Nicolás Tagliafico
Argentine footballer (born 1992)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Nicolás Alejandro Tagliafico (born 31 August 1992) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Ligue 1 club Lyon and the Argentina national team. He was a member of the Argentina team that won the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
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Tagliafico with Lyon in 2025 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Full name | Nicolás Alejandro Tagliafico[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 31 August 1992[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Rafael Calzada, Buenos Aires, Argentina | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Left-back | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Lyon | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 3 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2010 | Banfield | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2010–2015 | Banfield | 90 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012–2013 | → Real Murcia (loan) | 27 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2018 | Independiente | 85 | (2) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2022 | Ajax | 115 | (9) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022– | Lyon | 103 | (7) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007 | Argentina U15 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2009 | Argentina U17 | 5 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011 | Argentina U20 | 12 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017– | Argentina | 75 | (1) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 25 April 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 31 March 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Club career
Banfield
Tagliafico made his professional debut for Banfield on a 2−1 away victory against Tigre for the fifth fixture of the 2011 Clausura, coming on as a substitute on the 72nd minute.[2] Due to Marcelo Bustamante's ban, he was a starter the following game, a 2−2 draw with Huracán.[2] In 2012, Tagliafico signed a one-year loan deal with Spanish club Real Murcia.
Independiente
In 2015, he made the move to Independiente for an undisclosed transfer fee and made his professional debut for the club during a 3−2 away win at Newell's Old Boys. Tagliafico would end up captaining the team that won the 2017 Copa Sudamericana.
Ajax
On 5 January 2018, Tagliafico made the move to Ajax for a fee of £4 million and made his professional debut for the club during a 2−0 home win against Feyenoord on 21 January 2018 in the Klassieker. Since then he has played over 100 league games for the club and scored 7 league goals and became a starter for the team in 2019.
Lyon
On 23 July 2022, he joined Ligue 1 club Lyon on a three-year deal until June 2025, for €4.2 million.[3]
International career
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Tagliafico has played in all the youth categories of the Argentina national team: under-15, under-17 and under-20. Tagliafico impressed for the Argentina national under-20 football team at the 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia; however, he missed Argentina's final kick in the quarter-final penalty shoot-out against Portugal, meaning Argentina exited that competition 5–4 on penalties (Cartagena, 13 August 2011).
In May 2018, he was named in Argentina's final 23 man squad for the 2018 World Cup in Russia.[4] He also played the 2019 Copa América, and took with Argentina the third place, through a 2–1 victory over Chile in the third-place match.[5]
In June 2021, he was included in Lionel Scaloni's final Argentina 28-man squad for the 2021 Copa América.[6]
He is the only foreign player to became champion at club level (Independiente, Sudamericana 2017) and at international level (Argentina, Copa América 2021) at the Maracaná stadium.
In November 2022, he was named in Argentina's final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar by Scaloni. Tagliafico was part of the starting line-up in the final against France, where Argentina won the World Cup by a score of 4–2 on penalties.[7]
In June 2024, Tagliafico was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 26-man Argentina squad for the 2024 Copa América.[8]
Style of play
He is noted for his "lung-busting stamina, excellent technique and continuous enterprise". As a result of his skills, as well as his playing position and club, and nationality, and striking visual resemblance Tagliafico has been compared to the Inter Milan and Argentina full-back Javier Zanetti, formerly also of Banfield.[9]
Personal life
Born and raised in Argentina, Tagliafico is of Italian descent. His grandparents are from the city of Genoa on the paternal side and Calabrian on the maternal side; he also has Italian citizenship.[10]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 25 April 2026[11]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Banfield | 2010–11 | Argentine Primera División | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 |
| 2011–12 | 33 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 33 | 1 | ||
| 2013–14 | Primera B Nacional | 34 | 0 | 2 | 1 | – | 0 | 0 | 36 | 1 | ||
| 2014 | Argentine Primera División | 14 | 1 | 0 | 0 | – | 0 | 0 | 14 | 1 | ||
| Total | 90 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 92 | 3 | ||
| Real Murcia (loan) | 2012–13 | Segunda División | 27 | 0 | 1 | 0 | – | – | 28 | 0 | ||
| Independiente | 2015 | Argentine Primera División | 31 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 39 | 1 |
| 2016 | 16 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | 3[c] | 0 | 25 | 1 | ||
| 2016–17 | 29 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 11[b] | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 43 | 0 | ||
| 2017–18 | 9 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9 | 0 | ||
| Total | 85 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 21 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 116 | 2 | ||
| Ajax | 2017–18 | Eredivisie | 15 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | – | 15 | 1 | |
| 2018–19 | 29 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 15[d] | 3 | – | 46 | 6 | |||
| 2019–20 | 24 | 3 | 3 | 0 | 11[e] | 2 | 0 | 0 | 38 | 5 | ||
| 2020–21 | 25 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 11[f] | 0 | – | 40 | 1 | |||
| 2021–22 | 22 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 3[d] | 0 | 1[g] | 0 | 30 | 3 | ||
| Total | 115 | 9 | 13 | 2 | 40 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 169 | 16 | ||
| Lyon | 2022–23 | Ligue 1 | 34 | 1 | 4 | 0 | – | – | 38 | 1 | ||
| 2023–24 | 25 | 3 | 6 | 0 | – | – | 31 | 3 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 24 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 9[h] | 2 | – | 33 | 5 | |||
| 2025–26 | 20 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 8[h] | 0 | – | 30 | 0 | |||
| Total | 103 | 7 | 12 | 0 | 17 | 2 | – | 132 | 9 | |||
| Career total | 420 | 20 | 33 | 3 | 78 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 537 | 30 | ||
- Includes Copa Argentina, Copa del Rey, KNVB Cup, Coupe de France
- Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
- Appearances in Torneos de Verano
- Appearances in UEFA Champions League
- Ten appearances and two goals in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
- Six appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
- Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
- Appearances in UEFA Europa League
International
- As of match played 31 March 2026[12]
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Argentina | 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2018 | 11 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 13 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 8 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2023 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 7 | 0 | |
| 2026 | 1 | 0 | |
| Total | 75 | 1 | |
- As of match played 31 March 2026
- Scores and results list Argentina's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Tagliafico goal.
| No. | Date | Venue | Cap | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 12 September 2023 | Estadio Hernando Siles, La Paz, Bolivia | 51 |  Bolivia | 2–0 | 3–0 | 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification |
