Who is Gonzalo Garcia, Real Madrid's goalscorer against Al Hilal in FIFA Club World Cup 2025?

Real Madrid took the lead against Al Hilal in its FIFA Club World Cup 2025 group stage match at the Hard Rock Stadium in Miami, Florida, on Wednesday (June 19 in IST) after 21-year-old Gonzalo Garcia found the back of the net.
The youngster, who had only made six senior team appearances before this match, replaced Kylian Mbappe in the squad after the Frenchman missed out due to illness.
His strike in the 34th minute was the first goal under new manager Xabi Alonso, who took over the role from Carlo Ancelotti.
FOLLOW LIVE | REAL MADRID VS AL HILAL LIVE SCORE, FIFA CLUB WORLD CUP 2025
Who is Gonzalo Garcia?
Before joining Real Madrid's youth academy in 2014, Gonzalo had stints with SEK, Club Santa Bárbara, and Jarama Race. He spent a year in Mallorca's academy in the 2018–19 season, before returning to Real Madrid.
In March 2022, he made his debut for Real Madrid Castilla which plays in the Spanish third tier.
Gonzalo made his debut for the senior team in the 2023-24 season, in its 3-0 win against Cadiz in the league. He has gone on to make four more appearances for the club, assisting once in that period.
He caught the headlines when he scored Real's winner in added time against Leganes in the Copa del Rey quarterfinals in February this year.
He has made 95 appearances in all competitions for the senior team and youth teams, scoring 37 goals and recording 11 assists in that period.

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

News18

an hour ago

• News18

'Fans Don't Enjoy It': River Plate's Gallardo Laments Mastantuono's Move To Real Madrid

Last Updated: Marcelo Gallardo expressed disappointment over Franco Mastantuono's move to Real Madrid, and slandered the modern-day pratice of early transfers. Franco Mastantuono's transfer to Real Madrid was premature, and an experience that River Plate fans haven't taken too well, stated coach Marcelo Gallardo. Gallardo acknowledged that losing Mastantuono would leave a significant void in his squad and their plans going forward, since he had built them around the 17-year-old. The midfielder progressed through the River academy and made his first-team debut in January 2024. Earlier this month, River Plate finalized a deal with the Spanish giants, reportedly worth around $45 million, for the highly rated midfielder. Mastantuono is Real Madrid's third signing this summer, following Trent Alexander-Arnold from Liverpool and Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth. The Argentine manager expressed concern that Mastantuono needed more time to develop at River Plate, but conceded that early transfers have become a norm in today's football landscape. 'It's natural—we train players for the world. Everything is happening faster now; young players are leaving sooner, and I understand that's just the reality of the game," Gallardo told ESPN on Friday. 'Our sporting plan for the year included him. Now we'll have to adjust, because some players are simply very difficult to replace. 'We always knew Mastantuono would leave eventually, but it's never easy for the fans. The transfer market dictates the timing." Gallardo also shared that he's trying to help Mastantuono stay focused on the tournament despite the media attention surrounding his move. 'All I ask is for him to play freely and try to block out the noise, even though that's a tall order," he said. 'I don't bring up where he's going to live or anything like that. I just want him to do what he does best—play football." Following Saturday's match against the Mexican side in Pasadena, River Plate are set to face Champions League runners-up Inter Milan on Wednesday. (with inputs from Reuters)

New Indian Express

an hour ago

• New Indian Express

Florian Wirtz joins list of most expensive soccer signings in history

Florian Wirtz became one of the most expensive players in soccer history when the Germany playmaker joined Liverpool from Bayer Leverkusen on Friday for a fee of up to 116 million pounds ($156 million). Neymar: $262 million (222 million euros) Paris Saint-Germain shattered the world-record transfer fee by signing the Brazil superstar from Barcelona in August 2017. It was more than double the outlay of Manchester United to sign Paul Pogba from Juventus for $116 million a year earlier. It remains the record transfer fee. Kylian Mbappé: $216 million (180 million euros) A few weeks after buying Neymar, PSG also secured a loan deal for Mbappé — then the rising star of French soccer playing for Monaco — that included the option to make the move permanent in 2018. PSG did so, making it an outlay of nearly $500 million on two players. Philippe Coutinho: $192 million (160 million euros) Flush with cash after selling Neymar a year earlier, Barcelona spent most of it in a deal to buy Brazil playmaker Coutinho from Liverpool for a Spanish record fee. Moises Caicedo: $146 million (115 million pounds) The Ecuador midfielder's move was previously the most expensive deal by a British club, with Chelsea buying him from Brighton in August 2023. João Félix: $140 million (126 million euros) Atletico Madrid triggered a buyout clause in Félix's contract to sign the Portugal forward from Benfica in August 2019. Jude Bellingham: $139 million (128.5 million euros) The England star got his big move to Real Madrid from Borussia Dortmund in June 2023, for an initial up-front fee of 103 million euros plus add-ons linked to performance. Antoine Griezmann: $134 million (120 million euros) Atletico could afford to sign Félix after selling France forward Griezmann to Barcelona for a similar fee a few weeks earlier. Neymar: $98 million (90 million euros) Outside from Europe, the biggest transfer deal also involved Neymar when he joined Al Hilal, a team in the Saudi Pro League, from Paris Saint-Germain in August 2023. That came at the height of Saudi Arabia's push to sign high-end soccer talent to ignite the oil-rich state's domestic league.

The Hindu

2 hours ago

• The Hindu

How many matches have been interrupted due to adverse weather conditions at FIFA Club World Cup?

The FIFA Club World Cup 2025 has run into an unforeseen impediment as several of its matches have been interrupted due to adverse weather conditions. While some matches have started late, the latest game to be affected was that between Benfica and Auckland City, which was being played at the Inter & Co Stadium in Florida. Heavy thunder and lightning saw the match resume after a two-hour delay. How many matches have been interrupted due to bad weather? Four matches have been affected among the 20 played in the Club World Cup so far. A significant delay in 20 per cent of the matches could pose serious challenges for FIFA, which has the international men's world cup planned in the United States, Mexico and Canada next year. Sportstar looks at all the matches in the FIFA Club World Cup that have been affected by weather so far: Sl. No. Match Date Venue Delay 1. Mamelodi Sundowns vs Ulsan HD June 18 Inter & Co. Stadium, Orlando 65 minutes 2. Salzburg vs Pachuca June 19 TQL Stadium, Cincinatti 97 minutes 3. Palmeiras vs Al Ahly June 19 MetLife Stadium, East Rutherford 40 minutes 4. Benfica vs Auckland City June 20 Inter & Co. Stadium, Orlando 120 minutes