Loris Benito

Loris Benito
Benito playing for Switzerland U21 in 2013
Personal information
Full name Loris Benito Souto[1]
Date of birth (1992-01-07) 7 January 1992[1]
Place of birth Aarau, Switzerland
Height 1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s) Left-back, centre-back
Team information
Current team
Young Boys
Number 23
Youth career
2000–2009 FC Aarau
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2009–2012 FC Aarau 47 (2)
2012–2014 FC Zürich 58 (0)
2014–2015 Benfica 2 (0)
2015 Benfica B 3 (0)
2015–2019 Young Boys 71 (2)
2019–2021 Bordeaux 55 (1)
2022 Sion 13 (0)
2022– Young Boys 62 (2)
International career
2010–2011 Switzerland U19 12 (1)
2011–2012 Switzerland U20 6 (0)
2014 Switzerland U21 7 (0)
2018– Switzerland 13 (1)
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 19:16, 24 May 2025 (UTC)
‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 19:44, 4 June 2023 (UTC)

Loris Benito Souto (born 7 January 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a left-back or centre-back for Young Boys and the Switzerland national team.

Club career

Benito was born in Aarau, Switzerland. A product of local FC Aarau youth ranks, he made his professional debut on 1 November 2009 at age 17 under then-coach Martin Andermatt. His performances led to a move in 2012 to FC Zürich.[2]

On 10 March 2013, in an away match against FC Thun, Benito was bitten on the finger by a beech marten he had caught after it invaded the pitch.[3]

After solid performances in the Swiss league, news started about a potential move abroad.[4] On 22 June 2014, Benito signed a five-year deal with Portuguese champions Benfica for an unconfirmed fee of around €2.5 million.[5]

On 18 October 2014, Benito made his debut for Benfica in a win at S.C. Covilhã (2–3) in the third round of Taça de Portugal.[6] On 6 December 2014, he debuted in Primeira Liga in a home win (3–0) against Belenenses.

On 22 February 2015, Benito debuted for Benfica B against Oriental in Segunda Liga.[7]

On 23 June 2015, he returned to Swiss football, signing a four-year contract with BSC Young Boys.[8][9] His first two seasons back in Switzerland were spent mostly on the sidelines with injuries including a metatarsal fracture and torn ligaments in his knee.

He also played for French club FC Girondins de Bordeaux between 2019 and 2021.

On 30 January 2022, Benito signed a 1.5-year contract with Sion.[10]

On 4 July 2022, he returned to Young Boys on a three-year contract.[11] He scored a late own goal against Celtic on 22 January 2025, to put Celtic in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.[12]

International career

In May 2019, Benito played in the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished fourth.[13]

In 2021, he was called up to the national team for the 2020 UEFA European Championship, where the team created one of the main sensations of the tournament reaching the quarter-finals.[14]

Personal life

He is the nephew of Ivan Benito.[15] Of Galician descent, Benito is fluent in German, Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese (Galician), and French.[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 24 May 2025[17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
Aarau 2009–10 Swiss Super League 7 0 0 0 7 0
2010–11 Swiss Challenge League 26 0 2 0 28 0
2011–12 Swiss Challenge League 13 2 2 0 15 2
Total 46 2 4 0 50 2
Zürich 2011–12 Swiss Super League 2 0 0 0 0 0 2 0
2012–13 Swiss Super League 28 0 2 1 0 0 30 1
2013–14 Swiss Super League 28 0 2 0 2[c] 0 32 0
Total 58 0 4 1 2 0 0 0 64 1
Benfica 2014–15 Primeira Liga 2 0 2 0 1 0 1[d] 0 0 0 6 0
Benfica B 2014–15 Liga Sabseg 3 0 3 0
Young Boys 2015–16 Swiss Super League 10 0 1 0 1[d] 0 12 0
2016–17 Swiss Super League 7 0 0 0 2[c] 0 9 0
2017–18 Swiss Super League 23 1 3 0 5[e] 0 31 1
2018–19 Swiss Super League 31 1 3 0 8[d] 0 42 1
2019–20 Swiss Super League 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
Total 71 2 7 0 16 0 94 2
Bordeaux 2019–20 Ligue 1 23 1 2 0 2 0 27 1
2020–21 Ligue 1 31 0 0 0 31 0
2021–22 Ligue 1 1 0 0 0 1 0
Total 55 1 2 0 2 0 59 1
Sion 2021–22 Swiss Super League 13 0 0 0 13 0
Young Boys 2022–23 Swiss Super League 19 0 4 1 4[f] 0 27 1
2023–24 Swiss Super League 16 2 2 0 7[d] 0 25 2
2024–25 Swiss Super League 27 0 3 0 5[d] 0 35 0
Total 62 2 9 1 16 0 87 3
Career total 309 7 28 2 7 0 34 0 0 0 376 9
  1. ^ Includes Swiss Cup, Coupe de France, Taça de Portugal
  2. ^ Includes Taça da Liga, Coupe de la Ligue
  3. ^ a b Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  4. ^ a b c d e Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
  5. ^ Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
  6. ^ Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 20 June 2021[18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Switzerland 2018 2 0
2019 3 1
2020 5 0
2021 3 0
Total 13 1
Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first.[18]
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1. 16 November 2019 Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar  Gibraltar 4–1 6–1 UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Benfica

FC Zürich

Young Boys

Individual

References

  1. ^ a b c "Loris Benito" (in German). Swiss Football League. Retrieved 18 June 2021.
  2. ^ "Loris Benito at FC Zurich". FC Zurich.
  3. ^ "Marten runs wild on field, bites player during soccer match in Switzerland" Archived 13 March 2013 at the Wayback Machine National Post. Retrieved on 11 March 2013.
  4. ^ "Tottenham consider transfer swoop for Loris Benito of FC Zurich". Daily Mirror. 8 April 2014.
  5. ^ "Der FC Zürich ist in Oberstaufen angekommen". FC Zurich. 22 June 2014.
  6. ^ "Taça de Portugal: Benfica sofre mas segue em frente" (in Portuguese). FPF. 18 October 2014.
  7. ^ "Benfica B - Oriental (Jornada 29 Segunda Liga 2014-2015) - Liga Portugal" (in Portuguese). LPFP. 22 February 2015. Retrieved 22 February 2015.
  8. ^ "Loris Benito wechselt zu den Young Boys" [Loris Benito joins Young Boys] (in German). BSC Young Boys. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 23 June 2015.
  9. ^ "Loris Benito transferred to Young Boys". S.L. Benfica. 23 June 2015. Retrieved 29 June 2015.
  10. ^ "Loris Benito est sédunois !" (Press release) (in French). Sion. 30 January 2022. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
  11. ^ "LORIS BENITO KEHRT ZU YB ZURÜCK" (in German). Young Boys. 4 July 2022. Retrieved 14 October 2022.
  12. ^ Walker, Mark (23 January 2025). "YB captain's misfortune: The own goal that changed the game for Celtic". The Herald. Retrieved 23 January 2025.
  13. ^ "Pickford the hero in England shootout win". BBC Sport.
  14. ^ https://www.uefa.com / uefaeuro-2020 / match / 2024485 - switzerland-vs-spain / lineups /? iv = true
  15. ^ Wiederkehr, David (4 August 2013). "Auf dem Lehrpfad nach oben". Tages-Anzeiger (in German). Retrieved 6 September 2020.
  16. ^ admin (11 October 2019). "Football: Loris Benito looking for a new challenge … linguistics – News Sports: Football". News1 English. Retrieved 18 November 2019.
  17. ^ Loris Benito at Soccerway
  18. ^ a b "Loris Benito". National Football Teams. Benjamin Strack-Zimmermann. Retrieved 3 December 2020.
  19. ^ Cunha, Pedro Jorge (17 May 2015). "Benfica bicampeão: 28 com as faixas e dois à espera" [Benfica back-to-back champion: 28 with the sashes and two await] (in Portuguese). Maisfutebol. Retrieved 19 May 2015.
  20. ^ "Super League: Kevin Mbabu élu joueur de l'année". RTSSport.ch (in French). 28 January 2019. Retrieved 16 September 2023.