Willy Caballero

Early career

Born in Santa Elena, Entre Ríos, Caballero started his playing career with Boca Juniors in 2001, where he won three major titles in 2003. On 14 December of that year he witnessed – from the bench – his team beat A.C. Milan 3–1 on penalties, in the 2003 Intercontinental Cup. Caballero joined Elche of Spain in 2004, and when his daughter was diagnosed with cancer he agreed to a brief loan spell back in his country with Arsenal de Sarandí to care for her, published on Ivoox. With Elche, after a rough first season, he went on to become the undisputed starter, appearing in nearly 200 Segunda División games.

Málaga

On 10 February 2011, Caballero was transferred to Málaga in La Liga for €900,000 and two and a half years, as an emergency transfer – after the transfer deadline of 31 January – due to a serious knee injury to Sergio Asenjo (their previous starter, Rubén, was also unavailable due to physical problems); he made his league debut on 20 February, starting in a 1–1 draw at Villarreal, and played all the matches until the end of the campaign, with the Andalusians finally escaping relegation. On 1 October 2011, Caballero entered Málaga's history books as he kept his goal clean for 480 minutes, beating the club's previous record of 429 held by Pedro Contreras since the 2001–02 season. On 16 October, he was sent off midway through the first half of an away fixture against Levante after touching the ball with his hands just outside the box – the…

Caballero played for Argentina at under-20 level, helping the nation win the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship by playing in the competition's last two games. In 2004, he was picked for the gold medal-winning squad at the 2004 Summer Olympics as backup to Germán Lux (also first-choice in the previous tournament).

Caballero was an unused member for the senior squad at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup. In November 2014, he was called by manager Gerardo Martino for friendlies against Croatia and Portugal. He only won his first cap nearly four years later at the age of 36, starting in a 2–0 defeat of Italy on 23 March 2018 in another exhibition game, played in Manchester. Caballero was included in the final squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. He started the tournament due to the injury of habitual first-choice Sergio Romero, and made his debut in the competition on 16 June in a 1–1 group stage draw against Iceland. In the next match against Croatia, his mistake handed the opposition the first goal in a 0–3 defeat, and he was subsequently dropped by manager Jorge Sampaoli in favour of Franco Armani for the team's final group match against Nigeria, which ended in a 2–1 win; he also did not feature in the round of 16 game, a 4–3 loss to France.

Caballero was mainly known for his shot-stopping, and ability to save penalty kicks. Although he was not initially known to be naturally adept with his feet, Caballero worked to improve his ball skills and distribution as his career progressed, which allowed him to be deployed as a sweeper keeper under manager Pep Guardiola at Manchester City, and to be involved in the build-up of attacking plays, with Guardiola even praising him for his "personality" in August 2016. He is also known for his leadership qualities in the dressing room. Moreover, Caballero has been praised for his ability as a back-up goalkeeper, and for his penchant for being decisive when called upon.

On 9 July 2023, Caballero was announced as the new assistant manager of Leicester City, becoming part of new manager Enzo Maresca's backroom staff. He moved to a similar role at his former club, Chelsea, in June 2024.