Rodrigo De Paul · Biography

Rodrigo Javier De Paul (born 24 May 1994 in Sarandí, Buenos Aires Province) is an Argentine footballer whose remarkable tactical evolution from tricky teenage winger in Avellaneda into a relentless box-to-box midfielder in Europe and North America made him the beating heart of Argentina's modern golden dynasty. Schooled at Racing Club and toughened after an early spell at Valencia CF across five transformative Serie A years as captain of Udinese, he spent four years competing at the highest European level with Atlético de Madrid before joining Inter Miami CF in July 2025.

Nicknamed El Motorcito—the Little Engine—for his inexhaustible stamina and competitive fire under national coach Lionel Scaloni, De Paul featured across five major international finals for his country: winning the 2021 Copa América after delivering the iconic forty-yard lofted assist for Ángel Di María's winner against Brazil at the Maracanã, the 2022 Finalissima, the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar, and the 2024 Copa América, while finishing as a 2026 FIFA World Cup runner-up. At club level he capped his arrival in Florida by scoring the go-ahead goal in the December 2025 MLS Cup final alongside Lionel Messi.

Childhood in Sarandí with grandfather Osvaldo and rise at Racing Club

Born in Sarandí within the working-class district of Avellaneda on the southern edge of Greater Buenos Aires, Rodrigo was raised by his mother, Mónica Ferrarotti, after his parents separated during his early childhood. With his mother working long hours to support her three sons, young Rodrigo formed an unbreakable bond with his maternal grandfather, Osvaldo, who guided his earliest steps in football. After playing five-a-side baby fútbol from age three on the neighbourhood courts of Club Social y Deportivo Belgrano de Sarandí, he entered the youth academy of Racing Club de Avellaneda in 2002 as an eight-year-old.

Every afternoon, through biting winter winds and humid summer heat, Osvaldo walked his grandson hand-in-hand and rode local municipal buses to Racing's Tita Mattiussi training ground, later handing him exact bus fare so the boy learned responsibility and grit. Rising through Racing's youth ranks as an inventive right-footed playmaker and inverted left-winger who idolized Juan Román Riquelme, Rodrigo suffered a devastating personal loss when Osvaldo passed away in 2009—a blow that nearly caused the fifteen-year-old to step away from football before turning into the lifelong emotional fuel behind his career.

Promoted to Racing's senior squad in early 2013 by head coach Luis Zubeldía alongside fellow academy standouts Luciano Vietto, Ricardo Centurión, and Bruno Zuculini, De Paul made his Argentine Primera División debut on 10 February 2013 against Atlético de Rafaela, coming off the bench to replace World Cup winner Mauro Camoranesi. On 10 March 2013 he struck his maiden professional goal from distance away at San Martín de San Juan, and under veteran manager Reinaldo Merlo he was entrusted at age nineteen with Racing's storied number 10 shirt.

Early European test at Valencia CF and loan return to Avellaneda

After dazzling across fifty-seven senior appearances for Racing, De Paul earned a six-and-a-half-million-euro transfer to Valencia CF in summer 2014, championed by former Argentina defender and club sporting director Roberto Ayala. His introduction to Spanish top-flight football could scarcely have begun more harshly: on 23 August 2014 away to Sevilla at the Ramón Sánchez-Pizjuán, he entered as a second-half substitute on his LaLiga debut only to be shown a straight red card sixty-two seconds later when his trailing arm inadvertently caught Aleix Vidal in the face while shielding possession, resulting in a four-match suspension.

Recovering from that baptism of fire under head coach Nuno Espírito Santo, the young Argentine contributed lively cameo appearances between the lines during Valencia's successful push for Champions League qualification. He netted his first goal for the club against Rayo Vallecano in the Copa del Rey in December 2014 and scored a fine equaliser away to Athletic Club at San Mamés in April 2015. Yet managerial upheaval late in 2015 and the appointment of Gary Neville restricted his playing time after forty-four total appearances at Mestalla.

Determined not to stagnate on the bench at twenty-one, De Paul returned on a five-month loan to Racing Club in February 2016. Competing in the 2016 Copa Libertadores—where he found the net against Bolivian club Bolívar—he restored his match sharpness before returning to Europe that summer ready for a fresh start.

Five transformative years and club captaincy at Udinese

In July 2016 Italian club Udinese Calcio paid ten million euros to bring De Paul to Serie A, setting the stage for one of European football's most striking positional reinventions. Over his first two years in Friuli under coaches Giuseppe Iachini and Luigi Delneri, he operated primarily on either flank, announcing his talent to Italian audiences in January 2017 by rifling home a match-winning strike past Gianluigi Donnarumma to defeat AC Milan.

His true breakthrough unfolded from 2018 onward and reached full maturity under head coach Luca Gotti, who moved him permanently off the wing into the central engine room as a right-sided mezzala—an all-action number 8 within a 3-5-2 system. Wearing Udinese's number 10 jersey and ultimately assuming the club captaincy, De Paul married his Argentine street dribbling with relentless defensive work rate, ball-carrying power through congested midfields, and sweeping diagonal switches of play.

Between 2019 and May 2021 he ranked at the very top of Serie A across progressive carries, chances created from open play, duels won, and fouls drawn, single-handedly steering Udinese clear of relegation danger and posting nine goals and ten league assists in his farewell campaign in Udine. He departed Italy in summer 2021 after five full years having recorded 184 official appearances, thirty-four goals, and thirty-six assists.

Champions League battles under Diego Simeone at Atlético de Madrid

On 12 July 2021, barely two days after lifting the Copa América trophy in Brazil, reigning Spanish champions Atlético de Madrid signed De Paul for thirty-five million euros under head coach Diego Pablo Simeone. Adapting to Simeone's notoriously demanding positional discipline alongside Koke and Marcos Llorente tested him early on, yet he delivered when stakes were highest—scoring a crucial goal away at FC Porto in December 2021 to clinch progression to the UEFA Champions League knockout phase.

Returning from Qatar at the end of 2022 crowned a world champion, De Paul elevated his authority at the Metropolitano, dictating tempo from right-central midfield and supplying incisive through-balls into Atlético's forwards. In April 2024 he set the tone for Atlético's Champions League quarter-final tie against Borussia Dortmund by pouncing on an early defensive error to score after just four minutes.

During late 2024 and the first half of 2025 he produced arguably his most consistent club form in Spain as Atlético strung together a club-record winning streak across competitions—highlighted in December 2024 by De Paul curling home a crucial equaliser en route to a dramatic 2-1 away victory over FC Barcelona at Montjuïc and driving his side into the 2025 Copa del Rey semi-finals. Across four years in Madrid he logged 187 official matches, contributing fourteen goals and twenty-six assists.

The immortal Maracanã pass and becoming the engine of Scaloni's Argentina

De Paul's international career began in lockstep with Lionel Scaloni's appointment to rebuild Argentina in autumn 2018. Handed his senior debut on 11 October 2018 against Iraq in Riyadh, he earned his tournament spurs at the 2019 Copa América in Brazil: introduced at half-time of the opening group match against Colombia, he never relinquished his starting spot again, forming a fluid three-man midfield alongside Leandro Paredes and Giovani Lo Celso that liberated Messi and captured bronze.

His masterpiece in sky blue and white came on 10 July 2021 against hosts Brazil in the Copa América final at Rio de Janeiro's Maracanã Stadium. Across ninety bruising minutes in which he won duels, drew fouls to kill Brazilian momentum, and patrolled every blade of turf on the right channel, De Paul looked up from inside his own half in the twenty-second minute and flighted a pinpoint forty-yard pass over left-back Renan Lodi straight into Ángel Di María's path; Di María's deft lob over Ederson sealed a 1-0 victory that ended Argentina's twenty-eight-year senior trophy drought.

His unselfish willingness to sprint double shifts covering Argentina's right flank so Messi could conserve energy for decisive moments earned him universal affection as both El Motorcito and his captain's fiercely loyal on-pitch protector.

World Cup glory in Lusail after the 2022 Finalissima triumph

On 1 June 2022 at Wembley Stadium, De Paul helped Argentina dismantle reigning European champions Italy 3-0 to lift the CONMEBOL-UEFA Finalissima, extending an unbeaten run that reached thirty-six matches entering the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. Following Argentina's stunner defeat to Saudi Arabia in the tournament opener, De Paul anchored the psychological and tactical recovery alongside emerging midfield partners Alexis Mac Allister and Enzo Fernández in victories over Mexico, Poland, and Australia.

Forty-eight hours before the quarter-final clash with the Netherlands, a right hamstring strain in training placed his participation in serious jeopardy; refusing to sit out, De Paul started and battled through sixty-six vital minutes before starting again in the 3-0 semi-final triumph over Croatia.

In the unforgettable World Cup final against defending champions France at Lusail Stadium on 18 December 2022, De Paul delivered a dominant opening hour, suffocating French transitions on the right flank and combining in the sweeping team move finished by Di María for Argentina's second goal, before celebrating his nation's third World Cup star following the dramatic 3-3 draw and penalty-shootout triumph.

Back-to-back Copa América crown in 2024 and 2026 World Cup finalist

Refusing to ease off after Qatar, Argentina defended their continental title at the 2024 Copa América in the United States. De Paul started throughout the knockout wins over Ecuador and Canada before playing all 120 minutes of the gruelling 14 July 2024 final against Colombia at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens; after Messi was forced off injured in the second half, De Paul redoubled his defensive work rate, winning second balls and absorbing heavy tackles in midfield until Lautaro Martínez struck the extra-time winner to seal a historic major-tournament three-peat.

Remaining an automatic starter across seventeen South American World Cup qualifiers as Argentina topped the CONMEBOL standings by a comfortable margin, he travelled to North America in summer 2026 for his second FIFA World Cup. Appearing across all seven fixtures in June and July 2026 and supplying a knockout assist along the way, De Paul once again provided tireless defensive balance on the right side of midfield to help guide Argentina all the way to a second consecutive FIFA World Cup final before finishing as tournament runners-up, completing an extraordinary five-year span of five major international finals.

Move to Inter Miami and scoring in the 2025 MLS Cup final

In July 2025 De Paul departed Atlético de Madrid to join Major League Soccer side Inter Miami CF on an initial loan deal carrying a permanent transfer agreement. Arriving in Fort Lauderdale alongside close friend Messi as well as former LaLiga rivals Sergio Busquets, Jordi Alba, and Luis Suárez under head coach Javier Mascherano, he immediately transformed the physical bite, counter-pressing intensity, and vertical ball progression of Miami's midfield unit.

Across seventeen regular-season and post-season play-off outings during the second half of 2025, De Paul registered four regular-season assists and drove Inter Miami past Nashville, Cincinnati, and New York City FC to capture the Eastern Conference crown and reach the championship decider on 6 December 2025 against Vancouver Whitecaps in Fort Lauderdale. With the MLS Cup final deadlocked at 1-1 in the seventy-first minute, De Paul timed a surging diagonal run into the penalty box to collect a threaded pass from Messi and drill a clinical right-footed finish across the goalkeeper into the far corner for 2-1 in an eventual 3-1 triumph—securing the first domestic league title of his club career before completing his fifteen-million-euro permanent transfer from Madrid in January 2026.