Ronald Araújo

Ronald Federico Araújo da Silva (born 7 March 1999) is a Uruguayan professional footballer who plays as a centre-back or right-back for La Liga club Barcelona and the Uruguay national team. He is known for his physicality, pace, leadership and athleticism.[4][5][6]

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Araújo and the second or maternal family name is da Silva.
Ronald Araújo
Araújo playing for Barcelona in 2021
Personal information
Full name Ronald Federico Araújo da Silva[1]
Date of birth (1999-03-07) 7 March 1999[2]
Place of birth Rivera, Uruguay
Height 1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)[3]
Position(s) Centre-back, right-back
Team information
Current team
 Barcelona
Number 4
Youth career
2012–2015 Huracán de Rivera
2015–2016 Rentistas
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2016–2017 Rentistas 17 (7)
2017–2018 Boston River 27 (0)
2018–2020 Barcelona B 42 (6)
2019– Barcelona 87 (6)
International career‡
2017–2018 Uruguay U18 6 (1)
2018–2019 Uruguay U20 12 (2)
2020– Uruguay 14 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Uruguay
South American Games
Silver medal – second place2018 CochabambaTeam
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 20:50, 22 October 2023 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 03:30, 18 October 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Rentistas

Born to a Uruguayan father and a Brazilian mother in Rivera, a city near the Brazil border,[7][8][9] Araújo joined Rentistas from hometown club Huracán de Rivera.[10] He made his senior debut with the former on 24 September 2016, coming on as a late substitute in a 1–0 Segunda División away win against Tacuarembó.

Araújo scored his first senior goal on 9 December 2016, netting the equaliser in a 2–2 home draw against Central Español. He became a regular starter during the 2017 season, and scored a hat-trick in a 3–2 away win over Villa Española on 17 June of that year.[11]

It was at Rentistas that Araújo made the significant switch in position from forward to defender.[12]

Boston River

On 28 July 2017, Araújo joined Primera División side Boston River.[13] He made his debut in the category on 18 September, replacing Maximiliano Sigales late into a 1–0 home success over El Tanque Sisley.[14]

Barcelona

On 29 August 2018, Araújo signed a five-year contract with FC Barcelona for a fee of €1.7 million, plus €3.5 million in variables; he was initially assigned to the reserves in Segunda División B.[15] He made his first team – and La Liga – debut on 6 October of the following year, coming off the bench to replace Jean-Clair Todibo in the 73rd minute of a 4–0 home win against Sevilla; however, he was sent off in the 86th minute for tackling Javier Hernández.[16]

For the 2020–21 season, Araújo was promoted to the main squad, being handed the number 4 jersey, which was previously worn by Ivan Rakitić.[17] On 19 December 2020, he scored his first La Liga goal for Barcelona in a 2–2 home draw against Valencia.[4]

On 20 March 2022, Araújo scored his first goal in El Clásico, heading in a corner from Ousmane Dembélé in a 4–0 away victory against the league leaders at Santiago Bernabéu.[18]

For the first 21 league games of the 2022–23 season, Araújo formed a defensive partnership alongside Andreas Christensen and occasionally Jules Koundé at centre-back, helping Barcelona keep the most clean sheets (16) in all of Europe's top 5 leagues. [19]

On 21 July 2023, Barcelona announced Araújo as the club's third captain.[20]

International career

After representing Uruguay at under-18 and under-20 levels, Araújo received his first call up for the senior side on 5 October 2020, for two 2022 FIFA World Cup qualifiers against Chile and Ecuador.[21] He made his full international debut eight days later, starting in a 2–4 loss against the latter.[22]

In June 2021, Araújo was included in the final 26-man Uruguay squad for the 2021 Copa América in Brazil, but he didn't feature in any of Uruguay's five games in the tournament while also suffering a muscle injury.[23]

Despite nursing an injury, Araújo was included in the Uruguay squad for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, having expected recovery during knockout phase.[24] He didn't make an appearance as Uruguay were eliminated in the group stage.[25]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 22 October 2023[26]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[lower-alpha 1] Continental Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Rentistas 2016 Uruguayan Segunda División 31———31
2017 Uruguayan Segunda División 146———146
Total 177———177
Boston River 2017 Uruguayan Primera División 90———90
2018 Uruguayan Primera División 180—4[lower-alpha 2]0—220
Total 270—40—310
Barcelona B 2018–19 Segunda División B 223———223
2019–20 Segunda División B 203——2[lower-alpha 3]0223
Total 426——20446
Barcelona 2019–20 La Liga 6000000060
2020–21 La Liga 242403[lower-alpha 4]02[lower-alpha 5]0332
2021–22 La Liga 3042010[lower-alpha 6]01[lower-alpha 5]0434
2022–23 La Liga 220413[lower-alpha 7]02[lower-alpha 5]0311
2023–24 La Liga 50001[lower-alpha 4]00060
Total 876101170501197
Career total 173191012107021120
  1. Includes Copa del Rey
  2. Appearances in Copa Sudamericana
  3. Appearances in Segunda División B play-offs
  4. Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. Appearance(s) in Supercopa de España
  6. Five appearances in UEFA Champions League, five appearances in UEFA Europa League
  7. One appearance in UEFA Champions League, two appearances in UEFA Europa League

International
As of match played 17 October 2023[26]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Uruguay 202010
202140
202270
202320
Total140

Honours

Barcelona

Uruguay U20

Individual

References
  1. "Acta del Partido celebrado el 29 de agosto de 2021, en Barcelona" [Minutes of the Match held on 29 August 2021, in Barcelona] (in Spanish). Royal Spanish Football Federation. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
  2. "FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022™: List of Players: Uruguay" (PDF). FIFA. 15 November 2022. p. 30. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 December 2022. Retrieved 22 November 2022.
  3. "Ronald Araújo". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 26 September 2023.
  4. "Araujo is a man of many talents". Marca. 19 December 2020.
  5. "LaLiga Santader Team of the Season". EA. 19 May 2022. Retrieved 21 August 2022.
  6. "FC Barcelona, Liga champions 2022/23!". FC Barcelona. 14 May 2023.
  7. Quixano, Jordi (3 October 2020). "Ronald Araujo, el velocista que se mira en Puyol". El País (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  8. Bona, German (11 October 2020). "Ronald Araujo, el central humilde que el Real Madrid no pudo 'birlar'". Sport (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  9. Cerezo, Hugo (21 December 2020). "Ronald Araujo: un soldado de Dios que esprinta a 35km/h y está bendecido por los jefes". Marca (in Spanish). Retrieved 3 February 2021.
  10. "Ronald Araújo: de Boston River a Barcelona" [Ronald Araújo: from Boston River to Barcelona] (in Spanish). Ovación. 28 August 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  11. "Villa Española 2 Rentistas 3" (in Spanish). El Ascenso. 17 June 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  12. Lowe, Sid; @sidlowe (23 February 2023). "Barcelona's Ronald Araújo: 'I came from a different football. But I told myself, I have to play here'". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 23 February 2023.
  13. "Boston River: llega Ronald Araújo" [Boston River: Ronald Araújo arrives] (in Spanish). Tenfield. 28 July 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  14. "Boston River volvió a festejar, 1:0" [Boston River celebrate again, 1–0] (in Spanish). Tenfield. 18 September 2017. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  15. "Acuerdo con el Boston River para el traspaso de Ronald Araujo" [Agremeent with Boston River for the transfer of Ronald Araujo] (in Spanish). FC Barcelona. 29 August 2018. Retrieved 3 September 2018.
  16. Dembélé and Araújo sent off during Barcelona win over Sevilla; Diario AS. 6 October 2019, Retrieved 18 August 2020
  17. "Riqui Puig y Araújo ya son jugadores del primer equipo" [Riqui Puig and Araújo are already first team players] (in Spanish). Diario AS. 5 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  18. "Barcelona thrash leaders Real Madrid". BBC Sport. 20 March 2022. Retrieved 20 March 2022.
  19. "Ronald Araujo vital as Barcelona nab 16th clean sheet, push LaLiga title further from Real Madrid". ESPN. 13 February 2023.
  20. "FC Barcelona's new captains confirmed". www.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 26 July 2023.
  21. "Primera convocatoria de Ronald Araujo con la absoluta de Uruguay" [First call up of Ronald Araújo with the full side of Uruguay] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 5 March 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  22. "Ecuador barre a la Uruguay de Suárez, Valverde y Araujo (4–2)" [Ecuador beat Suárez, Valverde and Araújo's Uruguay (4–2)] (in Spanish). Mundo Deportivo. 14 October 2020. Retrieved 18 October 2020.
  23. "Plantel de Uruguay para la Copa América" [Uruguay squad for the Copa América] (in Spanish). auf.org. 10 June 2021. Retrieved 19 July 2021.
  24. "Araujo included in Uruguay squad". FC Barcelona. 10 November 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  25. "Uruguay beat Ghana but crash out of World Cup on goals scored in late twist". The Guardian. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 10 December 2022.
  26. Ronald Araújo at Soccerway
  27. Lowe, Sid (17 April 2021). "Messi stars as Barcelona thrash Athletic Bilbao to lift Copa del Rey". The Guardian. Retrieved 19 April 2021.
  28. Baynes, Ciaran (15 January 2023). "Real Madrid 1-3 Barcelona: Gavi stars as Barca dominate to win Spanish Super Cup". Euro Sport. Retrieved 16 January 2023.
  29. "Chile 1 - 0 Uruguay" (in Spanish). 5 June 2018. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
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