Facundo Garcés
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| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Facundo Tomás Garcés | ||
| Date of birth | 5 September 1999 | ||
| Place of birth | Santa Fe, Argentina | ||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1] | ||
| Position | Centre-back[1] | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Alavés | ||
| Number | 2 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Club El Quillá | |||
| Colón | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2020–2024 | Colón | 116 | (3) |
| 2025– | Alavés | 20 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2025 | Malaysia | 2 | (0) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 27 February 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 6 September 2025 | |||
Facundo Tomás Garcés (born 5 September 1999) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for La Liga club Deportivo Alavés.[2] He played for the Malaysia national team twice;[3] however, he is currently suspended from all football related activities after being sanctioned by FIFA in September 2025 for forging documents related to his Malaysian ancestry.[4]
Colón
Garcés played for Club El Quillá at youth level.[5] He first made the senior teamsheet for Colón in May 2017 for a Primera División match as an unused substitute.[2] Garcés soon headed back to the reserves, before returning to the senior bench in April and May 2019 – though again wouldn't make an appearance versus Gimnasia y Esgrima or, in the Copa Sudamericana, River Plate.[2] He went unused a further seven times, before belatedly making his debut – as a starter – in a Copa de la Liga Profesional win over Central Córdoba on 4 December 2020.[6][7][8]
Alavés
On 3 August 2024, Spanish La Liga side Deportivo Alavés agreed to a pre-contract with Garcés, effective as of the following 1 January 2025; he signed a three-and-a-half-year deal with the club.[9] Garces make his debut for the club in a league match against RCD Mallorca on 2 March. Alavés suspended Garcés following his sanction by FIFA in September but expressed their support to him.[10]
International career
Garcés was called up to the training camp of the latter ahead of the closed-door friendly match against Cape Verde and the 2027 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Vietnam in June 2025.[11][12] Garcés made his international debut on 10 June in the match against Vietnam at the Bukit Jalil National Stadium.[13]
He was among the seven Malaysian heritage players sanctioned by FIFA on 26 September 2025 where the disciplinary committee found that Football Association of Malaysia used doctored documentation to field the players in the Vietnam match on 10 June.[14][15][16][17]
Personal life
Born in Argentina, Garcés claimed to be of Malaysian descent through his grandmother.[18] On 2 June 2025, Garcés officially obtained Malaysia citizenship.[12] However, FIFA released statement that his grandmother was not born in nor has Malaysian ancestry, as the documentation submitted by Football Association of Malaysia was proven to be doctored.[14]
Career statistics
Honours
Colón