Exequiel Palacios

Exequiel Palacios
Palacios with Argentina in 2026
Personal information
Full name Exequiel Alejandro Palacios[1]
Date of birth (1998-10-05) 5 October 1998
Place of birth Famaillá, Tucumán, Argentina
Height 1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position Central midfielder
Team information
Current team
 Ipswich Town
Number 25
Youth career
–2015 Real Horslen
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2015–2020 River Plate 48 (4)
2020–2026 Bayer Leverkusen 126 (11)
2026– Ipswich Town 1 (0)
International career‡
2015 Argentina U17 10 (1)
2017 Argentina U20 3 (0)
2018– Argentina 41 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Argentina
FIFA World Cup
Winner2022 Qatar
Runner-up2026 Canada–Mexico–US
Copa América
Winner2021 Brazil
Winner2024 United States
CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions
Winner2022 England
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:30, 30 August 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 03:54, 28 June 2026 (UTC)

Exequiel Alejandro Palacios (Spanish pronunciation: [ekseˈkjel paˈla.sjos]; born 5 October 1998) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Premier League club Ipswich Town and the Argentina national team.

Club career

River Plate

Palacios playing for River Plate in 2019

Palacios is a youth exponent from River Plate. He made his league debut on 8 November 2015 against Newell's Old Boys.[2]

On 9 December 2018, Palacios won 2018 Copa Libertadores with River Plate. He played eleven matches including the finals against rivals Boca Juniors.[3]

Palacios was part of 2018 South American Team of the Year.

Palacios made his final appearance for his boyhood club in the final of the Copa Argentina on 13 December 2019, playing 79 minutes of a 3–0 victory over Central Córdoba.[4]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 16 December 2019, Bayer Leverkusen announced that Palacios would join the club on 1 January 2020, signing a five-and-a-half-year deal.[5]

On 14 April 2024, Bayer Leverkusen won 2023–24 Bundesliga and Palacios was a member of the team.[6] On 25 May, Leverkusen defeated 1. FC Kaiserslautern 1–0 in the DFB-Pokal final to complete the first domestic double in the club's history.[7]

Ipswich Town

On 27 August 2026, Palacios signed for newly-promoted Premier League club Ipswich Town, on a four-year contract worth €22.5m (£19.2m).[8]

International career

Palacios made his international debut for Argentina on 8 September 2018 in a 3–0 international friendly against the Guatemala national football team.[9]

On 12 November 2020, Palacios fractured a bone in his spine during a 1–1 draw with Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier and was expected be out for three months. Palacios sustained the injury in an aerial duel with Ángel Romero in the first half of the contest at La Bombonera and was replaced by Giovani Lo Celso, who took the corner from which Nicolas Gonzalez headed home Argentina's equaliser.[10]

On 11 June 2021, Palacios was named by coach Lionel Scaloni in Argentina's 28-man squad for the 2021 Copa América.[11] A month later, on 10 July, he played as a second-half substitute in Argentina's 1–0 victory over Brazil in the Copa América final.[12] During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Palacios featured in a 2–0 win over Mexico in the group stage phase, a 2–1 victory over Australia in the round of 16, and a 3–0 win over Croatia in their semi-finals.[13] Argentina went on to defeat France on penalties in the final, with Palacios included in the squad as Argentina won their third World Cup title.[14]

In June 2024, Palacios was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 26-man Argentina squad for the 2024 Copa América.[15]

On 27 May 2026, Palacios was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 30 August 2026[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
River Plate 2015 Argentine Primera División 1000—000010
2016 Argentine Primera División 10——00—10
2016–17 Argentine Primera División 8011—00—91
2017–18 Argentine Primera División 9230—1[b]0—132
2018–19 Argentine Primera División 14192—11[b]14[c]0384
2019–20 Argentine Primera División 15162—9[b]0—303
Total 484195—211409210
Bayer Leverkusen 2019–20 Bundesliga 3020—2[d]0—70
2020–21 Bundesliga 9020—2[d]0—130
2021–22 Bundesliga 23220—7[d]1—323
2022–23 Bundesliga 25410—8[e]1—345
2023–24 Bundesliga 24432—9[d]0—366
2024–25 Bundesliga 24140—10[f]000381
2025–26 Bundesliga 18020—5[f]0—250
2026–27 Bundesliga —10———10
Total 12611172—4320018615
Ipswich Town 2026–27 Premier League 100000——10
Career total 17515367006434027925
  1. ↑ Includes Copa Argentina, DFB-Pokal
  2. 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
  3. ↑ Two appearances in Recopa Sudamericana, two appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
  4. 1 2 3 4 Appearances in UEFA Europa League
  5. ↑ Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
  6. 1 2 Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 27 June 2026[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina 201820
201920
202020
2021110
202260
202350
202440
202550
202640
Total410

Honours

River Plate[17]

Bayer Leverkusen[17]

Argentina

References

  1. 1 2 "Exequiel Alejandro Palacios News & Career". Copa Libertadores. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  2. ↑ "River Plate vs. Newell's Old Boys – 8 November 2015 – Soccerway". soccerway.com. Retrieved 2 December 2015.
  3. ↑ Lowe, Sid. "River Plate claim Copa Libertadores against 10-man Boca with Quintero goal". The Guardian. The Guardian. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  4. ↑ "Central Córdoba (SdE) 0-3 River". Copa Argentina (in Spanish). 13 December 2019. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  5. ↑ "Bayer 04 sign Exequiel Palacios". Bayer Leverkusen. 16 December 2019. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
  6. ↑ "Exequiel Palacios – Centrocampista Bayer 04". Exequiel Palacios – Midfield Bayer 04. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  7. ↑ "First league, then cup: Bayer 04 are double winners!". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 25 May 2024.
  8. ↑ "Town Confirm Palacios Signing". TWTD. Retrieved 27 August 2026.
  9. ↑ "Argentina vs. Guatemala - 8 September 2018 - Soccerway".
  10. ↑ "Argentina's Palacios suffers fractured spine following aerial challenge". ESPN. 13 November 2020. Retrieved 13 November 2020.
  11. ↑ "Lista de convocados por el entrenador Lionel Scaloni para disputar la Copa América 2021" (in Spanish). Argentine Football Association. 11 June 2021. Retrieved 11 June 2021.
  12. ↑ "Argentina 1–0 Brazil". The Guardian. 11 July 2021.
  13. ↑ "World Cup winner Palacios: 'Grateful to everybody at Bayer 04'". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 3 January 2023.
  14. ↑ "Win against France: Palacios and Argentina lift 2022 World Cup". Bayer 04 Leverkusen. 18 December 2022.
  15. ↑ "Lionel Scaloni dio a conocer la lista de la Selección argentina para la Copa América 2024". Todo Noticias (in Spanish). 15 June 2024. Retrieved 23 July 2024.
  16. ↑ "Messi headlines star-studded Argentina squad". 27 May 2026. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  17. 1 2 3 "E. Palacios". Soccerway. Retrieved 3 January 2020.
  18. ↑ "Palacios, Exequiel". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 26 December 2019.
  19. ↑ "COPA LIBERTADORES 2019". CONMEBOL (in Spanish). 9 December 2018. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  20. ↑ "RECOPA SUDAMERICANA 2019". CONMEBOL (in Spanish). 30 May 2019. Retrieved 5 December 2019.
  21. ↑ "Bayer Leverkusen are 2023/24 Bundesliga champions!". Bundesliga. 15 April 2024. Retrieved 15 April 2024.
  22. ↑ "Bayer Leverkusen battle back to beat VfB Stuttgart on penalties in Supercup". Bundesliga. 17 August 2024. Retrieved 17 August 2024.
  23. ↑ "Atalanta 3–0 Leverkusen: Lookman treble brings UEFA Europa League glory to Bergamo". UEFA. Union of European Football Associations. 22 May 2024. Retrieved 23 May 2024.
  24. ↑ Murray, Scott (18 December 2022). "Argentina beat France on penalties after thrilling World Cup final – live reaction". The Guardian. Retrieved 18 December 2022.
  25. ↑ Smyth, Rob (19 July 2026). "Spain beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time to win the 2026 World Cup – live". the Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 19 July 2026.
  26. ↑ Graham, Bryan Armen (11 July 2021). "Argentina 1-0 Brazil: Copa América final – live!". The Guardian. Retrieved 11 July 2021.
  27. ↑ "Argentina defeats Colombia to Become The Champion of CONMEBOL Copa América 2024™". Copa América. 15 July 2024. Retrieved 15 July 2024.
  28. ↑ "Italy 0–3 Argentina: Messi and Di Maria shine in impressive Finalissima win". BBC Sport. 1 June 2022. Retrieved 2 June 2022.
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