Facundo Medina

Facundo Medina
Medina with Argentina in 2026
Personal information
Full name Facundo Axel Medina[1]
Date of birth (1999-05-28) 28 May 1999[2]
Place of birth Villa Fiorito, Argentina[3]
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[4]
Positions
Team information
Current team
 Bayer Leverkusen
Number 2
Youth career
River Plate
2018 Talleres
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2020 Talleres 33 (1)
2020–2026 Lens 147 (6)
2025–2026 → Marseille (loan) 17 (0)
2026– Bayer Leverkusen 0 (0)
International career‡
2018–2019 Argentina U20 12 (0)
2019–2021 Argentina U23 17 (1)
2020– Argentina 14 (0)
Medal record
Representing  Argentina
Men's Football
FIFA World Cup
Runner-up2026 Canada–Mexico–US
Pan American Games
Gold medal – first place2019 LimaTeam
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:46, 17 May 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:27, 19 July 2026 (UTC)

Facundo Axel Medina (born 28 May 1999) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or left-back for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Argentina national team.[5]

Club career

Medina's career got underway with a stint with River Plate, for which he was an unused substitute four times during the 2016–17 Argentine Primera División season.[5] In January 2018, Medina completed a move to fellow Argentine Primera División side Talleres.[6][7] After featuring for their U20s at the 2018 U-20 Copa Libertadores in February, he made his first league appearances in August when he played in matches against Boca Juniors, Rosario Central and Gimnasia y Esgrima.[5] He scored his first senior goal in February 2020 against Huracán.[5]

Lens

Medina training with Lens in 2025

After a total of 37 appearances for Talleres, Medina departed in July 2020 to join Ligue 1 side Lens.[8] Medina netted his first goal for Lens on 13 September against Lorient, scoring with an overhead kick as his side won 3–2 away from home.[5][9] He scored again on 3 February 2021 during a 2–2 draw at home to Marseille.[5] His third Lens goal arrived on his Coupe de France starting debut in a defeat away to Championnat National club Red Star on 6 March.[5]

On 18 January 2023, he extended his contract with Lens until 2026.[10]

Marseille

On 2 July 2025, Medina signed for fellow Ligue 1 club Marseille on loan for the remainder of the 2025–26 season with an option to buy if agreed upon.[11] By the conclusion of the 2025–26 season, he joined the club permanently for a transfer fee of €18m.[12]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 11 August 2026, Medina signed a five-year contract with Bayer Leverkusen.[13] The transfer fee was reportedly €25m including add-ons.[14]

International career

After playing in all three of Talleres' fixtures at the beginning of 2018–19, Medina received a call-up to the Argentina U20 squad.[15][16] He subsequently featured on 29 August 2018 in a friendly with Uruguay.[15][16] He had previous experience with the U20s during his time with River Plate, and was also called up to train against the senior squad during the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[6][17] In December, Medina was selected for the 2019 South American U-20 Championship.[18] He was also picked for the subsequent FIFA U-20 World Cup.[19] He featured eleven times in the tournaments.[5] Medina was called by the U23s for the 2019 Pan American Games.[20]

Medina appeared in all five of Argentina's matches at the Pan American Games, as they came away with the trophy after defeating Honduras in the final.[5] In September 2020, having won the 2020 CONMEBOL Pre-Olympic Tournament with the U23s months earlier, Medina received his first call-up to the Argentina senior squad from manager Lionel Scaloni.[3] He debuted in a 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying victory away to Bolivia on 13 October, after replacing Lautaro Martínez for the final moments at the Estadio Hernando Siles.[5]

On 27 May 2026, Medina was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[21]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 22 August 2026[5]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup League cup Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Talleres 2018–19 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol 16010000000170
2019–20 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol 1712010—00201
Total 33130100000371
Lens 2020–21 Ligue 1 24221———263
2021–22 Ligue 1 31130———341
2022–23 Ligue 1 32231———353
2023–24 Ligue 1 31110—7[a]0—391
2024–25 Ligue 1 29010—1[b]0—310
Total 1476102—80—1658
Marseille (loan) 2025–26 Ligue 1 17040—4[c]01[d]0260
Bayer Leverkusen 2026–27 Bundesliga 0010—00—10
Career total 197718210120102299
  1. ↑ Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  2. ↑ Appearance in UEFA Conference League
  3. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  4. ↑ Appearance in Trophée des Champions

International

As of match played 19 July 2026[22]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Argentina 202010
202110
202310
202410
202530
202670
Total140

Honours

Argentina U23[3][23]

Argentina

References

  1. ↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: Argentina" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 1. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  2. 1 2 "Facundo Medina". World Football. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 "No tuvo lugar en River, brilló en Talleres y fue campeón como juvenil en la Selección: la historia de Facundo Medina, el nuevo elegido por Scaloni". Infobae. 18 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  4. ↑ "Facundo Medina". RC Lens. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Argentina - F. Medina". Soccerway. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  6. 1 2 "Facundo Medina refuerza la defensa de Talleres para la Superliga". Talleres. Archived from the original on 1 February 2021. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  7. ↑ "Ficha Estadistica de FACUNDO MEDINA". BDFA. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  8. ↑ "Facundo Medina rejoint le RC Lens". Lens. 2 July 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2020.
  9. ↑ "Un argentino ex River y Talleres anotó de chilena el mejor gol del fin de semana en Europa". Infobae. 13 September 2020. Retrieved 19 September 2020.
  10. ↑ "RC Lens : Facundo Medina officiellement prolongé jusqu'en 2026". La Voix du Nord (in French). 18 January 2023. Retrieved 18 January 2023.
  11. ↑ "Official | Facundo Medina joins Marseille from Lens". Get Football News France. 2 July 2025.
  12. ↑ "After being bought by Olympique de Marseille, Facundo Medina is on Bayer Leverkusen's radar". La Derecha Diario. 30 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "Bayer Leverkusen strengthen defence with Marseille's Facundo Medina". Bundesliga. 11 August 2026.
  14. ↑ "Facundo Medina leaves OM for Bayer Leverkusen in 25 million euros move". OneFootball. 11 August 2026.
  15. 1 2 "Facundo Medina, el lateral de Talleres que fue convocado a la selección argentina sub 20". Mundod Lavoz. 27 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  16. 1 2 "Jugó Facundo Medina de Talleres y ganó la selección sub 20". Mundod Lavoz. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  17. ↑ "Facundo Medina, el último "propio" en sumarse a la pretemporada de Talleres". Mundod Lavoz. 9 July 2018. Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  18. ↑ "Convocados para el Sudamericano Sub 20". AFA. 22 December 2018. Archived from the original on 2 January 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2019.
  19. ↑ "Lista de convocados para el Mundial". AFA. Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 4 May 2019.
  20. ↑ "Lista de convocados de la Selección Sub 23 para los Juegos Panamericanos". AFA. 17 July 2019. Retrieved 29 July 2019.
  21. ↑ "Messi headlines star-studded Argentina squad". 27 May 2026. Retrieved 13 June 2026.
  22. ↑ Facundo Medina at National-Football-Teams.com
  23. ↑ "La selección de fútbol vence a Honduras y se queda con la medalla dorada de los Juegos Panamericanos". Infobae. 10 August 2019. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  24. ↑ "Argentina win ticket to Tokyo as continental champions". FIFA.com. 7 February 2020. Archived from the original on 7 February 2020.
  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.
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