Gianfranco Facchineri

Gianfranco Facchineri (born April 27, 2002), also known as Frankie Facchineri, is a Canadian soccer player who plays for League of Ireland Premier Division club Galway United.

Early life Facchineri was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario to an Italian family. He played youth soccer with Windsor Ciociaro SC at age five. He later played with the Windsor FC Nationals and Vardar SC. He played with the Ontario provincial team at U14 and U15 levels. Two years later in August 2018, he then joined the Vancouver Whitecaps Academy. He began playing with the Whitecaps U17 and U19 sides, before moving to their development side in 2019. In August 2019, he began training with the Whitecaps first team. In 2019, he was the Whitecaps FC BMO RESP Academy Male Player award recipient.

University career In 2022, he began attending the University of Windsor, where he played for the Windsor Lancers men's soccer team. He scored his first goal on 18 September 2022 against the McMaster Marauders. (His father had previously played for the Lancers as well). On 25 September 2022, he scored two goals in a 9-0 victory over the Algoma Thunderbirds to help Windsor win their first game of the season. In 2023, he was named an OUA West First Team All-Star.

Club career In January 2020, Facchineri signed a first-team Homegrown Player contract with the Whitecaps. In July 2020, he was loaned to Atlético Ottawa in the Canadian Premier League. He made his professional debut on August 19, 2020, against Valour FC. In August 2021, he was loaned to USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC. In February 2022, he was released by the Whitecaps, with the club buying out the remainder of his contract.

In 2022, he played in the League1 Ontario Reserve Division with Tecumseh SC U21. In March 2023, he joined Windsor City FC in the League1 Ontario Premier Division. He was named the L1O Defender of the Year and a First Team All-Star in 2023.

In December 2023, he was selected in the second round (ninth overall) of the 2024 CPL–U Sports Draft by Valour FC. On July 21, 2024, he scored his first professional goal in a match against Atlético Ottawa. In August 2024, he extended his U Sports contract through the remainder of the season, rather than to return to university. During the 2024 season, he was named to the CPL Team of the Week on two occasions. In December 2024, he signed a two-year professional contract with the club through 2026.

In December 2025, he followed Valour teammate Kris Twardek in signing for League of Ireland Premier Division club Galway United ahead of the 2026 season.

International career He made his debut in the Canadian youth program in 2016, at the age of 13, attending a U15 identification camp. In 2019, he was named to the Canadian U17 team for the 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship, where he served as team captain. On 12 May, he scored the winning penalty kick in the shootout during the quarter-finals against Costa Rica U17, to earn Canada qualification for the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup, for which he was also named to the squad for. Across, the two tournaments, he played every minute for the team in their seven matches.

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