Diego Reyes

Diego Reyes (full name Diego Antonio Reyes Rosales, nicknamed El Flaco) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a center-back and won the gold medal in men's football at the 2012 Summer Olympics with Mexico. Born in 1992 in Mexico City, he came through Club América, moved to FC Porto in 2013, and later played for Tigres UANL and Querétaro in Liga MX.¹

Youth international career

Reyes was selected by coach José Luis González China for the 2009 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, where Mexico qualified for the U-17 World Cup and reached the round of 16.³

With the under-23 side he won gold at the 2011 Pan American Games, beating Argentina 1-0 in the final, and in 2012 he was part of the team that won the Toulon Tournament, defeating Turkey 3-1 in the final.³

2012 Olympic gold

At 19 he was the youngest member of the squad.⁴ Across the tournament he played six matches totaling 570 minutes.⁵ In the qualification campaign earlier that year he had made five appearances, scored one goal, and played 435 minutes in the CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament in the United States.¹ The gold was Mexico's only gold medal of the 2012 Games.^{6 • 14}

Club career

América. In December 2012, FC Porto announced his signing for an undisclosed fee on a contract running to 2018, with the 20-year-old remaining at América until the summer.⁷

Porto and loans. He was part of the Porto side that won the 2018 Portuguese championship.² A 2017 report in the Mexican edition of AS described him as among the best central defenders of the previous Spanish league season, alongside Sergio Ramos, Diego Godín, and Gerard Piqué.⁸

Later clubs. With Tigres he was a finalist in the 2020 FIFA Club World Cup.² He later appeared for Querétaro.⁹

Mexico national team

Reyes debuted for the senior national team at the 2011 Copa América, in a match against Chile on 4 July, with Mexico fielding an under-22 squad at that tournament.⁴

He first captained Mexico on 29 January 2014 against South Korea, taking the armband after Rafael Márquez was substituted in a 4-0 win.⁴ Coach Miguel Herrera included him in the final 23-player squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, where he played against the Netherlands in the round of 16.⁴

Other athletes named Diego Reyes

The name is shared by several other competitors. A Guatemalan taekwondoin named Diego Reyes competes internationally in the men's -54 kg kyorugi division, taking silver at the 2025 Central American Games and at the 2026 Nations Cup.¹⁰ A Mexican goalkeeper named Diego Fernando Reyes Victoria, born in 2003 in Zamora de Hidalgo, is a former Mexico U20 international.¹¹

References

1. Diego Reyes, Olympedia
2. Diego Reyes, fiche joueur, L'Équipe
3. Diego Reyes, Fútbol Mexicano Wiki
4. Diego Reyes Rosales, Mexpedia
5. Diego Reyes stats, FootballTransfers
6. Mexico at the 2012 Summer Olympics, Olympedia
7. Porto make move for Mexico defender Reyes, UEFA.com
8. Diego Reyes regresaría con el Porto, por la revancha, AS USA
9. Diego Reyes, MLSsoccer.com
10. Diego REYES, taekwondo profile, TAEKWONDO.TV
11. Diego Reyes, player profile, Transfermarkt
12. Diego Reyes - Player profile, Transfermarkt
13. Diego Reyes - National team, Transfermarkt
14. Olympedia, Mexico (MEX)

Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Association football › Football people and teams › People › Men's footballers of North and Central America and the Caribbean › Mexico men's footballers

Initially written Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Oct 25, 2026

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