Exequiel Palacios

Exequiel Alejandro Palacios (Spanish pronunciation: [ekseˈkjel paˈla.sjos]; born 5 October 1998) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a central midfielder for Bundesliga club Bayer Leverkusen and the Argentina national team.

Exequiel Palacios

Palacios with Bayer Leverkusen in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Exequiel Alejandro Palacios[1]
Date of birth	(1998-10-05) 5 October 1998 (age 26)
Place of birth	Famaillá, Tucumán, Argentina
Height	1.77 m (5 ft 10 in)[1]
Position(s)	Central midfielder
Team information
Current team	Bayer Leverkusen
Number	25
Youth career
0000–2015	River Plate
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2015–2020	River Plate	48	(4)
2020–	Bayer Leverkusen	110	(11)
International career‡
2015	Argentina U17	10	(1)
2017	Argentina U20	3	(0)
2018–	Argentina	37	(0)
Medal record Men's football Representing  Argentina FIFA World Cup Winner 2022 Qatar Copa América Winner 2021 Brazil Winner 2024 United States CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions Winner 2022 England
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:46, 12 September 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 03:53, 5 September 2025 (UTC)

Club career

River Plate

Palacios is a youth exponent from Club Atlético River Plate. He made his league debut on 8 November 2015 against Newell's Old Boys.^[2]

On 9 December 2018 Palacios won 2018 Copa Libertadores with River Plate. He played 11 matches including the finals against rivals Boca Juniors.^[3]

Palacios was part of 2018 South American Team of the Year.

Palacios made his final appearance for his boyhood club in the final of the Copa Argentina on 13 December 2019, playing 79 minutes of a 3–0 victory over Central Córdoba.^[4]

Bayer Leverkusen

On 16 December 2019, Bayer Leverkusen announced that Palacios would join the club on 1 January 2020, signing a five-and-a-half-year deal.^[5]

On 14 April 2024, Bayer Leverkusen won 2023–24 Bundesliga and Palacios was a member of the team.^[6]

International career

Palacios made his international debut for Argentina on 8 September 2018 in a 3–0 international friendly against the Guatemala national football team.^[7]

On 12 November 2020, Palacios fractured a bone in his spine during a 1–1 draw with Paraguay in a World Cup qualifier and was expected be out for three months. Palacios sustained the injury in an aerial duel with Angel Romero in the first half of the contest at La Bombonera and was replaced by Giovani Lo Celso, who took the corner from which Nicolas Gonzalez headed home Argentina's equaliser.^[8]

On 10 July 2021, Palacios played as a second-half substitute in Argentina's 1–0 victory over Brazil in the Copa América final.^[9] During the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Palacios featured in a 2–0 win over Mexico in the group stage phase, a 2–1 victory over Australia in the round of 16, and a 3–0 win over Croatia in their semi-finals.^[10]

In June 2024, Palacios was included in Lionel Scaloni's final 26-man Argentina squad for the 2024 Copa América.^[11]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 12 September 2025^[12]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
River Plate	2015	Argentine Primera División	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2016	Argentine Primera División	1	0	—		—		—		1	0
	2016–17	Argentine Primera División	8	0	1	1	0	0	—		9	1
	2017–18	Argentine Primera División	9	2	3	0	1[b]	0	—		13	2
	2018–19	Argentine Primera División	14	1	9	2	11[b]	1	4[c]	0	38	4
	2019–20	Argentine Primera División	15	1	6	2	9[b]	0	—		30	3
	Total		48	4	19	5	21	1	4	0	92	10
Bayer Leverkusen	2019–20	Bundesliga	3	0	2	0	2[d]	0	—		7	0
	2020–21	Bundesliga	9	0	2	0	2[d]	0	—		13	0
	2021–22	Bundesliga	23	2	2	0	7[d]	1	—		32	3
	2022–23	Bundesliga	25	4	1	0	8[e]	1	—		34	5
	2023–24	Bundesliga	24	4	3	2	9[d]	0	—		36	6
	2024–25	Bundesliga	24	1	4	0	10[f]	0	0	0	38	1
	2025–26	Bundesliga	2	0	0	0	0	0	—		2	0
	Total		110	11	14	2	38	2	0	0	162	15
Career total			158	15	33	7	59	3	4	0	254	25

1. Includes Copa Argentina, DFB-Pokal
2. Appearance(s) in Copa Libertadores
3. Two appearances in Recopa Sudamericana, two appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
4. Appearances in UEFA Europa League
5. Two appearances in UEFA Champions League, six appearances and one goal in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in UEFA Champions League

International

As of match played 4 September 2025^[13]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Argentina	2018	2	0
	2019	2	0
	2020	2	0
	2021	11	0
	2022	6	0
	2023	5	0
	2024	4	0
	2025	5	0
Total		37	0

Honours

River Plate^[12]

• Copa Argentina: 2016–17, 2018–19
• Copa Libertadores: 2018^[14]
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2019^[15]

Bayer Leverkusen^[12]

• Bundesliga: 2023–24^[16]
• DFB-Pokal: 2023–24; runner-up: 2019–20
• DFL-Supercup: 2024^[17]
• UEFA Europa League runner-up: 2023–24^[18]

Argentina

• FIFA World Cup: 2022^[19]
• Copa América: 2021,^[20] 2024^[21]
• CONMEBOL–UEFA Cup of Champions: 2022^[22]