Yael Padilla
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Jonathan Yael Padilla Sandoval[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 19 December 2005 | ||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.72 m (5 ft 8 in)[1] | ||||||||||||||||
| Position | Winger | ||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||
Current team | Guadalajara | ||||||||||||||||
| Number | 31 | ||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||
| 2018–2023 | Guadalajara | ||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||
| 2023– | Guadalajara | 56 | (8) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024 | →Tapatío (loan) | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Mexico U18 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||
| 2024– | Mexico U20 | 14 | (1) | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18 January 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 11 October 2025 | |||||||||||||||||
Jonathan Yael Padilla Sandoval (born 19 December 2005) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a winger for Liga MX club Guadalajara and the Mexico national under-20 team.
Club career
Born in Guadalajara, Jalisco in the Mexican state of Guadalajara, Padilla joined the academy of Mexican side Guadalajara at under-13 level, in 2018.[2] Having progressed through the academy, he was named on the bench by manager Veljko Paunović for four games in the Clausura 2023, but did not feature. Ahead of the following season, he was brought into the first team for their pre-season tour of the United States, where the team would play against Deportivo Toluca and Pachuca.[3]
On 3 July 2023, Padilla made his professional debut in a match against León, coming as a substitute for Isaác Brizuela. Just seven minutes after entering the field of play, he received the ball from Víctor Guzmán on the right hand side of the penalty area, before striking the ball past León goalkeeper Rodolfo Cota at a tight angle.[2][4] With this winning goal in a 2–1 victory, he became Guadalajara's youngest Liga MX goal-scorer.[3]
In Guadalajara's following game against San Luis, Padilla was named among the starters. In the 38th minute, a looped cross from Fernando Beltrán was headed back across the penalty area by Cristian Calderón, with Padilla drilling a half-volley past San Luis goalkeeper Andrés Sánchez for his second goal in two games.[5] Following the game, manager Veljko Paunović said of Padilla: "We have a diamond in the rough that we have to polish", also stating that the midfielder showed "tremendous potential".[6]
International career
Padilla featured in two friendly matches against the Republic of Ireland national under-17 football team in September 2021.[7][8]
In 2025, Padilla was called up by coach Eduardo Arce to represent Mexico at the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Chile.[9]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 18 January 2026[10]
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Club World Cup | Other | Total | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||||
| Guadalajara | 2023–24 | Liga MX | 25 | 3 | – | 2[a] | 0 | — | 2[b] | 0 | 29 | 3 | ||
| 2024–25 | 26 | 4 | – | 3[a] | 0 | – | — | 29 | 4 | |||||
| 2025–26 | 5 | 1 | – | – | – | 2[b] | 0 | 7 | 1 | |||||
| Total | 56 | 8 | — | 5 | 0 | — | 4 | 0 | 65 | 8 | ||||
| Tapatío (loan) | 2024–25 | Liga de Expansión MX | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| Career total | 57 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 66 | 8 | ||
- ^ a b Appearances in CONCACAF Champions Cup
- ^ a b Appearances in Leagues Cup
Honours
Mexico
Individual
References
- ^ a b c Yael Padilla at WorldFootball.net
- ^ a b "¿Quién es Yael Padilla, el futbolista de 17 años que le dio el triunfo a Chivas?" [Who is Yael Padilla, the 17-year-old soccer player who gave Chivas the win?]. espn.com.mx (in Spanish). 4 July 2023. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ a b Figueroa, Juan Manuel (5 July 2023). "Yael Padilla, el tonalteca que emuló al Chicharito y es el alumno avanzado de Paunovic en Chivas" [Yael Padilla, the Tonalteca who emulated Chicharito and is Paunovic's advanced student in Chivas]. mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Torres, Mauricio (4 July 2023). "Who is Yael Padilla, the Chivas debutant whose goal earned win over León?". en.as.com. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Figueroa, Juan Manuel (8 July 2023). "Así lo vimos: Yael Padilla, la novedad que le sigue dando frutos a Paunovic en Chivas" [This is how we saw it: Yael Padilla, the novelty that continues to bear fruit for Paunovic in Chivas]. mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ Yvey, Diego (8 July 2023). "Chivas: Paunovic ve a Yael Padilla como un diamante en bruto" [Chivas: Paunovic sees Yael Padilla as a diamond in the rough]. espn.com.mx (in Spanish). Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Ireland U17 2–1 Mexico U17". fai.ie. 5 September 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Ireland U17 0–2 Mexico U17". fai.ie. 7 September 2021. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
- ^ "Convocatoria Oficial de México Sub-20 para el Mundial de Chile". MiSeleccion.mx (in Spanish). 10 September 2025. Retrieved 27 September 2025.
- ^ Yael Padilla at Soccerway
- ^ "Liga MX: ¿Quiénes fueron los ganadores del Balón de Oro?". ESPNdeportes.com. July 1, 2024.