Mauricio Aníbal Isla Isla (; born 12 June 1988) 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 lea ...

who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

and

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for

Chilean Primera División The Chilean Primera División () is a professional association football league in Chile and the highest level of the Chilean football league system. Founded in 1933, it is organized by the Asociación Nacional de Fútbol Profesional (ANFP). The l ...

club

Colo-Colo Colo-Colo (), officially Club Social y Deportivo Colo-Colo, is a Chilean professional football club based in Macul, Santiago. Founded in 1925 by David Arellano, it competes in the Chilean Primera División, from which the club has never been ...

. Isla started his career in the youth system of Universidad Católica, and later moved to Italian club

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 2007, where he made his professional debut. His performances earned him a transfer to defending

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 ...

Champions

Juventus Juventus Football Club (; from , ), commonly known as Juventus or colloquially as Juve (), is an Italian professional Association football, football List of football clubs in Italy, club based in Turin, Piedmont, who compete in Serie A, the ...

, where he won consecutive league titles during his first two seasons with the team. In 2014, Isla was sent on loan for a season to English side

Queens Park Rangers Queens Park Rangers Football Club, commonly abbreviated to QPR, is a professional association football club based in Shepherd's Bush, West London, England. The team currently compete in the EFL Championship, the second level of the English f ...

, while he also spent the next season on loan with French club

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

. Isla has earned over 140 caps for

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

since his debut in 2007, and represented the nation in two

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often called the World Cup, is an international association football competition among the senior List of men's national association football teams, men's national teams of the members of the FIFA, Fédération Internatio ...

s (in

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2014 The year 2014 was marked by the surge of the Western African Ebola epidemic, West African Ebola epidemic, which began in 2013, becoming the List of Ebola outbreaks, most widespread outbreak of the Ebola, Ebola virus in human history, resul ...

) as well as six

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 ...

tournaments (in

2011 The year marked the start of a Arab Spring, series of protests and revolutions throughout the Arab world advocating for democracy, reform, and economic recovery, later leading to the depositions of world leaders in Tunisia, Egypt, and Yemen ...

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

2016 2016 was designated as: * International Year of Pulses by the sixty-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly. * International Year of Global Understanding (IYGU) by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the Internationa ...

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 ...

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 ...

and

2024 The year saw the list of ongoing armed conflicts, continuation of major armed conflicts, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Myanmar civil war (2021–present), Myanmar civil war, the Sudanese civil war (2023–present), Sudane ...

), winning the 2015 and 2016 editions.

Club career

Early years

As a child, Isla was with Huracán de Maipo from Buin. Next, he started in the youth ranks of Universidad Católica in 1999 as a forward. However his lack of height caused him to switch positions to defender, as U Católica lacked quality youth defenders. Isla played well enough in the new position to earn a call-up to the first team in 2006, but never played an official match and in 2007, coach José del Solar sent him back to the youth team.

Udinese

Isla had a notable performance during the summer of 2007 in the

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 16th edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup (formerly called the FIFA World Youth Championship), hosted by Canada from 30 June to 22 July 2007. Argentina defeated the Czech Republic in the title game by the scor ...

in Canada and was thereafter signed by

of the

in Italy on a five-year contract. He can both defend and attack and has been known to turn innocent possession-based games into quick-paced counter-attacks with ease. His technique is well accompanied by a surprising pace and stamina. Isla made his professional debut on 19 December 2007 versus

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

in the

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 ...

. On 8 March 2008, Isla played his first game as a starter in Serie A also against Palermo, a game which ended in a 1–1 draw. After the departure of

Simone Pepe Simone Pepe (; born 30 August 1983) is an Italian former footballer who played as a winger, on either side of the pitch. After starting out at Roma, he went on to compete in Serie A for 12 seasons, spending most of his time at Udinese and Juven ...

, Isla often played as a right wing-back in a 3–5–2 formation during Udinese's

2010–11 Serie A The 2010–11 Serie A (known as the Serie A TIM for sponsorship reasons) was the 109th season of top-tier Italian football, the 79th in a round-robin tournament, and the 1st since its organization under a league committee separate from Serie B ...

campaign, due to a long-term injury to

Dušan Basta Dušan Basta ( sr-Cyrl, Душан Баста, ; born 18 August 1984) is a Serbian former professional footballer who played as a right-sided full-back. Basta made his international debut for Serbia and Montenegro in 2005, and later was selecte ...

. In that season, he was instrumental in helping Udinese finish fourth, thus gaining qualification to the 2011–12 UEFA Champions League play-off round.

Juventus

On 15 June 2012,

announced Isla's arrival to a medical ahead of a prospective move to join the team for the upcoming

2012–13 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number, numeral, and glyph. It is the first and smallest positive integer of the infinite sequence of natural numbers. This fundamental property has led to its unique uses in other fields, ranging from science to sp ...

season. Following his move to Juventus, Isla said moving to Juventus was his dream come true and that he was excited to join his Chilean team-mate

Arturo Vidal Arturo Erasmo Vidal Pardo (; born 22 May 1987) is a Chilean professional Association football, footballer who plays as a midfielder for Chilean Primera División club Colo-Colo and the Chile national football team, Chile national team. His displ ...

. Isla told TVN:

This is a dream come true: We are going to be the strongest team in Italy. It is important for me as a player, but it is also vital for my family. I have been working for years to get to this point. In Udine I became a professional. But I have always said that sooner or later I would go to a bigger club like Juve. There I can challenge for trophies. I want to play and win something important, like the Champions League.

Loan to Queens Park Rangers

On 6 August 2014, Isla joined

on loan for the 2014–15

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

season, with an option of a permanent deal at the end of the season for a reported £8 million fee. He made his debut away against

Tottenham Hotspur Tottenham Hotspur Football Club, commonly referred to as simply Tottenham (, , , ) or Spurs, is a professional Association football, football club based in Tottenham, North London, England. The club itself has stated that it should always ...

. He made his home debut in the next league game against

Sunderland Sunderland () is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is a port at the mouth of the River Wear on the North Sea, approximately south-east of Newcastle upon Tyne. It is the most p ...

, adapting to a new right-back role in a changed formation, helping the R's to their first league win and clean sheet of the season. Isla adapted quickly to the Premier League and this was helped when he was joined at QPR by his national teammate and close friend Eduardo Vargas, who plays just in front of him in QPR's 4–4–2 formation. This started to show when he provided an assist for Charlie Austin against reigning Premier League champions

Manchester City Manchester City Football Club is a professional association football, football club based in Manchester, England, that competes in the Premier League, the English football league system, top flight of Football in England, English footbal ...

. After settling into life in West London, Isla signaled his intention to take up the option of making the loan permanent at the end of the season.

Later years

On 31 August 2015 Isla was loaned to

by Juventus. On 10 August 2016, Isla moved to

Cagliari Cagliari (, , ; ; ; Latin: ''Caralis'') is an Comune, Italian municipality and the capital and largest city of the island of Sardinia, an Regions of Italy#Autonomous regions with special statute, autonomous region of Italy. It has about 146,62 ...

for a transfer fee of €4 million. He signed a three-year contract with his new club. On 21 July 2017, Isla signed for Turkish side Fenerbahçe on a three-year contract for an undisclosed fee.

Flamengo

On 19 August 2020, Isla signed for Brazilian club

Flamengo Clube de Regatas do Flamengo (; ), more commonly referred to as simply Flamengo, is a Brazilian multi sports club based in Rio de Janeiro, in the neighborhood of Gávea. It was founded and named after the Flamengo, Rio de Janeiro, Flamengo n ...

a two-and-a-half-year contract on a free transfer. Isla debuted for Flamengo on 30 August 2020 as a halftime substitute in a

Campeonato Brasileiro Série A The Campeonato Brasileiro Série A (; English: "Brazilian Championship A Series"), commonly referred to as the Brasileirão (; English: "Big Brazilian" or "Great Brazilian"), the Série A or the Brazilian Série A (to distinguish it from the I ...

1–0 win over Santos at Vila Belmiro. He was named the best right back in the league during the 2020 season as Flamengo won the league title.

Return to Chile

On 21 June 2022, Universidad Católica announced the signing of Isla on a two-and-a-half-year contract on a free transfer.

Independiente

After ending his contract with Universidad Católica, in August 2023 Isla joined

Argentine Primera División The Primera División (; ), known officially as Liga Profesional de Fútbol, or Torneo Betano for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Argentina and the highest level of the Argentine football league system. Organ ...

side Independiente, where he became one of the leaders in the new team of Carlos Tévez.

Colo-Colo

In the second half of 2024, Isla returned to his homeland and signed with

. He adopted a shirt bearing the number '2+2', therefore making him mathematically '4', his favourite squad number, like

Iván Zamorano Iván Luis Zamorano Zamora (; born 18 January 1967) is a Chilean former professional footballer who played as a striker. He is regarded as one of Chile's most recognized footballers and one of the greatest strikers of his generation. He first ...

wearing the number '1+8' in

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 ...

International career

Youth

Isla took part with Chile at under-15 level in the 2004 South American Championship and with Chile U17 in the 2005 South American Championship.

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Isla took part with Chile U20 in the

2007 South American Youth Championship The 2007 South American Youth Championship (Sudamericano Sub-20) was the 23rd edition of the competition. It was played in Paraguay between 7 and 28 January 2007, and was contested by all ten U-20 national football teams of CONMEBOL. This was the ...

, where Chile qualified for the

. During the U-20 World Cup Isla was noticed worldwide for his skill with the ball and versatility. Isla was an integral part of the team that finished in third place. In the quarterfinal game versus

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

, Isla played defender, midfield, and forward due to a number of injuries to other squad members. The game went into

extra time Overtime (OT) or extra time (ET) is an additional period of play to bring a game to a decision and avoid declaring the match a tie or draw where the scores are the same. In some sports, this extra period is played only if the game is required t ...

after finishing scoreless in regulation and in the added time, Chile scored four goals. Two of the goals came from Isla, one from the penalty spot. After each goal Isla ran over to the Chilean telecast camera (which was marked by a Chilean flag) and dedicated his goals to his grandmother and aunt, who was pregnant. This tournament and his performance in it led Isla to be transferred to Serie A team Udinese before his professional debut in the Chilean league, a very rare occurrence.

Senior

New Chilean coach

Marcelo Bielsa Marcelo Alberto Bielsa Caldera (, nicknamed ''El Loco Bielsa'' , meaning 'The Madman Bielsa'; born 21 July 1955) is an Argentine professional Association football, football manager who is the current manager of the Uruguay national football team ...

called Isla up at the age of 19 for his first full Chile senior squad international cap in September 2007 in a friendly against

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

versus his club-mate Gökhan Inler. He started as a center midfielder. This was his debut as a professional player, before making his first team debut on Udinese. His strong performances earned another call-up in the next friendly against

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

, where he came on as a second-half substitute. He played his first

2010 FIFA World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation – the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Oc ...

match in March 2009 as a starter versus

Peru Peru, officially the Republic of Peru, is a country in western South America. It is bordered in the north by Ecuador and Colombia, in the east by Brazil, in the southeast by Bolivia, in the south by Chile, and in the south and west by the Pac ...

. Isla made another start against

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

where, in a scoreless draw, he was sent off after 33 minutes following two yellow cards. He was a starter in all of Chile's four

2010 World Cup The 2010 FIFA World Cup was the 19th FIFA World Cup, the world championship for List of men's national association football teams, men's national Association football, football teams. It took place in South Africa from 11 June to 11 July 2010. ...

games. He also played in 3 of 4 matches in the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

, and playing in 13 of 16 matches in the

2014 FIFA World Cup qualification The 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA#Structure, FIFA confederations. The 2014 FIFA World Cup featured 32 teams, with one place reserved for the host nation, Brazil national football team, Bra ...

. At the

2015 Copa América The 2015 Copa América was the 44th edition of the Copa América, the main international football tournament for national teams in South America, and took place in Chile between 11 June and 4 July 2015. The competition was organized by CONMEBOL, ...

on home soil, Isla scored the only goal in the 81st minute of a quarter-final win over holders

at the Estadio Nacional, putting Chile into the last four for the first time since

1999 1999 was designated as the International Year of Older Persons. Events January * January 1 – The euro currency is established and the European Central Bank assumes its full powers. * January 3 – The Mars Polar Lander is launc ...

, as the team went on to win the tournament.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Chile's score listed first, score column indicates score after each Isla goal.''

Style of play

A hard-working, elegant, and tactically versatile player, Isla plays mainly on the right flank as a wing-back, but he can also play in numerous other positions in

defence Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

, including as a full-back or even as a

, both in the

centre Center or centre may refer to: Mathematics *Center (geometry), the middle of an object * Center (algebra), used in various contexts ** Center (group theory) ** Center (ring theory) * Graph center, the set of all vertices of minimum eccentricity ...

and on the right

wing A wing is a type of fin that produces both Lift (force), lift and drag while moving through air. Wings are defined by two shape characteristics, an airfoil section and a planform (aeronautics), planform. Wing efficiency is expressed as lift-to-d ...

; he has also been deployed in

defensive Defense or defence may refer to: Tactical, martial, and political acts or groups * Defense (military), forces primarily intended for warfare * Civil defense, the organizing of civilians to deal with emergencies or enemy attacks * Defense indust ...

and offensive midfield roles. This is possible due to his stamina, technique, strength, and pace.

Honours

Club

;Juventus *

, 2013–14 *

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 ...

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

;Flamengo *

2020 The year 2020 was heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, which led to global Social impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, social and Economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, economic disruption, mass cancellations and postponements of even ...

Supercopa do Brasil The Supercopa do Brasil (), also known as Supercopa Rei (), is a Brazilian association football trophy organized by the Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF). It is contested between the champions of the Campeonato Brasileiro and the winners of ...

Campeonato Carioca The Campeonato Carioca (Carioca Championship), officially known as Campeonato Estadual do Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro State Championship), also commonly known as the Cariocão, is the top-flight professional state football league in the Br ...

International

;Chile *

Individual

*Copa América Team of the Tournament:

* Bola de Prata:

References

External links

* *
Profile at La Gazzetta dello Sport
{{DEFAULTSORT:Isla, Mauricio 1988 births Living people People from Maipo Province Footballers from Santiago Metropolitan Region Chilean men's footballers 21st-century Chilean sportsmen Chile men's international footballers Chile men's under-20 international footballers Chile men's youth international footballers Chilean expatriate men's footballers Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Italy Chilean expatriate sportspeople in England Chilean expatriate sportspeople in France Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Chilean expatriate sportspeople in Argentina Men's association football midfielders Expatriate men's footballers in Italy Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in France Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Argentina 2010 FIFA World Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2014 FIFA World Cup players 2015 Copa América players Copa América Centenario players 2017 FIFA Confederations Cup players 2019 Copa América players 2021 Copa América players 2024 Copa América players Copa América–winning players Serie A players Premier League players Ligue 1 players Süper Lig players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Argentine Primera División players Udinese Calcio players Juventus FC players Queens Park Rangers F.C. players Olympique de Marseille players Cagliari Calcio players Fenerbahçe S.K. footballers CR Flamengo footballers Club Deportivo Universidad Católica footballers Club Atlético Independiente footballers Colo-Colo footballers FIFA Men's Century Club

Club career

Early years

Udinese

Juventus

Loan to Queens Park Rangers

Later years

Flamengo

Return to Chile

Independiente

Colo-Colo

International career

Youth

2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup

Senior

Career statistics

Club

International

Style of play

Honours

Club

International

Individual

See also

References

External links