.jpg) Gomez withLiverpool in 2026 | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Joseph Dave Gomez | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | (1997-05-23)23 May 1997 (age 28) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Catford, Greater London, England | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)[1] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Defender[2] | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Liverpool | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 2 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2007–2014 | Charlton Athletic | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | Charlton Athletic | 21 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015– | Liverpool | 161 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | England U16 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2013–2014 | England U17 | 19 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2014–2015 | England U19 | 4 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2015–2017 | England U21 | 7 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017– | England | 15 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| * Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22:34, 11 February 2026 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 22:10, 7 June 2024 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Joseph Dave Gomez (born 23 May 1997) is an English professionalfootballer who plays as adefender forPremier League clubLiverpool and theEngland national team.
Gomez began his career atCharlton Athletic, breaking into thefirst team at 17 and playing one full season before joining Liverpool in June 2015. After establishing himself as a first-team regular, Gomez struggled with injuries, but appeared in the2019 UEFA Champions League final as Liverpool won thecompetition. He played in thefinal of the2019 FIFA Club World Cup with Liverpool winning the competition for the first time in the club's history. He was part of the team that won the2019–20 Premier League, Liverpool's first league title in 30 years.Gomez has represented England at every level and played every minute of every match when England won the2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship. He made his debut for the England senior team in November 2017.
Joseph Dave Gomez[3] was born on 23 May 1997[4] inCatford, Greater London,[5] to aGambian father, Augustus Gomez, and an English mother.[6]
He joined the academy at nearbyCharlton Athletic at the age of 10,[7] making his debut for the club's under-18 team at just 13 years old.[8] Despite strong interest from other clubs,[9] Gomez signed his first professional contract with Charlton in October 2014.[10] Hisfirst-team debut came under managerBob Peeters in a 4–0 home victory overColchester United on 12 August 2014 in the2014–15 League Cup, playing the full 90 minutes atright-back.[11][12] A week later he made his league debut in a 3–2 home win againstDerby County in theChampionship.[13] Gomez went on to make 24 appearances during hisfirst season.[14]
On 20 June 2015,Premier League clubLiverpool signed Gomez on a five-year contract for a fee of £3.5 million.[15][16] He made his debut againstStoke City on 9 August, starting as aleft-back in a 1–0 win, assistingPhilippe Coutinho's match-winning goal in the 86th minute.[17]
On 13 October 2015, Gomez suffered a season endinganterior cruciate ligament injury while playing for England U21.[18] A full year later, Gomez returned to full first-team training on 13 October 2016.[19] On 13 November, Gomez played 45 minutes in a behind closed doors friendly match atMelwood.[20] On 8 January 2017, Gomez made his first start since the injury in an FA Cup 0–0 home draw againstPlymouth Argyle.[21]
On 23 August 2017, Gomez made his European debut, in a 4–2 win overTSG Hoffenheim in theUEFA Champions League play-off.[22] Due to the injury ofNathaniel Clyne, Gomez was the first-choice right-back for the first half of the season; even starting in games against rivalsArsenal andManchester United; against the former he assisted the first goal in an eventual 4–0 win, and his performance against the latter received praise from fans.[23][24][25][26] In late March 2018, it was confirmed that Gomez would miss the next few games as a result of suffering an injury during an international friendly game.[27] In May 2018, Gomez underwent surgery to his ankle injury, with Liverpool confirming via their official website that Gomez wouldn't play in Liverpool's last fixtures of the season, including the2018 Champions League final.[28] Gomez made 31 appearances acrossthe season for Liverpool.[29]
As a result of the lack of fitness of regular first-team defendersDejan Lovren[30] andJoël Matip,[31] Gomez was able to establish himself as first-choicecentre-back in Liverpool's first games of the season alongsideVirgil van Dijk, receiving praise for his performances and receiving theman of the match for his performance in a 2–1 win overLeicester City on 1 September.[32][33][34] He continued to feature in defence for the club during the opening half of the season before suffering a fractured leg in December following a challenge byBurnley defenderBen Mee. In February of the following year, he underwent surgery in an attempt to assist his recovery from the injury.[35] Regaining fitness in April, Gomez made asubstitute appearance for Liverpool in the2019 Champions League final, which the club won.[36]
Gomez began the next season deputising for the in-form Joël Matip, who had become a mainstay alongside Virgil van Dijk during Gomez's injury layoff the previous season. Gomez found himself recalled to the starting line-up following injury problems for Matip, and earned praise after a slew of clean sheets in the winter months as Liverpool extended a significant lead at the top of thePremier League table. Gomez was singled out for praise for his leadership and composure during a1–0 victory over rivalsEverton in the FA Cup in January; a match in which Gomez was the only senior player in the back-line afterJames Milner's early departure.[37]
Gomez suffered a tendon injury to his left knee whilst away on international duty withEngland and underwent successful surgery on 11 November 2020 to correct the damage.[38] This left Liverpool with an injury crisis at the centre of their defence, following the ACL injury of Gomez' centre-back partner Virgil van Dijk.FIFA agreed to pay Liverpool £2 million in compensation to cover Gomez's wages whilst he was injured.[39] In May 2022, Gomez was an unused substitute in thefinal as Liverpool won the2021–22 FA Cup.[40] He was also on the bench as they lost 1–0 to Real Madrid in the2022 Champions League final.[41]
On 7 July 2022, Gomez signed a new five-year contract with the club.[42] On 16 October, Gomez was highly praised for his performance againstManchester City.[43] On 9 November, hecaptained Liverpool in thepenalty shoot-out win against Derby County in the third round of theEFL Cup atAnfield.[44]
On 27 July 2023, following the departure of captainJordan Henderson toSaudi Pro League clubAl-Ettifaq, Gomez became the longest serving player at Liverpool.[45] At the beginning of the2023–24 season, due to the injuries ofTrent Alexander-Arnold andIbrahima Konaté as well as the two-game suspension ofVirgil van Dijk, Gomez was a regular starter for Liverpool both at centre-back and full-back.[46][47]
In the summer of 2024 Gomez came close to joiningNewcastle United but ultimately stayed at Liverpool.[48] In his first season under new managerArne Slot, he struggled with injury that kept him out for most of the season, but nevertheless Liverpool won the2024-25 Premier League, earning Gomez his second league title at the club.
Gomez has beencapped by England atunder-16,under-17 andunder-19 levels.[49] In May 2014, he was part of the squad that won the2014 UEFA European Under-17 Championship in Malta, playing every minute of England's five matches and being named in UEFA's team of the tournament.[50] Through his father he could have been eligible to play forthe Gambia.[6]
On 25 August 2015, he received his first call-up to theunder-21 squad.[51] On 30 August 2017, Gomez was announced as England U21 captain ahead of the qualifying campaign for the2019 UEFA European Under-21 Championship.[52]
He received his first call-up to the England senior squad in November 2017.[53] He made his England debut againstGermany atWembley Stadium in a friendly match, coming on as a substitute to replacePhil Jones in a 0–0 draw.[54] Gomez received a man of the match award in the following game for his performance againstBrazil, earning praise for a number of crucial interceptions, and for his ability to nullify the threat ofNeymar.[55] He was named in England's 26-man squad forUEFA Euro 2024.[56]
Gomez prefers to play as a centre-back but can also play as afull-back on either side.[57] He has been described as a complete footballer and composed ball-playing centre-back with his style of play, being compared to that ofRio Ferdinand whom he idolised growing up.[58][59] Gomez is also noted for his athleticism, pace and strength; he is able to produce powerful and dangerous runs up-field on the counter-attack and in defence is rarely physically dominated by an opponent.[50][59][60]
Gomez met his partner, Tamara, in 2014, on a bus on his way to school. They live together inCheshire and have a son.[61] His cousinMuhammadu Faal is also a footballer.[62]
| Club | Season | League | FA Cup | League Cup | Europe | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Charlton Athletic | 2014–15[63] | Championship | 21 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 24 | 0 | ||
| Liverpool | 2015–16[64] | Premier League | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2[a] | 0 | — | 7 | 0 | |
| 2016–17[65] | Premier League | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | |||
| 2017–18[29] | Premier League | 23 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 6[b] | 0 | — | 31 | 0 | ||
| 2018–19[66] | Premier League | 16 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 9[b] | 0 | — | 25 | 0 | ||
| 2019–20[67] | Premier League | 28 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 7[b] | 0 | 4[c] | 0 | 43 | 0 | |
| 2020–21[68] | Premier League | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3[b] | 0 | 1[d] | 0 | 12 | 0 | |
| 2021–22[69] | Premier League | 8 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 7[b] | 0 | — | 21 | 0 | ||
| 2022–23[70] | Premier League | 21 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 5[b] | 0 | 0 | 0 | 31 | 0 | |
| 2023–24[71] | Premier League | 32 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 10[a] | 0 | — | 51 | 0 | ||
| 2024–25[72] | Premier League | 9 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 4[b] | 0 | — | 17 | 0 | ||
| 2025–26[73] | Premier League | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 19 | 0 | |
| Total | 161 | 0 | 18 | 0 | 20 | 0 | 56 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 260 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 182 | 0 | 19 | 0 | 22 | 0 | 56 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 284 | 0 | ||
| National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
|---|---|---|---|
| England | 2017 | 2 | 0 |
| 2018 | 4 | 0 | |
| 2019 | 2 | 0 | |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 | |
| 2024 | 4 | 0 | |
| Total | 15 | 0 | |
Liverpool
England U17
England
Individual
 | ||
