Mateo Retegui (born 29 April 1999) is a 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 striker for

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

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 ...

. Born in Argentina, he represents the Italy national team.

Early life

Retegui was born and raised in Argentina. His maternal grandfather Angelo Dimarco emigrated to Argentina from

Canicattì Canicattì (; ) is a town and ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Agrigento in the Italian region Sicily, located about southeast of Palermo and about east of Agrigento. In 2024, it had a population of 34,295. History The archa ...

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

. His father's grandparents on one side of the family were also Italian, specifically from

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, while the paternal ancestors were originally Basque (the surname Retegui being from

Gipuzkoa Gipuzkoa ( , ; ; ) is a province of Spain and a historical territory of the autonomous community of the Basque Country. Its capital city is Donostia-San Sebastián. Gipuzkoa shares borders with the French department of Pyrénées-Atlantiqu ...

, Spain). He is the son of former

field hockey Field hockey (or simply referred to as hockey in some countries where ice hockey is not popular) is a team sport structured in standard hockey format, in which each team plays with 11 players in total, made up of 10 field players and a goalk ...

player

Carlos Retegui Carlos José Retegui (born 19 December 1969) is an Argentine retired field hockey player. He was a member of the National squad from 1989 to 2006 and competed in three Summer Olympics (1996, 2000 and 2004). In 2006 he was dismissed from the natio ...

, who represented Argentina as a player and coach at various

Pan American Games The Pan American Games, known as the Pan Am Games, is a continental multi-sport event in the Americas. It features thousands of athletes participating in competitions to win different summer sports. It is held among athletes from nations of th ...

and

Olympic Games The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international Olympic sports, sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a Multi-s ...

. His sister Micaela is also an Olympian field hockey player.

Club career

Early career in Argentina

Retegui began his senior career with

Boca Juniors Club Atlético Boca Juniors () is an Argentine professional sports club based in La Boca, a neighbourhood of Buenos Aires. The club is best known for its men's professional Association football, football team which, since its promotion in 1913 ...

, who signed him years prior from River Plate. He was first promoted into the club's first-team by manager

Guillermo Barros Schelotto Guillermo Barros Schelotto (; born 4 May 1973) is an Argentine football manager and former player who played as a forward. He is the current manager of Vélez Sarsfield. Barros Schelotto played 16 years of his professional career in the Argent ...

during the

2017–18 Argentine Primera División The 2017–18 Argentine Primera División - Superliga Argentina (officially the Superliga Quilmes Clásica for sponsorship reasons) was the 128 season of top-flight professional football in Argentina. The season began on 25 August 2017 and ended ...

season, appearing as an unused substitute on occasions against

Arsenal de Sarandí Arsenal Fútbol Club (), usually referred as Arsenal de Sarandí , or simply Arsenal, is an Argentine sports club from the Sarandí district of Avellaneda Partido, Greater Buenos Aires. The football team currently plays in Primera Nacional, t ...

and Estudiantes in December 2017. His professional debut arrived on 17 November 2018, with the forward being substituted on for the final moments of a 1–0 home win over Patronato. January 2019 saw Retegui loaned to Estudiantes for eighteen months. He appeared eight times in 2018–19, before scoring five goals in twenty-one appearances in 2019–20. In February 2022, Retegui joined Tigre on a loan deal until the end of 2023.

Genoa

On 26 July 2023, Retegui joined

club

on a five-year deal, for a reported fee of €15 million. On 11 August 2023, he scored his first two goals for the club in a

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 ...

match against

Serie B The Serie B (), officially known as Serie BKT for sponsorship reasons, is the second-highest division in the Italian football league system after the Serie A. It has been operating for over ninety years since the 1929–30 season. It had b ...

side

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

Atalanta

Retegui moved to fellow Serie A club

in a deal worth a reported €28 million on 8 August 2024, following an

anterior cruciate ligament injury An anterior cruciate ligament injury occurs when the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) is either stretched, partially torn, or completely torn. The most common injury is a complete tear. Symptoms include pain, an audible cracking sound during in ...

to Atalanta forward and Italy teammate Gianluca Scamacca. Later that year, on 26 November, he scored his first Champions League goals by netting a brace in a 6–1 away victory over Young Boys. He scored four goals in a 5–0 demolition of

Hellas Verona Hellas Verona Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Hellas Verona (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Verona, Veneto, that currently plays in Serie A. The team won ...

on 8 February 2025, in which he became the first player to score a first-half hat-trick for Atalanta in Serie A. He concluded the 2024–25 season as the ''

Capocannoniere The ''capocannoniere'' award (; ), known as Paolo Rossi Award since 2021, is awarded by the Italian Footballers' Association (AIC) to the highest goalscorer of each season in Italy's Serie A. From the 2010–11 season unti the change of denomina ...

'', netting 25 goals and becoming only the second Atalanta player to earn the title after

Filippo Inzaghi Filippo "Pippo" Inzaghi (; born 9 August 1973) is an Italian professional football manager and former player who played as a striker. He was most recently the head coach of club Pisa. He was nicknamed "Superpippo" (" Super Goof") or "Alta ten ...

in the 1996–97 campaign.

International career

Retegui represented Argentina at U19 and

U20 U20 or U-20 may refer to: Naval vessels * * , a sloop of the Royal Navy * , a submarine of the Austro-Hungarian Navy Other uses * Great truncated cuboctahedron * Meizu U20, a smartphone * Roland U-20, a synthesizer * Small nucleolar RNA S ...

level, including for the latter at the

2018 South American Games The 2018 South American Games was a multi-sport event that took place in Cochabamba, Bolivia. It was the 11th edition of the ODESUR South American Games. A total of 373 sporting events are scheduled to be contested across a variety of sports. ...

. Being eligible to play for

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

through descent, in February 2023 it was reported Retegui was pre-selected by

Roberto Mancini Roberto Mancini (; born 27 November 1964) is an Italian football manager and former player who was most recently the head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team. As a player, Mancini operated as a deep-lying forward, and was best known for h ...

to join the ''Azzurri'' team for the first

UEFA Euro 2024 The 2024 UEFA European Football Championship, commonly referred to as UEFA Euro 2024 (stylised as UEFA EURO 2024) or simply Euro 2024, was the 17th UEFA European Championship, the quadrennial international Association football, football champ ...

qualification games. Retegui received his first official call up to the Italy national team on 17 March 2023, and proceeded to score in his international debut on 23 March against

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

in a Euro 2024 qualifying match lost 2–1 in

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, 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 Metropolitan City of N ...

. He would tally again in his subsequent appearance on 26 March, netting the winner in a 2–0 win over

Malta Malta, officially the Republic of Malta, is an island country in Southern Europe located in the Mediterranean Sea, between Sicily and North Africa. It consists of an archipelago south of Italy, east of Tunisia, and north of Libya. The two ...

in a Euro 2024 qualifier in

Ta' Qali Ta' Qali is a wide open space in the limits of Attard and Mosta in central and northern Malta respectively, which contains National Stadium, Ta' Qali, the national football stadium, the Malta Fairs & Conventions Centre, Ta' Qali National Park, a ...

, to become the first player to score in his first two competitive matches for the national side since Pierino Prati accomplished the feat in 1968. On 21 March 2024, Retegui scored twice in a 2–1 victory over

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

. He was the first Genoa player to score a brace for Italy since

Virgilio Levratto Virgilio Felice Levratto (; 26 October 1904 – 18 September 1968) was an Italian association football player and later a coach, who played as a striker. Club career Levratto was born in Carcare. Throughout his club career, he played for F.C. ...

at the

1928 Summer Olympics The 1928 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the IX Olympiad (), was an international multi-sport event that was celebrated from 28 July to 12 August 1928 in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The city of Amsterdam had previously bid for ...

. In June 2024, Retegui was included by manager

Luciano Spalletti Luciano Spalletti (; born 7 March 1959) is an Italian Association football, football Association football manager, manager and former association footballer, player. He was most recently the manager of the Italy national football team, Italian n ...

in Italy's squad for

. Later that year, on 6 September, he was named player of the match, in which he also provided an assist, in a 3–1 away win over

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

during the

UEFA Nations League The UEFA Nations League is an international European football competition played by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of UEFA, the sport's European governing body. The competition was devised to minimise friendlies a ...

, helping his country to secure their first win against their opponent in Paris since April 1954.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Italy score listed first, score column indicates score after each Retegui goal.''

Honours

Individual * Argentine Primera División top scorer:

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 ...

* Serie A Player of the Month: October 2024 *

: 2024–25 * Serie A Best Striker: 2024–25 *

Team of the Season: 2024–25

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Retegui, Mateo 1999 births Living people People from San Fernando Partido Footballers from Buenos Aires Province Argentine men's footballers Italian men's footballers Naturalised citizens of Italy Naturalised association football players Men's association football forwards Argentine Primera División players Serie A players Boca Juniors footballers Estudiantes de La Plata footballers Talleres de Córdoba footballers Club Atlético Tigre footballers Genoa CFC players Atalanta BC players Argentina men's under-20 international footballers Italy men's international footballers UEFA Euro 2024 players Argentine sportspeople of Italian descent Argentine people of Basque descent Italian sportspeople of Argentine descent Italian people of Basque descent People of Sicilian descent 21st-century Italian sportsmen 21st-century Argentine sportsmen