When Willian Pacho was asked about the number 51 on his jersey, the Ecuadorian defender’s reply spoke volumes about his rise from poverty, the challenges he faced along the way, and how it has shaped the 24-year-old Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) centre-back.

“I wore that number for a long time at Independiente del Valle and then at Royal Antwerp, and I became attached to it,” he said in an interview with the official PSG website. “But the main reason behind it is related to my mother, who passed away at the age of 51. Wearing that number is a way for me to pay tribute to her, and it gives me strength in every game.”

It was a simple statement, devoid of melodrama yet efficient in getting to the heart of the matter – similar in style to the economy of movement that characterises Pacho’s football.

When journalists praise his defensive skills – which earned him a man of the match (MOTM) at the 2026 Champions League semi-finals – Pacho can be similarly humble and down-to-earth. “Without this team, I wouldn’t be a great defender,” he told French sports daily, L’Equipe.

On Saturday night, PSG’s prized centre-back is set to play his second consecutive Champions League final. There’s a lot at stake when PSG meets Arsenal for European club football’s most important trophy. For PSG, victory at Puskas Arena would see the Parisians become only the second team – after Zinedine Zidane‘s Real Madrid streak from 2016-18 – to retain the trophy since the old European Cup was rebranded as the Champions League in 1992.

As the reigning European champions, Luis Enrique’s team faces Mike Arteta’s Arsenal, the newly crowned English champion which own one of the Champions League’s meanest defences. But PSG comes with the assurance of defending champions – with Pacho as the pillar of their defensive line.

For the kid from Quininde, a nondescript town in Ecuador’s northern lowlands, it’s been a long journey to global football heights.

A childhood marred by violence

Pacho was born into extreme poverty near Ecuador’s Pacific coast, in the province of Esmeraldas, which was plagued by violence from drug traffickers and criminal gangs. “I took my first steps in football in the neighbourhood where I lived, and I learned a lot from that,” he recounted. He played his first official matches for Huracan de Quininde, a local amateur club.

The turning point came during his teenage years, when Pacho was spotted by scouts from Independiente del Valle. A club in the suburbs of the capital, Quito, Independiente del Valle over the past few decades has become Ecuador’s most renowned academy, whose alumni include Chelsea defender Moises Caicedo and an entire generation of players who went on to play in Europe’s top leagues.

Pacho’s coaches noticed the young player’s calm and composure on the field very early. At 20, the young man from Quininde crossed the Atlantic to join Royal Antwerp in Belgium. In Frankfurt, where he signed in the summer of 2023, the Bundesliga introduced him to the rest of Europe. The following summer, PSG made their move: €45 million later, Pacho became the first Ecuadorian in the club’s history.

But the signing was a gamble taken by Luis Campos, the Parisian club’s Portuguese sporting advisor, and it raised some questions at that time, according to French sports journalist Karim Baldé. “There was a question mark when he arrived,” Baldé explains. “It was an expensive transfer, a player little known to the general public, with a specific need to be filled: finding someone to support Marquinhos, or even, eventually, succeed him, while Presnel Kimpembe was plagued by physical setbacks.”

‘The best defender in the world’

As the Champions League campaign unfolded last year, Pacho became increasingly indispensable. “The turning point was around the match against Liverpool,” in the round of 16, said Baldé. “That’s when he really found his place.”

Read morePSG beat Liverpool at Anfield to reach Champions League semi-finals

Since then, the Pacho-Marquinhos pairing has remained unchanged. The Ecuadorian defender himself explains what this duo brings him: “Marquinhos is an incredible person. He’s supported me from day one. He sets an example with his determination to always win. The fact that he speaks Spanish has been crucial for me. He helps me understand the game, anticipate plays, and position myself well,” Pacho explained in an interview with the UEFA website. The 32-year-old Brazilian, for his part, has publicly described his Ecuadorian partner as the best defender in the world.

In two seasons, Pacho has established himself as one of Enrique’s most reliable players; an undisputed starter and a key figure in the victory over Inter Milan in the 2025 final, when he became the first Ecuadorian in history to win a Champions League trophy.

This year’s semifinal against Bayern Munich highlighted the limitations of this high-pressing defence as Paris struggled. But Baldé sees it differently: “In their positioning, especially when playing offside traps, the two are in sync. From the stands, you can see the trust they have in each other. When there’s pressure, Marquinhos rarely targets Pacho. He’s solid: he’s a physically reliable guy,” explained Baldé.

Pacho describes Caicedo, his fellow Ecuadorian footballer, best friend and national teammate, as a “beast” on the field. Together, they could dazzle the world at the World Cup, facing the German national team or the Ivory Coast’s Elephants. Before that, on Saturday night in Budapest, Willian Pacho will be looking to take down Arsenal.

(This is a translation of the original in French.)