Lautaro Martínez, born in Bahía Blanca in 1997, captains Inter Milan and has won the 2022 World Cup and two Copa Américas with Argentina. He scored twice in Inter’s 4-3 home defeat to Club Brugge on 13 October 2026.
Lautaro Javier Martínez was born on 22 August 1997 in Bahía Blanca, Argentina. He followed his father into football and joined the local side Liniers, where he excelled at under-17 level and in 2013 scored 13 goals in the under-17 league and scored in the final of the National Cup, which Liniers lost on penalties. His form caught the attention of Racing Club, who signed him in January 2014, and he scored 53 goals in 64 appearances for their reserve side despite early homesickness.
He made his league debut on 1 November 2015 as a substitute in a 3-0 win over Crucero del Norte, and scored his first goal in a 1-1 draw with Huracán in November 2016. In 2015, Real Madrid concluded a deal for him, but he chose to stay in Argentina, and in December 2017 he underwent a medical with Atlético Madrid before Racing announced he had signed a new contract instead.
In 2018 he signed for Inter Milan for €22.7 million. In his second season he helped Inter reach the Europa League final and then formed a formidable partnership with Romelu Lukaku, which won the club’s first Serie A title in 11 years. Since Lukaku left he has been Inter’s sole striker, and he has won two more league titles and three Coppa Italias, including the double in 2025-26. He scored both goals in the 2023 Coppa Italia final, a 2-1 win, and helped Inter reach the Champions League final in 2023 and 2025.
His individual awards include Serie A Most Valuable Player in 2023-24 and Serie A Best Striker in 2025-26, and he was the league’s top scorer in both of those seasons. He is currently Inter’s third-highest all-time goalscorer, and he captains the club.
For Argentina he played at the 2017 FIFA U-20 World Cup and made his senior debut in 2018. He won the 2021 Copa América, the 2022 World Cup and the 2024 Copa América, where he won the Golden Boot as top scorer and scored the winner in the final. He was also in the squad that finished as runners-up at the 2026 World Cup.
This season he started with Inter’s 2-1 loss at Real Madrid. On Tuesday he scored twice, first just before half-time to level at 1-1 and again in the 81st minute, as Inter lost 4-3 to a Nicolò Tresoldi hat-trick. Goal.com’s match ratings called his brace not enough because of a defensive collapse. Inter are without a point after two games, and their captain’s scoring will be central to any recovery. At the 2026 World Cup he and Argentina lost the final 1-0 to Spain, a result he will want to put behind him, and Inter are still defending a domestic double won in 2025-26. His first sending off came on 17 April 2016 for Racing, when he received two bookings in five minutes in a 2-2 draw with Argentinos.
Image: Lautaro Martínez walking out for Argentina in July 2026 (file photo). Photo: Bryan Berlin / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 4.0)
