Willian Pacho
CB
Ecuador25 years
Showing2026/27 seasonAll official competitions
Preferred Positions
Last 24 months · all competitions
CB
Centre-backMain
9,939 min · 117 apps · 109 starts
Squad importance
Current squad importance over the club’s last 40 recorded competitive games in this spell, including previous seasons. Starts and minutes contribute 70%; performance contributes 30%. Absences reduce the score gradually, with less weight when a player is outside the matchday squad.Current role at Paris Saint Germain · independent of the season filter
Important
Involvement79%
Performance40%
Through the match on 3 Nov 2026. Refreshed daily.
Profile
Career & playing style
Willian Pacho is an Ecuadorian centre-back whose defending combines speed with an ability to recognise danger early. A left-footed defender, he can protect the space around a teammate as well as confront an opponent directly. His best interventions show why defending is also a matter of choosing when to move.
His route began at Independiente del Valle, where he gained senior experience in Ecuador and the Copa Libertadores. He was part of the side that won the club’s first Ecuadorian league title in 2021, before moving to Royal Antwerp in January 2022.
Belgium brought another substantial step: Pacho helped Antwerp win the league and cup double in 2023. He joined Eintracht Frankfurt that summer and immediately became a starter. After one season in Germany, he moved to Paris Saint-Germain in August 2024, carrying experience of South American and European club football into a new defensive system.
UEFA’s analysis of Paris’s March 2025 win at Liverpool captured his judgement in detail. Pacho covered Trent Alexander-Arnold’s run into the penalty area, then, in another passage, moved away from marking Diogo Jota to block Dominik Szoboszlai’s shot. The important action was recognising that the immediate threat had changed and reaching it before the shot could pass him.
He also helped Marquinhos slow Mohamed Salah during a counterattack, buying time for teammates to recover. These moments explain two different parts of his role: closing down danger inside the box and controlling an attack long enough for the defence to regroup. Winning the ball immediately is not always the most useful intervention.
Pacho started the 2025 Champions League final as Paris beat Inter 5–0 to become European champions for the first time. He started the final again in May 2026, when Paris retained the trophy against Arsenal after a 1–1 draw and a penalty shootout.
His senior international debut brought a winning goal against Australia in March 2023. At the 2026 World Cup, he started Ecuador’s knockout defeat by Mexico as their campaign ended in the round of 32. That international career gives his development a second setting alongside the successive club steps from Ecuador to Belgium, Germany and France.