Nicolás Ignacio Castillo Mora (born 14 February 1993) is a Chilean 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 ...

Club career

Universidad Católica

Castillo was born and raised in

Renca Renca is a commune of Chile located in Santiago Province, Santiago Metropolitan Region. It was founded on May 6, 1894. Demographics According to the 2002 census of the National Statistics Institute, Renca spans an area of and has 133,500 inha ...

, suburb of the capital

Santiago Santiago (, ; ), also known as Santiago de Chile, is the capital and largest city of Chile as well as one of the largest cities in the Americas. It is the center of Chile's most densely populated region, the Santiago Metropolitan Region, whos ...

. During his childhood, he was part of Universidad Católica's supporter groups and later joined the club's youth ranks when he was 12. In 2010, Castillo made a goalscorer debut against

San Pedro de Atacama San Pedro de Atacama is a Chilean town and commune in El Loa Province, Antofagasta Region. It is located east of Antofagasta, some 106 km (60 mi) southeast of Calama and the Chuquicamata copper mine, overlooking the Licancabur volcano. ...

football team for a

cup game A cup is an open-top used to hold hot or cold liquids for pouring or drinking; while mainly used for drinking, it also can be used to store solids for pouring (e.g., sugar, flour, grains, salt). Cups may be made of glass, metal, china, clay, ...

, sealing a 10–0 thrash of Católica after scoring the tenth and last goal of it. In 2011, Castillo debuted professionally in a league match against

Cobreloa Club de Deportes Cobreloa S.A.D.P. (), commonly referred to as Cobreloa, is a Chilean football professional club based in Calama, Región de Antofagasta, Chile. That competes in the Primera B. The club's home ground is the Estadio Zorros del ...

, coming on as an 84th-minute substitute during a 2–0 win. On 2 March 2012, he scored his first competitive goal in a 2–0 win over Rangers, again for a league match. As a result of his performance in the

2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the nineteenth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. It ran from 21 June to 13 July 2013. At the FIFA Executive Meeting in Zürich on 3 March 2011, ...

, Castillo was linked with

Premier League The Premier League (legal name: The Football Association Premier League Limited) is the highest level of the men's English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Fo ...

side Manchester United, where his compatriot Ángelo Henríquez was playing at the time. Despite the rumours surrounding his move, the transfer never materialised.

Club Brugge

In January 2014, Universidad Católica reached an agreement to sell Castillo to

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League,(officially the Jupiler Pro League due to sponsorship reasons with Jupiler), is the top league competition for association football clubs in Belgium. Contested by 18 clubs since the 2020–21 season and reduced to 16 tea ...

side Club Brugge. The move became official as Castillo signed for a fee of €3 million on a deal until 2018. He scored in his debut for Club Brugge in a 3–1 win over

Genk Genk () is a city and municipality located in the Belgian province of Limburg near Hasselt. The municipality only comprises the town of Genk itself. It is one of the most important industrial towns in Flanders, located on the Albert Canal, ...

on 9 February 2014. He struggled to score again but did so during the play-offs in the last game of the season against Zulte Waregem, with Brugge winning 2–0. On 9 November 2014, Castillo netted a hat-trick in Brugge's 5–0 home win over

Westerlo Westerlo () is a municipality located in the Belgian province of Antwerp. The municipality comprises seven towns: * Westerlo centrum * * Tongerlo * Heultje * Voortkapel * Oosterwijk * In 2021, Westerlo had a total population of 25,288. The ...

. On 28 January 2015, he was loaned to 1. FSV Mainz 05 until the end of the season, with an option to buy. On 7 April, having only made one substitute appearance for the

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany. At the top of the German football league system, the Bundesliga is Germany's primary footba ...

club, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season with damage to his right knee ligaments. Later, on 28 August 2015, Castillo joined Italian side

Frosinone Frosinone (, local dialect: ) is a town and ''comune'' in Lazio, central Italy, the administrative seat of the province of Frosinone. It is located about south-east of Rome close to the Rome-Naples A1 Motorway. The city is the main city of the ...

on loan from Club Brugge until the end of the season.

Pumas

In 2017, Castillo joined Mexican club

Pumas UNAM Club Universidad Nacional, A.C., commonly referred to as UNAM, is a professional football club based in Ciudad Universitaria of Mexico City, Mexico. The club competes in the Liga MX, the top division in the Mexican football league system. Fo ...

, where he played for a year.

Benfica

On 4 June 2018, he was sold to Portuguese side Benfica, signing a five-year contract.

América

On 1 February 2019, Castillo returned to Mexico, joining Club América on a €7 million transfer fee, potentially rising to €9 million. Nine days later, he made his league debut as a second-half substitute in América's 3–0 loss to León at the

Estadio Azteca Estadio Azteca () is a multi-purpose stadium located in Mexico City. It is the official home of Association football, football clubs Club América and Cruz Azul as well as the Mexico national football team. The stadium sits at an altitude of a ...

Esporte Clube Juventude

On 26 August 2021, Castillo joined Brazilian side Esporte Clube Juventude on loan from América until the end of the season.

International career

Castillo was listed in the 21-man squad for the 2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup. In the tournament, he scored four goals, including an opener against

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

, and was the top-scorer for Chile. Castillo made his debut for the Chile senior team on 23 March 2013 in a 1–0

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) The South American Zone of 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification saw nine teams competing for 4 or 5 berths in the finals. Brazil automatically qualified for the World Cup as the host nation so were not involved in CONMEBOL qualifying. Argentina, ...

away loss to

Peru , image_flag = Flag of Peru.svg , image_coat = Escudo nacional del Perú.svg , other_symbol = Great Seal of the State , other_symbol_type = National seal , national_motto = "Firm and Happy f ...

, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute for Jean Beausejour. In 2016, Castillo was nominated for the 2016 Copa América squad and was part of the Chilean victory in the tournament. He was subbed in the 104th minute of

the final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of cont ...

against

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

, which Chile won 4–2 on penalties, where he converted the 2nd spot kick.

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''Scores and results list Chile's goal tally first.''

Honours

Universidad Católica *

Primera División de Chile Primera may refer to * Nissan Primera, a car * Primera Air, a former airline * Primera división (disambiguation), multiple top division football leagues * Primera, Texas, a town in Cameron County, Texas * Alí Primera Alí Rafael Primera Rosel ...

: Torneo Clausura 2015–16, Torneo Apertura 2016–17 *

Copa Chile The Copa Chile (''Chile Cup'') is an annual cup competition for Chilean football teams. Due to time constraints and club pressure, the trophy was cancelled in 2000, but returned in 2008. Its precursor was the Campeonato de Apertura (''Opening Ch ...

: 2011 * Supercopa de Chile:

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Club Brugge *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (french: link=no, Coupe de Belgique; nl, Beker van België []; german: link=no, Belgischer Fußballpokal) is the main Single-elimination tournament, knockout association football, football competition in Belgium, run by the Belgia ...

: 2014–15 Belgian Cup, 2014–15 Benfica * Primeira Liga: 2018–19 América *

Copa MX The Copa MX (formerly called Copa Tower Monterrey, Copa Eliminatoria, Copa México and Copa Corona MX (for sponsorship reasons)) was a Mexican football cup competition that was established in 1907. After a lengthy hiatus that began in 1997, it wa ...

: Clausura 2019 *

Campeón de Campeones ''Campeón de Campeones'' ( es, Champion of Champions) is an annual Mexican football competition established in 1942. In its current form, the winner of the Apertura season faces the winner of the Clausura season, for both Liga MX and Liga MX Feme ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

Chile * Copa América:

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Castillo, Nicolas 1993 births Living people Footballers from Santiago Association football forwards Chilean footballers Chile under-20 international footballers Chile international footballers Chilean Primera División players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Serie A players Liga MX players Primeira Liga players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Club Brugge KV players 1. FSV Mainz 05 players Frosinone Calcio players Club Universidad Nacional footballers S.L. Benfica footballers Club América footballers Esporte Clube Juventude players Club Necaxa footballers Chilean expatriate footballers Expatriate footballers in Belgium Expatriate footballers in Germany Expatriate footballers in Italy Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Brazil Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Germany Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Italy Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Copa América Centenario players 2019 Copa América players Copa América-winning players