Léo Lacroix (born 27 February 1992) is a Swiss professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

who plays as a defender for Romanian

Liga I The Liga I (; ''First League''), also spelled as Liga 1, is a Romanian professional league for men's association football clubs. Currently Sponsor (commercial), sponsored by betting company Superbet, it is officially known as the SuperLiga. It ...

club FC U Craiova.

Club career

On 31 August 2016, Ligue 1 side Saint-Étienne announced that they had reached an agreement for the transfer of Lacroix. Lacroix signed a four-year contract and in his first season he had 20 appearances in the

2016–17 Ligue 1 The 2016–17 Ligue 1 season was the 79th season since its establishment. Paris Saint-Germain were the defending champions. The fixtures were announced on 1 June 2016. The season began on 12 August 2016 and ended on 20 May 2017. On 17 May 2017, ...

. In the

2017–18 Ligue 1 The 2017–18 Ligue 1 season, also known as Ligue 1 Conforama for sponsorship reasons, was the 80th season since its establishment. The season started on 4 August 2017 and ended on 19 May 2018. Monaco were the defending champions. On 15 April, P ...

season he played 11 games for the team, but was then loaned out to Swiss club

Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...

. Lacroix joined Basel's first team in the winter break of their 2017–18 season under head coach Raphaël Wicky. The loan was dated until summer 2018, with the option of a definite transfer. Basel had to find a replacement for Manuel Akanji, who had transferred out to

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, commonly known as Borussia Dortmund (), BVB (), or simply Dortmund (), is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is best known for its men's professional fo ...

. Lacroix played his domestic league debut for the club in the away game in the

Stockhorn Arena Stockhorn Arena (formerly known as Arena Thun) is a football stadium in Thun, Switzerland. It has a capacity of 10,000 spectators and opened in 2011. It is the home of FC Thun of the Swiss Super League. History From 1954 until 2011, Stadion Lac ...

on 10 February as Basel won 2–0 against

Thun , neighboring_municipalities= Amsoldingen, Heiligenschwendi, Heimberg, Hilterfingen, Homberg, Schwendibach, Spiez, Steffisburg, Thierachern, Uetendorf, Zwieselberg , twintown = , website = www.thun.ch Thun (french: Thou ...

. Lacroix stayed with Basel until the end of the season, but the club did not pull the option. During his short period with the club Lacroix played a total of 12 games for Basel without scoring a goal. Nine of these games were in the Swiss Super League, one in the Swiss Cup and two games against Manchester City in the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League knockout phase The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League knockout phase began on 13 February and ended on 26 May 2018 with the final at the NSC Olimpiyskiy Stadium in Kyiv, Ukraine, to decide the champions of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League. A total of 16 teams co ...

. In September 2021, Lacroix signed with Australian club

Western United Western United Football Club is an Australian professional football club. The club is based in the western Melbourne suburb of Truganina, the club aims to represent western Victoria, incorporating the western suburbs of Melbourne; the region ...

. Lacroix spent two seasons at Western United, before departing at the end of the 2022-23 season.

International career

Lacroix was born in Switzerland, and is of Brazilian descent through his mother. He got his first call up to the senior Switzerland side for the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against

Hungary Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the ...

and

Andorra , image_flag = Flag of Andorra.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Andorra.svg , symbol_type = Coat of arms , national_motto = la, Virtus Unita Fortior, label=none (Latin)"United virtue is stro ...

in October 2016. He made his debut for the national team on 14 November 2018 in a friendly against

Qatar Qatar (, ; ar, قطر, Qaṭar ; local vernacular pronunciation: ), officially the State of Qatar,) is a country in Western Asia. It occupies the Qatar Peninsula on the northeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in the Middle East; it ...

Career statistics

Club

Honours

;Sion * Swiss Cup: 2014–15 ;Western United * A-League Men: 2021–22 ;Individual * A-Leagues All Star:

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretariat; The global monkeypo ...

* PFA A-League Team of the Season: 2021–22

References

External links

* 1992 births Living people Footballers from Lausanne Swiss people of Brazilian descent Men's association football defenders Swiss men's footballers Switzerland men's youth international footballers Switzerland men's under-21 international footballers Switzerland men's international footballers Swiss Super League players Ligue 1 players 2. Bundesliga players A-League Men players Liga I players FC Sion players AS Saint-Étienne players FC Basel players Hamburger SV players Western United FC players FC U Craiova 1948 players Swiss expatriate men's footballers Swiss expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in France Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's soccer players in Australia Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Australia Expatriate men's footballers in Romania Swiss expatriate sportspeople in Romania {{Switzerland-footy-defender-stub