Paolo Guerrero

Early career

Guerrero was born in Lima, starting his football career in the youth teams of Alianza Lima. In 2003, he signed a contract with Bavarian giants Bayern Munich. During the 2003–04 season, Guerrero played in the Regionalliga Süd where he scored 21 goals in 23 games. During the 2004–05 season, he joined fellow countryman Claudio Pizarro as a member of the Bayern first team.

Bayern Munich

At the beginning of 2002, after rejecting an offer from K.R.C. Genk of Belgium, Bayern Munich of Germany announced his incorporation to the second team. This signing led to a conflict between Alianza Lima and Bayern. The case was raised to FIFA, which decided that the German club should pay for training rights since, although Guerrero had a formal contract with Alianza, it was not of a professional nature. Once the problem was solved, Guerrero began playing with Bayern Munich II in the Regionalliga South, which at that time was the third division of German football. On May 30, 2004 he was crowned champion in this category. At the team level, he played his first game with the Bayern professional team on October 23, 2004 against Hansa Rostock.with the number "33", while his first goal in the Bundesliga was scored against Hannover 96. In total, Guerrero spent four seasons at Bayern Munich, alternating the last two in the first team, the same team with which he scored ten goals in the Bundesliga and two in the UEFA Champions League. In June 2006 he left Bayern Munich.…

Guerrero's national career began at the 2001 Bolivarian Games where he won gold with the U-17 squad. His career with the senior team began in the unsuccessful 2006 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, but he managed to score twice for the national side. His first goal was the winner against Chile in Lima's Estadio Nacional. It was followed by a first-minute goal in the next match against Ecuador at the same venue, though the Ecuadorians fought back to secure a 2–2 away draw. In the opening game of the 2007 Copa América in Mérida, Venezuela, Guerrero concluded a 3–0 win over Uruguay as Peru went on to reach the quarter-finals.

2011 Copa América

Guerrero was ruled out of Peru's first two 2010 World Cup qualifying games because of injury. A further blow to Peru was laid down by FIFA when Guerrero was suspended six games for insulting the referee during the match against Uruguay in June 2008. Following Peru's disastrous qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup, José del Solar was replaced with Uruguayan manager Sergio Markarián and Guerrero was called up for the 2011 Copa América. In place of an injured Pizarro, Guerrero played as the team's starting striker in the competition and scored five times, making him the tournament's top scorer, one each against Uruguay and Mexico followed by a hat-trick against Venezuela in the third place play-off match which Peru won 4–1.

2015 Copa América and Copa América Centenario

At the 2015 Copa América held in Chile,…

Club

As of match played 29 August 2026

International

As of match played 10 June 2025

Guerrero has a fear of flying. Media reports claim his fear of flying is due to the death of his uncle José González Ganoza in the 1987 Alianza Lima air disaster. Guerrero's older brother, Julio Rivera, was also a footballer for the Peru national team who progressed through the Alianza Lima youth system. The brothers were both following in the path of their uncle who had represented Alianza Lima and the Peru national team before them. Guerrero is Roman Catholic. His nephew, also named Julio Rivera, was found dead from a robbery in Lima in 2019. Guerrero held his death with sorrow and honor to his late nephew. In 2024, his mother was targeted for extortion by gangs. In 2016, the film Guerrero was released, featuring Paolo Guerrero and the story of his rise to success. On 5 October 2022, Netflix released Paolo Guerrero's series, Contigo capitán (The Fight for Justice: Paolo Guerrero in English), showing the story of Guerrero's false doping leading up to the 2018 FIFA World Cup.