Matías Galarza (Paraguayan footballer)
Paraguayan footballer (born 2002)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Matías Galarza Fonda (born 11 February 2002) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Argentinian club River Plate and the Paraguay national team.
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Galarza in 2022 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Matías Galarza Fonda | ||
| Date of birth | 11 February 2002 | ||
| Place of birth | Asunción, Paraguay | ||
| Height | 1.75 m (5 ft 9 in) | ||
| Position | Midfielder | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | River Plate | ||
| Youth career | |||
| 2015–2021 | Olimpia | ||
| 2020–2021 | → Vasco da Gama (loan) | ||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2021 | Olimpia | 0 | (0) |
| 2021 | → Vasco da Gama (loan) | 10 | (2) |
| 2021–2025 | Vasco da Gama | 54 | (5) |
| 2022 | → Coritiba (loan) | 11 | (0) |
| 2023–2024 | → Talleres (loan) | 40 | (5) |
| 2025 | Talleres | 13 | (0) |
| 2025– | River Plate | 10 | (0) |
| 2026 | → Atlanta United (loan) | 10 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2017 | Paraguay U15 | ||
| 2019 | Paraguay U17 | 3 | (0) |
| 2022– | Paraguay | 18 | (4) |
|
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:45, 23 June 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 30 June 2026 | |||
Club career
Born in Asunción, Galarza represented hometown side Olimpia. On 19 June 2020, he moved on loan to Brazilian club Vasco da Gama until 2022, and was initially assigned to the under-20 squad.[1]
After impressing with the under-20s, Galarza made his senior debut on 3 March 2021, after coming on as a half-time substitute for Vinícius in a 0–1 Campeonato Carioca home loss against Portuguesa;[2] at the age of 19, he became the youngest foreigner to play for Vasco in the 21st century.[3] He scored his first goal as a professional on 24 March, netting his team's third in a 3–1 home success over Macaé.[4]
On 20 May 2021, Galarza signed a permanent contract with Vasco until 2025,[5] after the club bought 60% of his economic rights for a fee of US$ 500,000.[6] A regular starter during the remainder of the campaign, he lost his starting spot in 2022.
On 4 April 2022, Galarza moved to Série A side Coritiba on loan for the remainder of the year.[7] He later joined Talleres on loan with an option to buy on 31 August 2023.[8]
On 24 July 2025, he joined River Plate, signing a contract until 31 December 2028.[9] In March 2026, he joined MLS side Atlanta United on loan with an option to make the move permanent in the summer.[10]
International career
Galarza made his debut for the Paraguay national team on 31 August 2022, in a 1–0 friendly victory against Mexico.[11]
He was selected in the 26-man squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[12] In Paraguay's second match of the tournament, he scored the only goal after 64 seconds and was named Man of the Match in a 1–0 victory over Turkey, despite his side playing the entire second half with ten men.[13] This recorded the fastest goal of the tournament to date, surpassing the previous record of 71 seconds set by Morocco's Ismael Saibari against Scotland hours earlier in Boston.[14]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 16 May 2026[15]
| Club | Season | League | State league | National cup | Continental | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Vasco da Gama | 2021 | Série B | 21 | 1 | 11 | 2 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 36 | 3 | ||
| 2022 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 2023 | Série A | 10 | 1 | 7 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 17 | 2 | |||
| Total | 31 | 2 | 23 | 3 | 4 | 0 | — | — | 58 | 5 | ||||
| Coritiba (loan) | 2022 | Série A | 11 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 11 | 0 | |||
| Talleres (loan) | 2023 | AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol | 9 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | — | — | 9 | 0 | |||
| 2024 | 31 | 3 | — | 3 | 0 | 7[a] | 0 | — | 41 | 3 | ||||
| Total | 40 | 3 | — | 3 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 50 | 3 | ||||
| Talleres | 2025 | AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol | 13 | 0 | — | 0 | 0 | 4[a] | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| River Plate | AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol | 10 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | — | 14 | 0 | |||
| Atlanta United (loan) | 2026 | MLS | 10 | 0 | 3 | 0 | — | — | — | 13 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 115 | 8 | 26 | 3 | 9 | 0 | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 163 | 11 | ||
- Appearances in Copa Libertadores
International
- As of match played 29 June 2026[16]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paraguay | 2022 | 3 | 0 |
| 2023 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 8 | 2 | |
| 2026 | 5 | 2 | |
| Total | 18 | 4 | |
Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first.[16]
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 June 2025 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay | 8 |  Uruguay | 1–0 | 2–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
| 2 | 9 September 2025 | Estadio Nacional, Lima, Peru | 10 |  Peru | 1–0 | 1–0 | |
| 3 | 5 June 2026 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay | 15 |  Nicaragua | 3–0 | 4–0 | Friendly |
| 4 | 19 June 2026 | Levi's Stadium, Santa Clara, United States | 16 |  Turkey | 1–0 | 1–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup |