Se probó en Real Madrid, estuvo en el Mundial y el sábado debutaría en River". La Nación. 25 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
8. "Ficha Estadistica de JULIAN ALVAREZ". BDFA. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
9. "Julián Álvarez, el 9 que hizo su debut en River". TyC Sports. 27 October 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
10. "Future Manchester City Player Julian Alvarez Scores Six Goals for River Plate in 8-1 Win". 26 May 2022.
11. "City sign Julian Alvarez from River Plate". Manchester City F.C. 31 January 2022. Retrieved 31 January 2022.
12. Hafez, Shamoon (29 July 2022). "Community Shield: Liverpool 3-1 Man City - Darwin Nunez seals victory". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 July 2022.^{[permanent dead link]}
13. McNulty, Phil (7 August 2022). "West Ham 0-2 Man City: Erling Haaland scores twice as Man City turn on style". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 August 2022.
14. "Man City 6-0 Nottingham Forest: Erling Haaland scores another hat-trick in easy victory". BBC Sport. 31 August 2022. Retrieved 31 August 2022.
15. "Es cordobés, hace siete años se fotografió con Messi y hoy entrenan juntos". Mundod Lavoz. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
16. "De 18 años - Julián Alvarez, el pibe argentino que jugó en Real Madrid y hoy es sparring de Lionel Messi". Clarín. 1 June 2018. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
17. . AFA. 22 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
18. . AFA. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
19. "La Selección Sub 23 jugará ante Bolivia desde las 19, en el estadio de Banfield". AFA. 3 September 2019. Retrieved 4 September 2019.
20. "Argentina v Chile game report". ESPN. 3 June 2021.
21. "How many goals has Julian Alvarez scored for Argentina?". El Futbolero. 29 March 2022. Retrieved 13 April 2022.
22. "Lista de la Selección Argentina para el Mundial de Qatar 2022" (in Spanish). TyC Sports. 11 November 2022. Retrieved 11 November 2022.
23. "World Cup 2022: Poland 0-2 Argentina - South Americans top group after dramatic night". BBC Sport. 30 November 2022. Retrieved 30 November 2022.
24. "Argentina 2-1 Australia". FIFA. 3 December 2022. Retrieved 3 December 2022.
25. "ARGENTINA VS. CROATIA HIGHLIGHTS - 2022 FIFA WORLD CUP". FOX Sports. 13 December 2022. Retrieved 13 December 2022.
26. de 2022, Por Newsroom Infobae13 de Diciembre. "Julián Álvarez, el doblete más joven desde Pelé". infobae (in European Spanish). Retrieved 22 January 2023.
27. "A ground-breaking World Cup with a fairy tale ending". FIFA. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
28. "Julián Álvarez". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 16 November 2021.
29. Murray, Scott (18 December 2022). "Argentina beat France on penalties after thrilling World Cup final – live reaction". the Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
30. Graham, Bryan Armen (11 July 2021). "Argentina 1-0 Brazil: Copa América final – live!". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
31. "Italy 0–3 Argentina: Messi and Di Maria shine in impressive Finalissima win". BBC Sport. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
32. "El 11 ideal del Sudamericano Sub 20 – Chile 2019 - CONMEBOL". www.conmebol.com (in European Spanish). 13 February 2019. Retrieved 21 December 2022.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Julián Álvarez (footballer).

• Julián Álvarez at Soccerway