Simone Pafundi

Simone Pafundi (born 14 March 2006) is an Italian professional footballer who plays as a forward for Serie A club Udinese and the Italy national team.[2]

Simone Pafundi
Personal information
Full name Simone Pafundi[1]
Date of birth (2006-03-14) 14 March 2006[1]
Place of birth Monfalcone, Italy
Height 1.66 m (5 ft 5 in)[1]
Position(s) Forward
Team information
Current team
 Udinese
Number 80
Youth career
2011–2014 UFM Monfalcone
2014–2022 Udinese
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2022– Udinese 10 (0)
International career‡
2021 Italy U16 1 (0)
2021–2022 Italy U17 5 (4)
2023– Italy U19 2 (2)
2023– Italy U20 5 (1)
2022– Italy 1 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Italy
FIFA U-20 World Cup
Runner-up2023 Argentina
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 24 September 2023
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 14 October 2023

Club career

Born in Monfalcone, the city his parents had moved to from Naples,[3] Pafundi started his footballing career with his hometown club UFM Monfalcone, until he got noticed by Udinese scouts during a youth tournament in 2014, and was signed by the Serie A side soon thereafter.[4]

Throughout the 2021–22 season, Pafundi emerged as a star player and a regular for the club's under-19 team, having scored six goals and provided seven assists in 16 games in the Campionato Primavera 2 at just sixteen years of age: around this period of time, he signed his first professional contract with Udinese and received his first call-ups to the club's first team.[5][6][7]

On 22 May 2022, at 16 years old, Pafundi made his professional debut for Udinese, coming on as a substitute for Roberto Pereyra at the 68th minute of the team's final league game of the season, a 4–0 away win over Salernitana. In the same occasion, he became the first player born in 2006 to take part in a Serie A match.[4][8]

In October 2023, Pafundi was included in The Guardian's list of the 60 best talents in the world born in 2006.[9]

International career

Youth

Pafundi represented Italy at several youth international levels, having played for the under-16 and under-17 national teams.[10][11]

In May 2023, he was included in the Italian squad that took part in the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Argentina,[12] where the Azzurrini finished runners-up after losing to Uruguay in the final match.[13][14]

Senior

In May 2022, Pafundi was called-up by head coach Roberto Mancini to join a training camp with the Italy senior national team, as part of a stage reserved to the most promising players in the country.[6]

In November of the same year, he received his first official call-up to the senior national team for two friendlies against Albania and Austria.[15][16] He eventually made his debut with the Azzurri on 16 November 2022, at 16 years old, playing the final minutes against Albania, thus becoming the third-youngest debutant in the history of the Italy national team, and the youngest debutant ever in the last 100 years.[17]

Style of play

A short, left-footed trequartista, Pafundi has been regarded mainly for his ball control, vision and pace, which allow him to be a frequent threat in the final third, both as an assist-man and as a finisher.[3][18] He has been compared to former Udinese captain and striker Antonio Di Natale. Some even believe he has the potential to be the heir of Lionel Messi, given his stature and ball handling skills who resemble the Argentinian phenom.[18]

Personal life

Pafundi has an older brother, Andrea (b. 2004), who is also a footballer: they played alongside each other in the youth ranks of Udinese.[3]

Career statistics

Club
As of match played 14 May 2023[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League Coppa Italia Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Udinese 2021–22 Serie A 1000–10
2022–23 8000–80
2023–24 1000–10
Career total 1000000100

International
As of match played 16 November 2022[19]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Italy 202210
Total10

Honours

Italy U20

References
  1. "FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023™ SQUAD LIST: Italy (ITA)" (PDF). FIFA. 22 May 2023. p. 14. Retrieved 29 May 2023.
  2. The surname Pafundi is of Albanian origin. Many Arbëreshë people from the fifteenth century took refuge in exile from Albania in the kingdom of Naples. The surname Pafundi in fact means in Albanian "endless, infinite". See: .
  3. Pietrella, Francesco (24 May 2022). "Il "mancino di Maradona" e l'esordio in Serie A a 16 anni e due mesi". Cronache di spogliatoio (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  4. "Il primo 2006 della storia in Serie A: chi è Simone Pafundi". Gianlucadimarzio.com (in Italian). 22 May 2022. Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  5. Nalesso, Pietro (14 March 2022). "Udinese, Pafundi da record: primo contratto da professionista". MondoPrimavera (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  6. Sala, Federico (21 May 2022). "Simone Pafundi, chi è il classe 2006 convocato in Nazionale da Mancini" [Simone Pafundi, who is in the class of 2006 called up for the national team by Mancini]. La Repubblica (in Italian). Retrieved 22 May 2022.
  7. Nalesso, Pietro (14 May 2022). "Udinese, scatta l'ora Pafundi: prima chiamata tra i grandi". MondoPrimavera (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  8. Bergantini, Luca (22 May 2022). "Udinese, per Pafundi arriva la ciliegina sulla torta. Esordio in Serie A". MondoPrimavera (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  9. Christenson, Marcus; Bloor, Steven; Blight, Garry. "Next Generation 2023: 60 of the best young talents in world football".
  10. "Simone Pafundi". FIGC U16 profile (in Italian). Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  11. "Simone Pafundi". FIGC U17 profile (in Italian). Retrieved 24 May 2022.
  12. "Ufficializzata la lista dei 21 convocati per il Mondiale in Argentina" (in Italian). FIGC. 11 May 2023. Retrieved 11 May 2023.
  13. "Returning Rodriguez snatches Uruguay maiden title". FIFA. 11 June 2023. Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  14. Di Chiaro, Michael (11 June 2023). "Uruguay-Italia Under 20 1-0: Luciano Rodriguez stende gli Azzurrini, sudamericani Campioni del Mondo". Goal.com (in Italian). Retrieved 12 June 2023.
  15. "Trentuno convocati per le amichevoli con Albania e Austria: torna Chiesa, prima chiamata per Fagioli, Miretti e Pafundi". Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio (in Italian). 11 November 2022. Retrieved 13 November 2022.
  16. "Chi è Simone Pafundi, il trequartista mancino che Mancini ha portato in Nazionale nonostante una sola presenza in A". Retrieved 12 November 2022.
  17. "Pafundi diventa il più giovane esordiente azzurro da 100 anni. La Top 10". La Gazzetta dello Sport (in Italian). 16 November 2022.
  18. Dafirbillah, Karim (3 April 2022). "Simone Pafundi, l'X Factor della Primavera dell'Udinese". MondoPrimavera (in Italian). Retrieved 2 June 2022.
  19. Simone Pafundi at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 May 2022.
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