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The unassuming excellence of PSG's Pacho
- Willian Pacho has made his mark at Paris Saint-Germain
- After conquering France and Europe, he is out to complete the treble at the Club World Cup
- PSG face Inter Miami on Sunday in the round of 16
In Paris, chewing gum and bandaged wrists could well become the next big trend.
Willian Pacho, 23, is as quiet off the pitch as he is dominant on it. He may stay out of the spotlight, but his performances have lit up Europe, anchoring a Paris Saint-Germain backline that recorded five clean sheets in their nine UEFA Champions League knockout matches in a historic campaign that ended with their first European crown.
Pacho’s relentless consistency made him a mainstay of the Paris Saint-Germain side during the 2024-25 campaign. He has become a calming presence and the rock his team can always rely on. He is not one to make waves, but Pacho gets results and wants to prove it at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™.
A far cry from PSG’s usual headline-grabbing transfers, Pacho arrived quietly from Eintracht Frankfurt in the summer of 2024. Mostly unknown to the wider public, his signing took place without fanfare, but with every match he played, the Ecuadorian quickly proved his worth.
“Willian settled in right from day one,” said Luis Enrique at the time. “He’s clean in his tackles, wins one-on-ones without giving away fouls and rarely gets a card. He’s already a world-class defender and is a key player for us.”
Pacho reads the game well. With his tackling strength and calmness on the ball, he has quietly carved out his place in the PSG side. True to character, he is a man who is rarely seen on social media or in front of a microphone. Pacho keeps it simple: do the job, take the win and move on to the next match.
He is the first Ecuadorian to lift the Champions League trophy, and the first to play for PSG. But long before that, the boy from Quininde, a small town in north-east Ecuador, had been quietly racking up success.
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On 2 November 2019, everything changed for Pacho. His mother, Glenda, passed away from breast cancer at the age of 51. He now wears the number on his shirt in her honour. That same day, he made his professional debut for Independiente del Valle.
Since then, he has only gone from strength to strength. His side first won the 2019 Copa Sudamericana, before lifting the Ecuadorian trophy in 2021.
In 2022, he made the move to Europe, signing with Royal Antwerp, a club that had not topped the Belgian league in 66 years. In just one season, he helped the squad to a league and cup double, performing so well that he caught the eye of Bundesliga team Eintracht Frankfurt. A year later, he made the move to Paris Saint-Germain, in a gamble that paid off handsomely.
As the man charged with reshaping PSG into a more disciplined and team-focused unit, Luis Enrique saw the Ecuadorian as a perfect fit for his vision. Pacho quickly made that discipline his trademark, locking down his place in the PSG line-up alongside Marquinhos. Together, they have created a strong partnership, with a level of chemistry and consistency few can match.
“I’m very comfortable with him,” Marquinhos said in an exclusive interview with FIFA. “He’s a great fit next to me, and we clicked from the first day he arrived. His strength adds so much to our team. He’s a really humble guy who works hard and is always looking to improve. We speak a lot and there’s real trust between us now. It’s all about doing our best for the team.”
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That shared trust comes through on the pitch. The numbers speak for themselves. Pacho played 1,542 of 1,560 possible minutes for PSG in the Champions League. That is more than any other player, including Achraf Hakimi. No fuss, no drama, Pacho just gets the job done. Every single time.
In the Champions League final, one seemingly insignificant moment summed up his season perfectly. With the ball heading out for a corner to FC Internazionale Milano, Pacho launched himself forward, outmanoeuvred Nicolo Barella and cleared it long. PSG picked up the loose ball, launched a counter and Desire Doue slotted home their second.
What sets Pacho apart, beyond his talent, is his near-spiritual connection to the game. Images of his celebrations after the Champions League win were shared across the globe. “I know that, wherever she is, my mother is watching and she’s proud of what I’ve done”, he said emotionally in Munich after the match.
A few days later, visibly calmer and with a shy smile, he said, “As a kid, I used to play as the big clubs on PlayStation,” said Pacho. “And now, to be the first Ecuadorian to win the Champions League – it’s a massive honour. The support I’ve received from back home means the world to me.”
In a football world often driven by noise, image and ego, Willian Pacho stands out. Impassive, unflashy and always chewing gum, he goes about his game with a quiet precision.
Nothing seems to faze him. With a style that feels almost nonchalant, or even detached, he has become invaluable to an ever-evolving PSG side. This season, the team have been built on intensity, discipline and team spirit.
PSG’s man of few words is there solely to help his team win and he will be keen to take up that mantle again as the FIFA Club World Cup round of 16 begins.
