Willian Pacho

Willian Pacho, born on 16 October 2001, is an Ecuadorian centre-back from Quinindé in the far north of the country. As of October 2026 he plays for Ligue 1 club Paris Saint-Germain and the Ecuador national team. He made his senior debut for Independiente del Valle in 2019.

France Football and L'Équipe name him as one of the 30 nominees for the 2026 Ballon d'Or, the annual award for the season's best men's footballer.

With Independiente del Valle he won the 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores and the club's first Ecuadorian league title in 2021. He then won the Belgian league and cup with Royal Antwerp in 2022–23, and after a season at Eintracht Frankfurt joined PSG in August 2024 for a reported €40 million, becoming the club's first Ecuadorian player. On 31 May 2025 he started in the 5-0 Champions League final win over Inter Milan, the first Ecuadorian to win the competition; he has also won Ligue 1 in 2024–25 and 2025–26.

Pacho scored on his Ecuador debut, a 2-1 friendly win over Australia in Melbourne in March 2023. He was part of the squads for the 2022 World Cup, the 2024 Copa América and the 2026 World Cup.

Sources of this text: Wikipedia · France Football / L'Équipe