 Balbuena withDynamo Moscow in 2021 | |||
| Personal information | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Fabián Cornelio Balbuena González[1] | ||
| Date of birth | (1991-08-23)23 August 1991 (age 34) | ||
| Place of birth | Ciudad del Este, Paraguay | ||
| Height | 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[2] | ||
| Position | Centre-back | ||
| Team information | |||
Current team | Grêmio | ||
| Number | 13 | ||
| Youth career | |||
| Cerro Porteño PF | |||
| Senior career* | |||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
| 2010–2012 | Cerro Porteño PF | 76 | (5) |
| 2013 | Rubio Ñu | 17 | (1) |
| 2013–2014 | Nacional | 30 | (1) |
| 2014–2016 | Libertad | 43 | (3) |
| 2016–2018 | Corinthians | 105 | (9) |
| 2018–2021 | West Ham United | 54 | (3) |
| 2021–2025 | Dynamo Moscow | 71 | (7) |
| 2022–2023 | →Corinthians (loan) | 20 | (3) |
| 2025– | Grêmio | 3 | (0) |
| International career‡ | |||
| 2015– | Paraguay | 47 | (2) |
| 2024 | Paraguay Olympic (O.P.) | 3 | (0) |
| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 August 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 March 2025 | |||
Fabián Cornelio Balbuena González (born 23 August 1991) is a Paraguayan professionalfootballer who plays as acentre-back forCampeonato Brasileiro Série A clubGrêmio and theParaguay national team.
He played forCerro Porteño PF,Rubio Ñu,Nacional andLibertad in theParaguayan Primera División, before joiningCorinthians of Brazil in 2016. He played 120 games for Corinthians, winning theCampeonato Paulista twice and theCampeonato Brasileiro Série A once, and was named in the latter's 2017team of the year. After three years withWest Ham United in thePremier League, he signed for Dynamo Moscow.
Balbuena made his senior international debut for Paraguay in 2015. He played for his national team at fourCopa América tournaments, coming fourth in2015.
Born inCiudad del Este, Balbuena was promoted toCerro Porteño PF's first team in 2010, after the arrival of new managerEduardo Rivera. He immediately became a starter under Rivera, playing in all the remaining seven matches of the campaign as his side achieved a mid-table position.[3]
Balbuena became a regular starter in 2011, being alsoteam captain as the club achieved promotion fromDivisión intermedia.[citation needed]
Balbuena joinedRubio Ñu ahead of the2013 season, but remained at the club for only six months before moving to defending championsClub Nacional.[4] At the latter side, he was also first-choice and reached the2014 Copa Libertadores Finals, losing it toSan Lorenzo.[citation needed]
On 15 August 2014,Libertad bought 50% of Balbuena's federative rights, and the player signed a four-year deal with the club.[5] They won the2014 Clausura tournament.[citation needed]
On 16 February 2016, Balbuena moved abroad for the first time in his career after agreeing to a three-year deal withSérie A sideCorinthians.[6] He made his debut for the club nine days later by starting in a 1–1Campeonato Paulista away draw againstSão Bento, and scored his first goal on 19 March in a 4–0 home routing ofLinense for the same competition.[citation needed]
A key defensive unit atTimão, Balbuena lifted the2017 Campeonato Paulista,2017 Campeonato Brasileiro Série A and2018 Campeonato Paulista during his spell. On 24 April 2018, he signed a new four-year contract.[7]
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On 14 July 2018, Balbuena signed forPremier League clubWest Ham United on a three-year deal, for an undisclosed fee.[8] He made his debut on 12 August in a 4–0 defeat byLiverpool.[9] On 27 October he scored his first goal for the Hammers to open the scoring atLeicester City, but deflectedWilfred Ndidi's long-range shot into his own net for the equaliser; he was the first Paraguayan to score in England's top division sinceAntolín Alcaraz in May 2012.[10]
On 18 October 2020, Balbuena scored West Ham's first goal as they overturned a 3–0 deficit with eight minutes remaining to draw at London rivalsTottenham Hotspur.[11] The following 24 April, he was sent off in a 1–0 home loss to another capital team,Chelsea, for catchingBen Chilwell when making a clearance; the decision was criticised by managerDavid Moyes and various pundits.[12] Thered card was overturned after West Ham appealed.[13] In May 2021, Balbuena was told by West Ham that his contract would not be renewed when it expired at the end of the2020–21 season.[14]
On 9 July 2021, he signed a four-year contract withRussian Premier League clubFC Dynamo Moscow.[15]
On 10 July 2022, Balbuena suspended his contract with Dynamo Moscow for the 2022–23 season, having taken advantage of theFIFA ruling relating to theRussian invasion of Ukraine.[16] Eight days later, he returned toCorinthians for the period of his Dynamo contract suspension, until 30 June 2023.[17]
At the end of this suspension, Balbuena returned to Dynamo in July 2023.[18]After returning to the Moscow club, Balbuena was chosen as the team captain for the next season.[19]
Balbuena left Dynamo on 31 May 2025 as his contract expired.[20]
On 26 July 2025, Balbuena signed a contract withGrêmio in Brazil until 30 June 2027.[21]
First called up on 19 March 2015, Balbuena made his full international debut forParaguay national team on 31 March by starting in a 1–0friendly loss againstMexico at theArrowhead Stadium.[22] He was also named among the 23-man squads for the2015 Copa América[23] and theCopa América Centenario.[24] He made his first competitive appearance at the latter in the final group game, a 1–0 loss to hosts theUnited States in which he was substituted at half time for attackerJuan Iturbe.[25]
At the2019 Copa América in Brazil, Paraguay faced thehost team in the quarter-finals, and Balbuena was sent off after an hour for foulingRoberto Firmino when the Brazilian was clear on goal; the game ended goalless and Brazil won on penalties.[26]
On 23 September 2022, Balbuena scored his first international goal, a late header that was the only goal of a friendly win over theUnited Arab Emirates inWiener Neustadt, Austria.[27] In a 1–0 friendly loss away toPeru on 16 November, Balbuena and opponentAlexander Succar were sent off for fighting.[28]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental | State League | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Cerro Porteño PF | 2010 | División Intermedia | 7 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| 2011 | División Intermedia | 28 | 4 | — | — | — | — | 28 | 4 | |||||
| 2012[29] | Primera División | 41 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 41 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 76 | 5 | — | — | — | — | 76 | 5 | ||||||
| Rubio Ñu | 2013[29] | Primera División | 17 | 1 | — | — | — | — | 17 | 1 | ||||
| Nacional | 2013[29] | Primera División | 14 | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | — | — | 16 | 0 | |||
| 2014[29] | Primera División | 16 | 1 | — | 10[c] | 0 | — | — | 26 | 1 | ||||
| Total | 30 | 1 | — | 12 | 0 | — | — | 42 | 1 | |||||
| Libertad | 2014[29] | Primera División | 16 | 1 | — | 4[b] | 0 | — | — | 20 | 1 | |||
| 2015[29] | Primera División | 26 | 2 | — | 8[d] | 0 | — | — | 34 | 2 | ||||
| 2016[29] | Primera División | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 43 | 3 | — | 12 | 0 | — | — | 55 | 3 | |||||
| Corinthians | 2016[29] | Série A | 29 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | 6[e] | 2 | — | 41 | 2 | |
| 2017[29] | Série A | 32 | 4 | 5 | 0 | 6[b] | 2 | 15[e] | 0 | — | 58 | 6 | ||
| 2018[29] | Série A | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 6[c] | 0 | 15[e] | 3 | — | 31 | 3 | ||
| Total | 69 | 4 | 11 | 0 | 14 | 2 | 36 | 5 | — | 130 | 11 | |||
| West Ham United | 2018–19[30] | Premier League | 23 | 1 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 0 | 0 | 23 | 1 | ||
| 2019–20[31] | Premier League | 17 | 1 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 2[f] | 0 | 21 | 1 | |||
| 2020–21[32] | Premier League | 14 | 1 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 3[f] | 0 | 18 | 1 | |||
| Total | 54 | 3 | 3 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | 62 | 3 | ||||
| Dynamo Moscow | 2021–22[29] | Russian Premier League | 27 | 3 | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 32 | 3 | |||
| 2023–24 | Russian Premier League | 26 | 2 | 7 | 1 | — | — | — | 33 | 3 | ||||
| 2024–25 | Russian Premier League | 18 | 2 | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 24 | 2 | ||||
| Total | 71 | 7 | 18 | 1 | — | — | — | 89 | 8 | |||||
| Corinthians (loan) | 2022[29] | Série A | 13 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2[c] | 0 | — | — | 21 | 3 | ||
| 2023[29] | Série A | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7[e] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | ||
| Total | 13 | 3 | 6 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 28 | 3 | |||
| Grêmio | 2025 | Série A | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | 3 | 1 | |
| Career total | 376 | 28 | 38 | 1 | 40 | 2 | 43 | 5 | 5 | 0 | 502 | 36 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paraguay | 2015 | 2 | 0 |
| 2016 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | |
| 2018 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2021 | 6 | 0 | |
| 2022 | 7 | 1 | |
| 2023 | 5 | 1 | |
| 2024 | 10 | 0 | |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 | |
| Total | 47 | 2 | |
| No. | Date | Venue | Opponent | Score | Result | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 23 September 2022 | Stadion Wiener Neustadt,Wiener Neustadt, Austria |  United Arab Emirates | 1–0 | 1–0 | Friendly |
| 2 | 18 June 2023 | Estadio Defensores del Chaco,Asunción, Paraguay |  Nicaragua | 2–0 | 2–0 |
Cerro Porteño PF
Libertad
Corinthians
Paraguay
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