Carlos Joaquín Correa (; born 13 August 1994) is an Argentine 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 lea ...

who plays as a

forward Forward is a relative direction, the opposite of backward. Forward may also refer to: People *Forward (surname) Sports * Forward (association football) * Forward (basketball), including: ** Point forward ** Power forward (basketball) ** Smal ...

for Série A club

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. He is nicknamed "El Tucu" (derived from his home province of Tucumán).

Club career

Estudiantes

Born in

Juan Bautista Alberdi, Tucumán Juan Bautista Alberdi is a settlement in Tucumán Province in northern Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South America ...

, Correa represented River Plate, Renato Cesarini and Estudiantes as a youth. He made his first team debut with the latter on 19 May 2012, coming on for Duván Zapata in a 0–3 away win against Banfield for the Primera División championship. Correa scored his first professional goal on 10 May 2014, netting the first in a 3–0 home win against

San Lorenzo San Lorenzo is the Italian and Spanish name for Saint Lawrence, the 3rd-century Christian martyr, and may refer to: Places Argentina * San Lorenzo, Santa Fe * San Lorenzo Department, Chaco * Villa San Lorenzo, town and municipality in Salta P ...

. He also featured regularly for the side during the year's

Copa Sudamericana The CONMEBOL Sudamericana, also known as Copa Sudamericana (; ), is an annual international club football competition organized by CONMEBOL, the governing body of football in South America, since 2002. It is the second-most prestigious club com ...

, scoring in a 2–1 home win against

Peñarol Club Atlético Peñarol (), more commonly referred to as Peñarol, is a Uruguayan professional football club based in Montevideo. The club currently competes in the Uruguayan Primera División, the highest tier in Uruguayan football. The nam ...

on 15 October.

Sampdoria

On 16 December 2014, Correa transferred to

Serie A The Serie A (), officially known as Serie A Enilive in Italy and Serie A Made in Italy abroad for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Italy and the highest tier of the Italian football league system. Establish ...

club

Sampdoria Unione Calcio Sampdoria, commonly referred to as Sampdoria (), is an Italian professional football club based in Genoa, Liguria. Sampdoria was formed in 1946 from the merger of two existing sports clubs whose roots can be traced back to the ...

for a US$10 million fee. He signed a four-and-a-half-year contract the following 9 January, receiving the number 8 shirt. Correa made his debut for ''Samp'' on 15 February 2015, starting in a 1–2 loss at

Chievo Chievo (4,500 inhabitants) is a frazione of Verona located to the west of the city, around from the historic city centre, on the shores of the river Adige. It is best known for its football team, A.C. ChievoVerona. History The name came from t ...

. Rarely used during his first season, he switched his number to 10 ahead of the 2015–16 campaign, and started to feature more regularly. Correa scored his first goal abroad on 17 January 2016 in a 1–2 loss at Carpi. In the following two matchdays, he scored back-to-back goals against

Napoli Naples ( ; ; ) is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its province-level municipality is the thir ...

(2–4 home loss) and

Bologna Bologna ( , , ; ; ) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in northern Italy. It is the List of cities in Italy, seventh most populous city in Italy, with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nationalities. Its M ...

(2–3 away loss), and finished the season with three goals as his side achieved a disappointing 15th place.

Sevilla

On 10 July 2016,

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Sevilla Seville ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Spanish autonomous community of Andalusia and the province of Seville. It is situated on the lower reaches of the River Guadalquivir, in the southwest of the Iberian Peninsula. Seville ...

reached an agreement with Sampdoria for the transfer of Correa for a rumoured €13 million fee. Presented by the club two days later, he made his debut for the club on 17 August, starting in a 0–3 away loss against

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

for the second leg of the 2016 Supercopa de España. Correa made his debut in the main category of Spanish football on 20 August 2016, replacing compatriot

Luciano Vietto Luciano Darío Vietto (; born 5 December 1993) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a forward for Racing Club. Club career Early career Vietto was born in the small town of Balnearia in the Province of Córdoba. He joined hi ...

in a 6–4 home win against Espanyol. On 22 February 2017, he scored his first

UEFA Champions League The UEFA Champions League (UCL) is an annual club association football competition organised by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) that is contested by List of top-division football clubs in UEFA countries, top-divisio ...

goal in a 2–1 win over

Leicester City Leicester ( ) is a city status in the United Kingdom, city, Unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area, and the county town of Leicestershire in the East Midlands of England. It is the largest city in the East Midlands with a popula ...

in the

2016–17 UEFA Champions League The 2016–17 UEFA Champions League was the 62nd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 25th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pla ...

round of 16. On 17 September 2017, he scored the equalizing goal in a 2–2 draw against

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

Anfield Anfield is a Association football, football stadium in the area of Anfield (suburb), Anfield, Liverpool, England, which has been the home of Liverpool F.C. since its formation in 1892. The stadium has a seating capacity of 61,276, making it the ...

in the

2017–18 UEFA Champions League The 2017–18 UEFA Champions League was the 63rd season of Europe's premier club football tournament organised by UEFA, and the 26th season since it was renamed from the European Champion Clubs' Cup to the UEFA Champions League. The final was pl ...

. On 11 April 2018, he committed a horror challenge on

Javi Martínez Javier "Javi" Martínez Aginaga (; born 2 September 1988) is a Spanish professional Association football, footballer who plays as a Midfielder#Defensive midfielder, midfielder or Defender (association football)#Centre-back, centre-back. He ar ...

in added time against

Bayern Munich Fußball-Club Bayern München e. V. (FCB, ), commonly known as Bayern Munich (), FC Bayern () or simply Bayern, is a German professional sports club based in Munich, Bavaria. They are most known for their men's professional football team, ...

in the quarter-finals of the 2017–18 UEFA Champions League season and was shown a straight red.

Lazio

On 1 August 2018, Correa returned to Italy to join

Lazio Lazio ( , ; ) or Latium ( , ; from Latium, the original Latin name, ) is one of the 20 Regions of Italy, administrative regions of Italy. Situated in the Central Italy, central peninsular section of the country, it has 5,714,882 inhabitants an ...

on a five-year contract for a €16 million transfer fee. He made his debut for Lazio on 18 August, in a 1–2 home loss against

. On 26 September 2018, he scored his first goal for Lazio in 2–1 home win against

Udinese Udinese Calcio (; "Udinese Football") is a professional football club based in Udine, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy. The team currently competes in the Serie A, the first tier of Italian football. It was founded on 30 November 1896 as a sport ...

. In the 2018–19 Coppa Italia, Correa scored the goal that eliminated

AC Milan (), commonly referred to as Milan or AC Milan () mainly outside of Italy, is an Italian professional Football club (association football), football club based in Milan, Lombardy. Founded in 1899, the club competes in the Serie A, the top tie ...

from the competition and allowed Lazio to reach the final. In the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

, Correa scored the second goal in a 2–0 win against

Atalanta Atalanta (; ) is a heroine in Greek mythology. There are two versions of the huntress Atalanta: one from Arcadia (region), Arcadia, whose parents were Iasus and Clymene (mythology), Clymene and who is primarily known from the tales of the Caly ...

, winning the first trophy with Lazio. In his first season with Lazio, he made 44 appearances, scoring 9 goals. On 10 October 2019, he extended his contract with Lazio until 2024. On 22 December 2019, he started in Lazio's 3–1 win in the 2019 Supercoppa Italiana, winning his second trophy with the club. In his second season, he made 35 appearances, scoring 10 goals. In his third and last season with Lazio, he made 38 appearances, scoring 11 goals.

Inter Milan

On 26 August 2021, Correa joined

Inter Milan Football Club Internazionale Milano, commonly referred to as Internazionale () or simply Inter, and colloquially known as Inter Milan in English-speaking countries, is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football ...

on a year-long loan deal with an obligation to buy with three-year contract to take effect after the loan period. On 27 August, he made his league debut for Inter Milan in a 3–1 win over

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

where he came on as a substitute and scored twice.

Loan to Marseille

On 25 August 2023, Correa joined

Olympique de Marseille Olympique de Marseille (, ; , ), also known simply as Marseille, or by the abbreviation OM (, ), is a French professional Association football, football club based in Marseille which competes in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top f ...

on a one-year loan with an option to buy. He played twelve matches for the

Ligue 1 Ligue 1 (; ), officially known as Ligue 1 McDonald's France, McDonald's for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in France and the highest level of the French football league system. Administered by the Ligue de ...

team.

Botafogo

On 10 June 2025, Correa signed with Brazilian Série A club

until the end of 2027.

International career

Correa made his senior international debut for

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

on 9 June 2017, in a 1–0 win over rivals

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

held in Melbourne. On 13 June, he scored his first international goal in a 6–0 away friendly win over

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

. He was a part of the victorious Argentine squad at the 2021 Copa America making 3 appearances at the tournament. He was called up to the 26 man squad for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

by manager

Lionel Scaloni Lionel Sebastián Scaloni (, ; born 16 May 1978) is an Argentine professional football manager and former player who is the current manager of the Argentina national team. Under his leadership, Argentina achieved the 2022 FIFA World Cup. Scalon ...

, but ultimately ended up missing the tournament due to an injury sustained 5 days before it started. He was replaced by Thiago Almada.

Style of play

Correa is primarily deployed as a deep-lying forward or

supporting striker In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than midfielders and defenders. As with any attacking player, the role of the forward relies heavily on bein ...

, although he is also capable of functioning as a left winger, or as a

centre-forward In the sport of association football, a forward (attacker or striker) is an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position which primarily plays further up the pitch than Midfielder, midfielders and Defender (association football), d ...

. Among his main strengths are his ball control,

dribbling In sports, dribbling is maneuvering a ball by one player while moving in a given direction, avoiding defenders' attempts to intercept the ball. A successful dribble will bring the ball past defenders legally and create opportunities to score. As ...

ability, pace, and agility. He has cited the Brazilian former

attacking midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. ...

and

playmaker In association football, a playmaker is a footballer who controls the flow of the team's play, and is often involved in offensively and defensively playing Passing (association football), passing moves which lead to Goal (sport), goals, through ...

Kaká Ricardo Izecson dos Santos Leite (; born 22 April 1982), commonly known as Kaká () or Ricardo Kaká, is a Brazilian former professional Association football, footballer who played as an attacking midfielder. In his prime at A.C. Milan, AC Mil ...

as an inspiration.

Career statistics

Club

International

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

Honours

Lazio *

Coppa Italia Coppa Italia () is the annual domestic cup of Italian football. The knockout competition was organized by the DDS and the Lega Calcio until the 2009–10 season and by Lega Serie A ever since. Juventus is the competition's most successf ...

: 2018–19 *

Supercoppa Italiana The Supercoppa Italiana, also known as the Italian Super Cup, is an annual super cup tournament in Italian football. Founded in 1988 as a two-team competition, it has featured four teams since 2023 (the winners and runners-up of the previous ...

2019 This was the year in which the first known human case of COVID-19 was documented, preceding COVID-19 pandemic, the pandemic which was declared by the World Health Organization the following year. Up to that point, 2019 had been described as ...

Sevilla *

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

runner-up: 2017–18 Inter Milan * Coppa Italia: 2021–22,

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

* Supercoppa Italiana:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

runner-up:

Argentina *

Copa América The CONMEBOL Copa América (; known until 1975 as the South American Football Championship), often simply called the Copa America, is the top men's quadrennial association football, football tournament contested among list of men's national ass ...

CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions The Finalissima or officially CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions, formerly known as European/South American Nations Cup and also called Artemio Franchi Cup, is an intercontinental football match organised by CONMEBOL and UEFA and contested by th ...

References

External links

Profile
at the Inter Milan website * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Correa, Joaquin 1994 births Living people Argentine men's footballers Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine expatriate men's footballers Footballers from Tucumán Province Men's association football midfielders Argentine Primera División players Serie A players La Liga players Ligue 1 players Estudiantes de La Plata footballers UC Sampdoria players Sevilla FC players SS Lazio players Inter Milan players Olympique de Marseille players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Italy Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Spain Argentine expatriate sportspeople in France Argentine expatriate sportspeople in Brazil 2021 Copa América players Copa América–winning players 21st-century Argentine sportsmen