Wilson Palacios

Club

International

Scores and results list Honduras's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Palacios goal.

Palacios wore the number 8 jersey with the Honduras national team. He made his debut for the senior squad in an April 2003 friendly against Paraguay and went on to play 97 matches with Honduras, scoring four goals, in an international career lasting from 2003 to 2014. Together with David Suazo, Palacios is one of the best known Honduran international players. In the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Honduras achieved a historical distinction by including Jerry, Johnny and Wilson Palacios in their squad. They became the first trio of brothers to represent a single nation in the World Cup. Palacios was sent off in the first half of their opening game of the 2014 World Cup against France for two bookable offences; Honduras went on to lose 3–0.

Olimpia

Palacios, along with brothers Milton, Jerry, Johnny and Edwin, started his career as a footballer with Victoria, from which all five players were later transferred to Olimpia. Palacios made 102 appearances and scored 32 goals for Olimpia. He became one of the idols of the team and quickly started to attract international attention after winning five league titles with Olimpia in the 2002–03 Apertura tournament, as well as the 2003–04 Clausura, 2004–05 Clausura, 2005–06 Apertura and the 2005–06 Clausura tournaments. He is especially remembered for scoring a goal from the half-way line against Marathón in the final minutes of a game in 2006 to win the 2005–06 Clausura tournament to become champions of Honduras. After having a very successful career in Honduras, Palacios looked to make his name in the European leagues. On 14 July 2007, Palacios announced that he would travel to Serbia for a couple of months for a trial with Red Star Belgrade. He stayed for less than a month and despite impressing during his stay, he did not join the club after Red Star refused to pay a salary of, reportedly, US$1.5 million for a three-year contract. Palacios also had trials with Cagliari, AS Monaco, and Arsenal.

Birmingham City (loan)

After a recommendation from Arsenal's manager, Arsène Wenger, Premier League club Birmingham City gave Palacios a trial which proved successful, and he signed a six-month loan on 31 August 2007. He made his debut on 22 September in a…

Palacios is the brother of Milton, Jerry, Johnny and Edwin. On 30 October 2007, his brother Edwin, then aged 14, was kidnapped by five armed men from the family home in La Ceiba. In November 2007, the family paid a £125,000 ransom and it was reported that Edwin had been released, but this proved not to be the case. In January 2009, Palacios' mother made a televised appeal for the kidnappers to open communication with the family, expressing her need to find out if Edwin was still alive, her fears that Palacios' big-money transfer to Tottenham would only strengthen the kidnappers' demands, and a request for help from the British authorities. She stressed that Palacios' team received the transfer fee but the player had only his salary, and that the family's situation was distressing for him. On 8 May 2009, following a confession from two leaders of the 18th Street gang, police found a body in the municipality of El Paraíso which they believed to be the remains of Edwin. Palacios returned home to Honduras the next day on compassionate leave. On 28 May, the body was confirmed as that of Edwin, and his funeral was held the following day in La Ceiba. On 30 May, despite his loss, Wilson Palacios joined up with the national team to train in preparation for the World Cup qualifying games against the United States and El Salvador. In September 2011, Palacios had his car confiscated by Staffordshire Police after he failed to provide them with his driving licence.