Gustavo Gómez

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Gómez and the second or maternal family name is Portillo.

Gustavo Raúl Gómez Portillo (Latin American Spanish: [ɡusˈtaβo ˈɣomes]; born 6 May 1993) is a Paraguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back for and captains both Campeonato Brasileiro Série A club Palmeiras and the Paraguay national team.

Gustavo Gómez

Gómez with Palmeiras in 2022
Personal information
Full name	Gustavo Raúl Gómez Portillo[1]
Date of birth	(1993-05-06) 6 May 1993 (age 32)[1]
Place of birth	San Juan Bautista, Paraguay
Height	1.85 m (6 ft 1 in)[1]
Position(s)	Centre-back
Team information
Current team	Palmeiras
Number	15
Youth career
	Libertad
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2011–2014	Libertad	47	(5)
2014–2016	Lanús	58	(0)
2016–2019	AC Milan	18	(0)
2018–2019	→ Palmeiras (loan)	20	(4)
2019–	Palmeiras	199	(17)
International career‡
2010	Paraguay U17	13	(1)
2012–2013	Paraguay U20	25	(3)
2013–	Paraguay	82	(4)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23:25, 26 July 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:20, 10 June 2025 (UTC)

Club career

Lanús

Gómez is considered one of the most promising defenders of Paraguay, who began his playing career at Libertad. In the summer of 2014, Gómez left Libertad to play for Argentine Primera División side Lanús.^[2] Gustavo Gomez's Lanus conceded a mere 10 goals in 17 games en route to securing 2016 Argentine Primera Division title.

AC Milan

On 5 August 2016, Gómez completed a move to AC Milan for a fee reported to be in the region of €8.5 million, signing a 5-year contract.^[3] He is the first ever Paraguayan footballer to play for Milan. After joining the club he chose number 15, in tribute of his former Lanús teammate, Diego Barisone who died in a car accident. ^[4] On 27 August 2016, he made his full debut for Milan in Serie A against Napoli, where Napoli beat Milan 4–2.

Palmeiras

On 2 August 2018, Gómez was announced for Palmeiras on a one-year loan deal. Being considered by supporters as one of the best centerbacks of Palmeiras' history, he helped the team achieve three Brasileirão titles in 2018, 2022, and 2023, two Copa Libertadores trophies in 2020 and 2021, four Campeonato Paulista victories in 2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024 the Recopa Sudamericana in 2022, one Copa do Brasil in 2020 and the Supercopa do Brasil in 2023.^[5]

International career

Gustavo's first selection to the Paraguay national team was for a friendly against Germany in August 2013.^[6] On 7 September 2013, he debuted against Bolivia at the age of 20, and in that game he scored his first international goal. He played in the four editions of Copa América (Centenario, 2019, 2021, and 2024), having been the captain of the Paraguayan national team in the first two editions.^[7]

Style of play

Gustavo is a strong defender capable of playing in any position at the back, being a hard tackler and good in the air. He was instrumental in Lanús' style of building attacks from behind during his time at the club.

Career statistics

Club

As of 14 August 2025^[8]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			State league[a]		National cup[b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Libertad	2011	Paraguayan Primera División	2	0	—		—		0	0	—		2	0
	2012		2	0	—		—		0	0	—		2	0
	2013		23	1	—		—		10[c]	2	—		33	3
	2014		20	4	—		—		0	0	—		20	4
	Total		47	5	—		—		10	2	—		57	7
Lanús	2014	Argentine Primera División	15	0	—		1	0	1[c]	0	2[d]	0	18	0
	2015		27	0	—		5	3	4[c]	1	—		36	4
	2016		16	0	—		1	0	0	0	—		17	0
	Total		58	0	—		7	3	5	1	2	0	72	4
Milan	2016–17	Serie A	18	0	—		1	0	—		—		19	0
	2017–18		0	0	—		0	0	1[e]	0	—		1	0
	Total		18	0	—		1	0	1	0	—		20	0
Palmeiras (loan)	2018	Série A	14	2	—		0	0	3[f]	1	—		17	3
	2019		22	3	8	1	2	0	10[f]	1	—		42	5
Palmeiras	2020		21	1	13	1	7	2	13[f]	2	2[g]	0	56	6
	2021		20	1	5	1	0	0	12[f]	1	5[h]	0	42	3
	2022		30	9	11	0	4	0	12[f]	2	1[d]	0	58	11
	2023		32	2	14	0	5	1	11[f]	3	1[i]	0	63	6
	2024		27	1	7	0	3	0	8[f]	2	1[i]	0	46	3
	2025		13	0	7	1	4	1	5[f]	1	4[g]	0	33	3
	Total		179	19	65	3	25	5	74	13	14	0	357	40
Career total			302	24	65	3	33	7	86	16	14	0	494	60

1. Includes Campeonato Paulista
2. Includes Copa Argentina, Coppa Italia, Copa do Brasil
3. Appearance(s) in Copa Sudamericana
4. Appearances in Recopa Sudamericana
5. Appearance in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearances in Copa Libertadores
7. Appearances in FIFA Club World Cup
8. One appearance in Supercopa do Brasil, two appearances in Recopa Sudamericana, two appearances in the FIFA Club World Cup
9. Appearance in Supercopa do Brasil

International

As of match played 10 June 2025^[9]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Paraguay	2013	3	1
	2014	7	1
	2015	1	0
	2016	10	0
	2017	6	0
	2018	2	0
	2019	12	1
	2020	4	0
	2021	12	1
	2022	7	0
	2023	8	0
	2024	6	0
	2025	4	0
Total		82	4

Scores and results list Paraguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Gómez goal.^[9]

List of international goals scored by Gustavo Gómez

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1	6 September 2013	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Bolivia	4–0	4–0	2014 FIFA World Cup qualification
2	5 March 2014	Estadio Nacional, San José, Costa Rica	Costa Rica	1–2	1–2	Friendly
3	9 June 2019	Estadio Defensores del Chaco, Asunción, Paraguay	Guatemala	1–0	2–0	Friendly
4	2 July 2021	Estádio Olímpico Pedro Ludovico, Goiânia, Brazil	Peru	1–0	3–3 (3–4 p)	2021 Copa América

Honours

Libertad

• Paraguayan Primera División: 2012C, 2014A

Lanus

• Argentine Primera División: 2016

Milan

• Supercoppa Italiana: 2016

Palmeiras

• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A: 2018, 2022, 2023
• Copa do Brasil: 2020
• Supercopa do Brasil: 2023
• Copa Libertadores: 2020, 2021
• Recopa Sudamericana: 2022
• Campeonato Paulista: 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024
• FIFA Club World Cup runner-up: 2021

Individual

• U-20 South American Championship Team of the Tournament: 2013
• Paraguayan Primera División Team of the Season: 2013
• Copa Argentina Team of the Season: 2014–15
• Argentine Primera División Team of the Season: 2016
• Bola de Prata: 2019,^[10] 2020, 2022, 2024
• Copa Libertadores Team of the Tournament: 2020, 2021, 2022^[11]
• Best Centre-back in Brazil: 2020^[12]
• Campeonato Brasileiro Série A Team of the Year: 2020, 2021, 2022
• Copa do Brasil Team of the Season: 2020
• South American Footballer of the Year Bronze Ball: 2020, 2021
• South America Team of the Year: 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023
• South American Defender of the Year: 2020, 2021
• Paraguayan Footballer of the Year: 2021
• IFFHS CONMEBOL Team of the Year: 2021
• Campeonato Paulista Team of the Year: 2022, 2023^[13]

Notes

In isolation, Gómez is pronounced [ˈɡomes].