In June 2016, Boca Juniors signed Darío Ismael Benedetto from Club América. The striker was born on 17 May 1990 in Berazategui, in Buenos Aires province, and is known as “Pipa”. He arrived after winning two CONCACAF Champions League titles in Mexico. At Boca he finished as top scorer in the Argentine league, won several domestic trophies and earned a call-up to the Argentina national team. He also holds Mexican nationality.
Arsenal and loan spells
Benedetto came through the youth ranks at Arsenal de Sarandí and broke into professional football there in the late 2000s. He went out on loan twice to get playing time. In 2010 he played for Defensa y Justicia, and in 2011 for Gimnasia y Esgrima de Jujuy, where he scored 11 goals in 19 games. Back at Sarandí, he was part of the squad that won the 2012 Clausura, the 2012 Supercopa Argentina and the 2012–13 Copa Argentina.
Tijuana and América
In the summer of 2013 he moved to Club Tijuana. On 19 July 2013 he made his Liga MX debut with a hat-trick against Atlas. In December 2014 he agreed a move to Club América and made his debut for them in January 2015. With América he won the CONCACAF Champions League in 2014–15 and 2015–16. In the 2014–15 edition he scored four goals against Herediano in the second leg of the semi-finals and three against Montreal Impact in the second leg of the final. He finished as the tournament's joint top scorer, with seven goals, and won the Golden Ball.
First spell at Boca Juniors
He joined Boca on 6 June 2016. In 2016–17 he was top scorer in the Argentine Primera División with 21 league goals, and Boca won the title. That season earned him the 2017 Argentine Footballer of the Year award. On 19 November 2017 he ruptured his anterior cruciate ligament in a match against Racing Club and was out for several months. Boca won the league again in 2017–18 and lifted the 2018 Supercopa Argentina. That year he played in the Copa Libertadores final against River Plate. He scored in both legs: a header in the first and a goal at the Santiago Bernabéu in Madrid in the second. River won that second leg 3–1 after extra time and took the title. Benedetto was named in the Libertadores team of the tournament and in the 2018 South American Team of the Year. Between 2016 and 2019 he scored 45 competitive goals for the club.
Marseille and Elche
On 5 August 2019 he signed a four-year contract with Olympique de Marseille. He started as the first-choice centre-forward in his first Ligue 1 season and scored a hat-trick for the French club in 2020. On 19 August 2021 he joined Elche, then in La Liga, on loan. He stayed for only half a season and returned to Argentina in January 2022.
Return to Boca
He rejoined Boca on 21 January 2022. That year he won the Copa de la Liga Profesional, with the final against Tigre on 22 May, and the 2022 Primera División title. On 1 March 2023 he scored a hat-trick against Patronato in the 2022 Supercopa Argentina, which Boca also won. In 2023 the club finished as Copa Libertadores runners-up. Across his two spells he scored 71 goals in 172 games for Boca. In July 2024 he and the club agreed to terminate his contract.
Argentina national team
He made his Argentina debut on 5 September 2017 in Buenos Aires, in a 2018 World Cup qualifier against Venezuela that ended 1–1. He came on as a substitute for Paulo Dybala. He also played friendlies that November and was called up again in 2019, the year of his last international appearance. In all he won five caps for Argentina and did not score.
Querétaro, Olimpia, Newell's and Barcelona SC
In September 2024 he went back to Mexico to join Querétaro. In January 2025 he signed for Olimpia in Paraguay and left about five months later. In June 2025 he joined Newell's Old Boys on a free transfer, and the club terminated his contract that October. In January 2026 he signed for Barcelona Sporting Club of Guayaquil, in Ecuador's LigaPro.
Barcelona Guayaquil