Nicolás González: Argentina's FIFA World Cup super sub, made in the Bundesliga
Nicolás González has inspired several late Argentina comebacks in the 2026 World Cup after coming on as a substitute, using the attacking vision and skills he once honed in a VfB Stuttgart jersey.
It was Stuttgart who first took the current Aletico Madrid player to Europe, signing him as a fresh-faced 20 year-old from Argentinos Juniors in the summer of 2018.
He would immediately be exposed to the kind of adversity he helped his national team to tackle in the 2026 World Cup, making 30 Bundesliga appearances and playing both legs of the relegation/promotion play-off the Swabians narrowly lost out to Union Berlin and were sent into Bundesliga 2 at the end of his first season.
That misfortune presented an opportunity for González, however, as he smashed in 14 goals in the second tier in 2019/20 as a strong Stuttgart team featuring Gregor Kobel (now at Borussia Dortmund) and Wataru Endo (now of Liverpool) finished second to gain promotion back to the top flight at the first opportunity.
While he made 21 starts that season, González showed in Hannover shortly before Christmas just how little he wanted to wait around before making his mark on the game. He netted after 12 seconds of coming on at half-time to become the fastest substitute to score in Bundesliga 2 history.
Pellegrino Matarazzo, his Stuttgart coach at the time, said: "What I like the most about him is that he has a winning mentality. He always puts in the extra yards and is not afraid of anything."
Several injury issues reduced González to just 15 appearances in his final season in Germany in 2020/21, but he still managed to fire six Bundesliga goals - including in a 5-1 win at Dortmund in November 2020.
Having received his first call-up for Argentina while playing in Bundesliga 2 in 2019/20, the crafty attacker helped the Albiceleste lift the Copa América in the same summer he left Stuttgart for Fiorentina in Italy's Serie A, 2021.
While injury ruled him out of a chance to win the 2022 FIFA World Cup, he was a key figure off the bench in the 2026 edition having since moed to Juventus and Atletico Madrid - with the guile he developed back in the Bundesliga helping his national team to the final.
