Gonzalo García has become the undisputed breakout star of this FIFA Club World Cup. The young Real Madrid striker leads the scoring charts with four goals in five matches, grabbing headlines ahead of even the club’s marquee trio—Bellingham, Mbappé, and Vinicius.

Yet for many casual fans and international outlets, Gonzalo is still something of a mystery. At 21, he’s had a remarkable season with Real Madrid Castilla, scoring 25 goals in 36 matches under Raúl González in the Primera RFEF. Though he’s been part of La Fábrica since 2014 (joining as a U12 player), few know that his football journey actually began in Argentina.

Between 2010 and 2012, Gonzalo lived in Tigre, Buenos Aires, due to his father’s job. It was there, at just six years old, that he began playing football at Club Santa Bárbara. "I lived there for two years because of my father's work, and that's where I started playing football," Gonzalo revealed in an interview with Argentine channel DSports. “I was very young and don’t remember a lot, but that’s where it began.”

Upon returning to Spain, he played for RACE Jarama from 2012 to 2014 before finally joining Real Madrid. A brief departure in 2018 saw him spend a season at RCD Mallorca’s academy, once again due to his father’s work relocation—this time to the Balearic Islands. Gonzalo lived there for a year but always saw his future in white. He returned to Madrid, moved in with his grandmother, and quickly climbed through the youth ranks, eventually debuting in the UEFA Youth League and earning a call-up to the U-18 team in 2021.

Now, wearing number 30 at the Club World Cup, Gonzalo is seizing his moment—and it may just be the beginning of a long career at the top.

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