Iker Muniain

Iker Muniain
Muniain playing for Athletic Bilbao in 2014
Personal information
Full name Iker Muniain Goñi
Date of birth (1992-12-19) 19 December 1992 (age 31)
Place of birth Pamplona, Spain
Height 1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)[1]
Position(s) Winger, forward
Team information
Current team
San Lorenzo
Number 80
Youth career
2000–2005 Txantrea
2005–2009 Athletic Bilbao
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2010 Bilbao Athletic 19 (3)
2009–2024 Athletic Bilbao 434 (56)
2024– San Lorenzo 1 (0)
International career
2008 Spain U16 2 (1)
2008–2009 Spain U17 20 (2)
2010 Spain U19 5 (0)
2011 Spain U20 1 (0)
2011–2014 Spain U21 31 (7)
2012 Spain U23 3 (0)
2012–2019 Spain 2 (0)
2010–2020 Basque Country 4 (2)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Spain
FIFA U-17 World Cup
Third place 2009 Nigeria Team
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 01:43, 14 September 2024 (UTC)

Iker Muniain Goñi (Basque: [iker muniain ɡoɲi], Spanish: [ˈikeɾ muˈnjajŋ ˈɡoɲi];[α] born 19 December 1992) is a Spanish professional footballer who plays mainly as a winger but also as a forward for Argentine Primera División club San Lorenzo.

He began his professional career with Athletic Bilbao, debuting aged 16 in 2009 as their youngest player in a competitive match. Due to his style of play and stature, as a teenager he was dubbed "the Spanish Messi" by the media.[2] He helped the team reach the final of the UEFA Europa League in 2012 and played in Copa del Rey finals in 2012, 2020 and 2021, but finished on the losing side each time. In 2022 he became the sixth player to make 500 appearances for the club, and lifted the Spanish Cup as captain in 2024, a few months before leaving to end a 19-year association.

Muniain made 59 appearances for Spain at youth level, winning the European Under-21 Championship in 2011 and 2013. He also featured at the 2012 Olympics, in the same year as his senior Spain debut. He was selected again in 2019, gaining a second international cap seven years after the first.

  1. ^ "Iker Muniain". Athletic Bilbao. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
  2. ^ "Manchester United given go-ahead to sign the "New Messi"". Sports Vibe. 19 October 2011. Archived from the original on 22 December 2011. Retrieved 7 March 2012.


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