Willian Joel Pacho Tenorio (born 16 October 2001) is an Ecuadorian 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

centre-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 ...

for

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 ...

club

Paris Saint-Germain Paris Saint-Germain Football Club, commonly referred to as Paris Saint-Germain () or simply PSG, is a French professional Association football, football club based in Paris. They compete in Ligue 1, the French football league system, top d ...

and the Ecuador national team.

Club career

Independiente del Valle

From

Quinindé Quinindé, also known as Rosa Zárate, is a town in the Esmeraldas Province, Esmeraldas Provinces of Ecuador, province of Ecuador. Sports Quinindé is home to the second division Ecuadorean soccer team La Brasilia, which placed second in the ...

in the far north of Ecuador, Pacho moved to the suburbs of capital

Quito Quito (; ), officially San Francisco de Quito, is the capital city, capital and second-largest city of Ecuador, with an estimated population of 2.8 million in its metropolitan area. It is also the capital of the province of Pichincha Province, P ...

to debut with

Independiente del Valle Club de Alto Rendimiento Especializado Independiente del Valle, known simply as Independiente del Valle, is a professional football club based in Sangolquí Ecuador that currently plays in the Ecuadorian Serie A. Founded in 1958, the club plays ...

in 2019, with both he and the club going on to enjoy a remarkable run of success over the next three years. A non-playing substitute across the entire

2018 U-20 Copa Libertadores The 2018 U-20 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores () was the 4th edition of the U-20 Copa CONMEBOL Libertadores (also referred to as the ''U-20 Copa Libertadores''), South America's premier under-20 club football tournament organized by CONMEBOL. The tour ...

run that saw IDV reach the final only to lose to 2–1 in the decider to Uruguayans

Nacional Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to: Airlines * Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002 * Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961 Bank * Banco Nacional, a ...

, Pacho was first named on the bench for IDV's 2–0 win at Mushuc Runa on 15 March 2019. Pacho was finally given his first-team debut in November of that year, starting in the 0–0 draw against Delfin that rounded off IDV's regular season campaign ahead of the Ecuadorian League Play-Offs, the match coming a week before Independiente del Valle claimed their first ever international crown, beating Colón of Argentina 3–1 in

Asunción Asunción (, ) is the capital and the largest city of Paraguay. The city stands on the eastern bank of the Paraguay River, almost at the confluence of this river with the Pilcomayo River. The Paraguay River and the Bay of Asunción in the north ...

in the 2019 Copa Sudamericana Final. Pacho was not a member of the continental squad, but did feature heavily in IDV's 2020 U-20 Copa Libertadores triumph, playing all but one game. Independiente beat

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 ...

of Brazil on penalties in the semi-finals, and Argentine giants River Plate 2–1 in the final in

Luque Luque () is a city in Central Department of Paraguay, part of the Gran Asunción metropolitan area. Both 1635 and 1750 have been recorded as dates of its founding. It was temporarily the capital of Paraguay in 1868 during the Paraguayan War ...

. Pacho started both knockout games in defence. With a good young crop coming through, Independiente del Valle went on to lift the Ecuadorian League title for the very first time in 2021, defeating Emelec in the finals by a 4–2 aggregate score. Pacho played 17 games on the road to glory, starting 16.

Royal Antwerp

Having been spotted by Belgian scouts, Pacho signed a five-year contract with title-chasing Royal Antwerp on 28 January 2022. Pacho only played three league games in his first season with Antwerp for coach Brian Priske, as the Great Old finished fourth in the Belgian League title play-offs behind champions

Club Brugge (), known simply as Club Brugge (in English also: ''Club Bruges''), is a Belgian professional football club based in Bruges, Belgium. It was founded in 1891 and its home ground is the Jan Breydel Stadium, which has a capacity of 29,042. They pl ...

, runners-up

Royale Union Saint-Gilloise Royale Union Saint-Gilloise (), also known as Union Saint-Gilloise, Union SG or simply Union, is a Belgian professional Football club (association football), football club from Brussels based in Forest, Belgium, Forest. Founded in 1897 in the ne ...

and third-placed

Anderlecht Anderlecht (; ) is one of the List of municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, 19 municipalities of the Brussels-Capital Region, Belgium. Located in the south-western part of the region, it is bordered by the City of Brussels, Forest, B ...

, who beat Antwerp home and away in the Championship play-offs to keep the Great Old at bay. Under new coach

Mark van Bommel Mark Peter Gertruda Andreas van Bommel (born 22 April 1977) is a Dutch Association football, football coach and former player who played as a midfielder. His FIFA World Cup profile describes him as "a tackling machine and expert ball-winner, but ...

, Pacho became a fixture in the Royal Antwerp defence for the 2022–23 season, as Antwerp won their first nine games of the season on the way to qualifying for the

2023 Belgian Cup Final The 2023 Belgian Cup final, named Croky Cup after the sponsor, was the 68th Belgian Cup final which took place on 30 April 2023. The match was contested by KV Mechelen and Antwerp. Mechelen had qualified for its seventh Belgian Cup Final on 28 Fe ...

and title play-offs, and within months had attracted interest from

, the

Scottish Premiership The Scottish Premiership, also known as the William Hill (bookmaker), William Hill Premiership for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Scotland and the highest level of the Scottish football league system. Th ...

and

Bundesliga The Bundesliga (; ), sometimes referred to as the Fußball-Bundesliga () or 1. Bundesliga (), is a professional association football league in Germany and the highest level of the German football league system. The Bundesliga comprises 18 teams ...

. An agreement was reached during the winter transfer window in January 2023 between Royal Antwerp and reigning

UEFA Europa League The UEFA Europa League (UEL), usually known simply as the Europa League, is an annual association football, football club competition organised since 1971 by the UEFA, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) for eligible European footb ...

champions

Eintracht Frankfurt Eintracht Frankfurt e.V. () is a German professional sports club based in Frankfurt, Hesse. It is best known for its football club, which was founded on 8 March 1899. The club currently plays in the Bundesliga, the top tier of the German footb ...

that Pacho would join them at the end of the season. On 30 March 2023, it was announced that Pacho had signed a five-year contract with Eintracht, valid from 1 June. Pacho started Antwerp's

win over

Mechelen Mechelen (; ; historically known as ''Mechlin'' in EnglishMechelen has been known in English as ''Mechlin'', from where the adjective ''Mechlinian'' is derived. This name may still be used, especially in a traditional or historical context. T ...

, the club's second triumph in the competition in four seasons.

Eintracht Frankfurt

In the 2023–24 season, Pacho started in 42 matches in all competitions, ranking among

's best players for duels won and passes completed.

Paris Saint-Germain

On 9 August 2024, it was announced Pacho had officially signed for

club

(PSG) for a reported upfront fee of €40 million (potentially rising to €45 million) on a five-year contract deal. He became the club's first Ecuadorian player. On 16 August, Pacho made his official debut for PSG in a 4–1 victory over

Le Havre Le Havre is a major port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy (administrative region), Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the Seine, river Seine on the English Channel, Channe ...

. On 31 May 2025, he started in a 5–0 victory over

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 ...

in the Champions League final, becoming the first Ecuadorian to win the competition, and the fourth to win an UEFA competition, after

Antonio Valencia Luis Antonio Valencia Mosquera, known as Antonio Valencia (; born 4 August 1985), is an Ecuadorian former professional footballer who played primarily as a right-sided player throughout his career, initially as a right winger, before developin ...

, Pervis Estupiñán, and Moisés Caicedo.

International career

Pacho was included in the Ecuador senior 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 ...

, but did not play in any match. He debuted on 28 March 2023 in a 2–1 friendly victory against

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

while scoring his first international goal. Pacho was called up to the final 26-man Ecuador squad for the

2024 Copa América The 2024 Copa América was the 48th edition of the Copa América, the quadrennial international men's association football, soccer championship organized by South America's football ruling body CONMEBOL. The tournament was held in the United Sta ...

Personal life

Pacho's first name is often mistakenly listed as "William", since the two are almost interchangeably used in Spanish.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list Ecuador's goal tally first.''

Honours

Independiente del Valle *

Ecuadorian Serie A The Liga Pro Ecuador Serie A, simply known as the Liga Pro or the Serie A (or the Ecuadorian Serie A to distinguish it from the Italian Serie A and the Brazilian Campeonato Brasileiro Série A, Série A), or as Liga Pro Ecuabet for sponsorship re ...

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 ...

U-20 Copa Libertadores The CONMEBOL Under-20 Libertadores ( Portuguese and Spanish: CONMEBOL Libertadores Sub 20) is the international association football club competition for teams that play in CONMEBOL leagues. It was created by Manuel Burga Seoane and the Peruvian ...

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 ...

Royal Antwerp *

Belgian Pro League The Belgian Pro League (; ; ), officially the Jupiler Pro League () for sponsor Jupiler, is a professional association football league in Belgium and the highest level of the Belgian football league system. Contested by 16 clubs from the 2023 ...

: 2022–23 *

Belgian Cup The Belgian Cup (; ; ) is the main knockout football competition in Belgium, run by the Royal Belgian FA. The competition started in 1908 with provincial selections as the "Belgian Provinces Cup". Starting from 1912 only actual clubs were allowed ...

: 2022–23 Paris Saint-Germain *

: 2024–25 *

Coupe de France The Coupe de France (), also known in English language, English as the French Cup or less commonly as the France Cup, is the premier Single-elimination tournament, knockout cup competition in French football organised by the French Football Fed ...

: 2024–25 *

Trophée des Champions The Trophée des Champions (, ) is a French association football trophy contested in an annual match between the champions of Ligue 1 and the winners of the Coupe de France. It is equivalent to the Super cup, super cups found in many other count ...

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 ...

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 ...

: 2024–25 Individual * UNFP Ligue 1

Team of the Year Team of the Year may refer to: * BBC Sports Personality of the Year Team Award * Canadian Press Team of the Year Award *GPA Gaelic Team of the Year * IRB International Sevens Team of the Year * IRB International Team of the Year * J.League Team of ...

: 2024–25

References

External links

Willian Pacho
at

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Pacho, Willian 2001 births Living people People from Quinindé Ecuadorian men's footballers 21st-century Ecuadorian sportsmen Ecuador men's international footballers Ecuador men's youth international footballers Men's association football central defenders 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2024 Copa América players Ecuadorian Serie A players Belgian Pro League players Bundesliga players Ligue 1 players Independiente del Valle footballers Royal Antwerp F.C. players Eintracht Frankfurt players Paris Saint-Germain FC players Ecuadorian expatriate men's footballers Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Belgium Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in Germany Ecuadorian expatriate sportspeople in France Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium Expatriate men's footballers in Germany Expatriate men's footballers in France UEFA Champions League–winning players