Diego Forlán, Uruguay footballer: Profile, Career, News & Videos

Diego Forlán is a Uruguayan football manager and a former player, who played as a forward, and last served as head coach for Uruguayan Segunda División club Club Atlético Atenas. Widely regarded as one of the best forwards of his generation, Forlán was praised for his versatility, intelligence, technique, and shooting abilities. As of 2026, Forlán is a professional tennis player, having made his ATP debut at the 2024 Uruguay Open.

Forlán started his career in his native Uruguay as a youth player with Peñarol and Danubio, before joining Argentine club Independiente in 1997. After rising through their youth team and a successful four-year spell, he sealed a move to England with Manchester United in 2002. His form for Manchester United was not as successful as at Independiente, although he won the Premier League in 2002–03 and the FA Cup in 2003–04. In the summer of 2004, Forlán moved to Spanish side Villarreal. In his first season with the club, he won the Pichichi Trophy and European Golden Shoe with 25 goals. After two more successful seasons with Villarreal, during which he won the UEFA Intertoto Cup in 2004 and reached the semi-finals of the UEFA Champions League in 2005–06, Forlán joined Atlético Madrid in 2007 where, in the 2008–09 season, he once again became the league's top scorer, winning both the Pichichi Trophy and European Golden Shoe for the second time with 32 goals, becoming the first player to win the Pichichi Trophy twice since Ronaldo in 1996–97 and 2003–04. Forlán also won the UEFA Europa League, of which he scored the decisive goal in the final, and the UEFA Super Cup with Atlético Madrid, both in 2010. In 2011, he joined Italian club Inter Milan, before moving to Internacional in Brazil during the 2012 season. After spells in Japan with Cerezo Osaka, back in Uruguay with his boyhood club Peñarol, in India with Mumbai City and in Hong Kong with Kitchee, Forlán officially announced his retirement from professional football in August 2019.

Forlán also had a successful international career, scoring 36 times for his country between his debut in 2002 and his international retirement in 2015. Forlán represented Uruguay in three FIFA World Cups (2002, 2010, 2014) and three Copa Américas (2004, 2007, 2011). His most notable achievement came at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, in which he led Uruguay to the final four for the first time since the 1970 FIFA World Cup, scoring five goals and one assist in the process, and was ultimately awarded the Golden Ball as the tournament's best player, selected for team of the tournament, and was the joint–top scorer. In the following year, Forlán earned his 79th international cap in a match against Mexico, breaking the record held since 1986 by goalkeeper Rodolfo Rodríguez, at the 2011 Copa América, in which Uruguay won for the first time since 1995, with Forlán scoring two goals in the final. On 20 June 2013, in a match against Nigeria at the 2013 Confederations Cup, Forlán became the first Uruguayan to win 100 caps. He was Uruguay's all-time leading top scorer from 2011 until Luis Suárez overtook him two years later in 2013.

After retiring as a player, Forlán began his coaching career in Uruguay, managing Peñarol and Atenas in 2020 and 2021. He has also collaborated with FIFA in several ventures, having served as a tournament ambassador for the 2018 FIFA U-17 Women's World Cup, and since 2022, has served as an international ambassador for the FIFA Museum. Since July 2023, Forlán has continued his tennis career, competing in the ITF Masters tour, ranking in the 35+, 40+, and 45+ age categories, and played his first ATP event at the 2024 Uruguay Open in doubles with Federico Coria.