Facundo Torres

Facundo Daniel Torres Pérez (born 13 April 2000) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Major League Soccer club Orlando City and the Uruguay national team.

Torres previously played for Peñarol where he won the 2021 Uruguayan Primera División title.

Early life
Torres was born in the Colón Centro y Noroeste neighborhood of Montevideo, but grew up in La Paz, Canelones. At the age of four, Torres attended his first football training session with his cousin Joaquín at Juventud River de La Paz but showed little interest and instead sat in the middle of the field and played with dirt. His father later took him to La Paz Wanderers where he enjoyed playing with friends before spending a year with Defensor Sporting. At the age of 10 he was selected to play in the National Championship final to represent the regional southern league in Melo where he was scouted by Peñarol and invited to join their academy. With Peñarol, Torres traveled to Brazil to play in the Encontro de Futebol Infantil Pan-americano, a friendly international competition for academy teams. Despite being two years younger than his teammates such as Federico Valverde, Diego Rossi and Santiago Bueno, Torres was a standout player at the tournament. Coached by Robert Lima, Torres continued to be fast-tracked through the age groups and in 2014, helped Peñarol to an under-15 national title. In February 2016, he was invited to train with the professional senior team for the first time, at the age of 15. That same year, Italian Serie A club Juventus made an attempt to sign Torres via his agent Daniel Fonseca. Torres' father opposed the move, thinking he was too young and describing it as "via the back door," parting ways with Fonseca as a result with Torres remaining at Peñarol to continue his development and earn playing time.

2020: First senior debut
Torres was named in a senior match day squad for the first time on 7 June 2018, as an unused substitute against Defensor Sporting. Moving between the first team and reserves under both Leonardo Ramos and Diego López without ever debuting, Torres was handed his senior debut by Diego Forlán on 16 August 2020 in a 2–0 Primera División win against Boston River. He came on as a 46th minute substitute for Matías de los Santos and scored his team's opening goal five minutes later. He made his continental debut in the delayed 2020 Copa Libertadores group stage, starting all four of the remaining games and scoring once in a 3–0 victory over Chilean side Colo-Colo. In his debut season, Torres made 34 appearances and scored 10 goals across all competitions.

2021: Championship winners
Torres scored four goals during Peñarol's run to the 2021 Copa Sudamericana semi-finals before being eliminated by eventual winners Athletico Paranaense. In his final competitive appearance for the club, Torres scored the equalizer in the semi-finals of the 2021 Uruguayan Primera División championship play-offs on 7 December, bringing Peńarol to a 1–1 draw with Torneo Apertura winners Plaza Colonia. Peńarol won the shoot-out 8–7. Because Peńarol had the most aggregate points of the regular season, they were crowned champions without a finals. Torres made 33 appearances and scored 10 goals across all competitions during his final season at the club.

2022: First season in MLS and U.S. Open Cup victory
On 24 January, Torres signed for Orlando City of Major League Soccer on a four-year Young Designated Player contract with the option for a fifth. He joined for a reported club record $9 million fee. Torres debuted on 11 February for Orlando in a preseason friendly with Colorado Rapids, resulting in a 1–1 draw. On 19 March, Torres scored his first goal for the club in a 1–0 win over LA Galaxy. Torres scored his first brace for Orlando, his second goal being a penalty kick, in a 3–0 win over Sacramento Republic FC in the final of the 2022 U.S. Open Cup on 7 September 2022, thus securing the club's first trophy since becoming an MLS franchise in 2015. With four goals, Torres was the joint-highest goalscorer in the competition. In his first season with the club Orlando placed 7th in the Eastern Conference, securing the club entry into the play-offs. Orlando was eliminated by CF Montréal in the first round in a 0–2 defeat. Torres scored nine goals in the regular season and assisted 10 others, tying him second overall in goal contributions in a regular season for the club with Kevin Molino and Kaká and behind Nani. Overall, Torres made 40 appearances for Orlando and scored 10 goals across all competitions.

2023: First international tournament and Leagues Cup debut
In the following season due to Orlando City winning the U.S. Open Cup the previous year, the Lions qualified for the 2023 CONCACAF Champions League, the team's first time in the competition. Orlando made a first round exit on the away goals rules following a 1–1 draw over two legs against Tigres UANL. In the 2023 U.S. Open Cup, Orlando were defending champions but were beaten 1–0 by Charlotte FC in the round of 32. Torres scored his first ever regular season brace for the club in a 3–0 victory over New York Red Bulls on 3 June. He made his debut Leagues Cup appearance with a start against Houston Dynamo in the first round of the group stage. The Lions drew 1–1, followed up with a 5–4 penalty shoot-out victory in which Torres scored the winning penalty. Orlando was eliminated in a 3–1 loss Inter Miami in the round of 32. Torres achieved double digit regular season goals for the first time in his career with a brace in a 2–1 victory over St. Louis City SC on 26 August. In total, Torres scored 14 goals in 39 appearances in all competitions, second on the team behind rookie Duncan McGuire. However, with a further five assists, Torres' 19 goal contributions led the team.

2024: Contract extension and new kit number
On 10 January 2024, it was announced that Torres had signed a contract extension with the club through 2026, with options to extend further in 2027 and 2028. Torres also switched squad number from 17 to the number 10, which had last been worn by departing captain Mauricio Pereyra. On 21 February, Torres opened the competitive 2024 campaign with a brace against Cavalry FC in the first leg of their tie in the 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup, helping secure a 3–0 victory. Torres ended as the club's 2024 CONCACAF Champions Cup top scorer after they were eliminated 4–2 on aggregate in the second leg of the round of 16 by Tigres UANL with three goals scored. On 22 June, Torres scored a brace in a 4–2 victory over Chicago Fire in his 100th appearance for the club across all competitions.

Youth
Torres represented Uruguay as a youth international at under-15, under-17 and under-20 level. He was part of Uruguay squad at the 2015 South American U-15 Championship and scored five goals in five games, the joint-third most behind Brazilians Vitinho and Vinícius Júnior, as Uruguay finished runners-up behind Brazil. He is the all-time top scorer for Uruguay under-17s and competed at the 2017 South American U-17 Championship.

Senior
On 5 March 2021, Torres received his first senior Uruguay national team call-up as part of a 35-man preliminary squad for 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Argentina and Bolivia. However, CONMEBOL suspended those matches the next day amid concern over the COVID-19 pandemic.

He made his senior international debut on 3 June 2021 in a World Cup qualifier against Paraguay as a 66th minute substitute for Jonathan Rodríguez as Uruguay drew 0–0. He made his first start five days later in another goalless qualifying draw against Venezuela. In June 2021, Torres was named to the squad for the 2021 Copa América and appeared in all five games as a substitute. Uruguay were eliminated at the quarter-final stage on penalties by Colombia.

In November 2022, Torres was named to the final 26-man squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup. He was an unused substitute for all three games as Uruguay was eliminated at the group stage.

On 20 June 2023, Torres scored his first international goal in a 2–0 friendly victory over Cuba.

On 4 September 2023, Torres was called up to the squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches against Chile and Ecuador. He made his campaign debut as a substitute for Maximiliano Araújo against Ecuador in the 70th minute in a 2–1 loss and also appeared as a 77th minute substitute for Facundo Pellistri in a 3–0 win over Bolivia.

On 18 March 2024, Torres was called up for friendlies against Basque Country and Ivory Coast. Torres was included in the pre-tournament friendlies squad in the lead-up to the 2024 Copa América and made an appearance against Mexico on 6 June, coming on as a 69th minute substitute for Darwin Núñez, which ended in a 4–0 victory, but he was ultimately excluded from the final Copa América squad.

International

 * Scores and results list Uruguay's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Torres goal.

Honours
Peñarol
 * Uruguayan Primera División: 2021

Orlando City
 * U.S. Open Cup: 2022

Individual
 * Uruguayan Primera División Team of the Year: 2020, 2021