Orlando Daniel Gill Noldin (born 11 June 2000; ) is a Paraguayan professional association football player who plays as a goalkeeper for club Lille OSC and the Paraguay national team.

Gill began his youth career as a midfielder with local Club 13 de Junio. At age thirteen, he transitioned to playing as a goalkeeper and was subsequently scouted by then third-division side CS San Lorenzo. Gill began his senior career with CS San Lorenzo, making his professional debut in 2020 before moving to Argentina to play with San Lorenzo de Almagro on loan in 2024.

Gill was Paraguay's first choice goalkeeper at the 2026 FIFA World Cup, where his penalty saves helped to eliminate the German national team in the round of 32, and led to him being dubbed a "cult hero" by football media sources. In August 2026, Gill signed a five-year contract with French club Lille OSC.

Club career Youth career Orlando Daniel Gill Noldin was born in the Paraguayan city of San Lorenzo on 11 June 2000. He is the son of Orlando Gill Miers and Delcy Carolina Noldin and one of the brothers of Eduardo and Yanina Magalí. Gill began his youth career as a midfielder and forward with local club Sportivo Tayazuapé, here he was encouraged to become a goalkeeper by his coach. At age twelve, he joined local youth team Club 13 de Junio before being scouted the following year by the then third-division side CS San Lorenzo. Around this age, Gill was encouraged to practice basketball due to his tall height and large physique; nevertheless, he wanted to continue playing football and ignored the idea.

Senior career Club Sportivo San Lorenzo Gill gained a professional contract with CS San Lorenzo in 2019; here he made his professional debut in a 30 defeat against Club Libertad during the Torneo Apertura of the 2020 APF División de Honor, Paraguay's top tier. He disputed two more matches at the club before being loaned out to San Lorenzo de Almagro in 2024.

San Lorenzo de Almagro Gill arrived at San Lorenzo to form part of its reserve team. In his first season, he was noted for his performances during the campaign where the club finished as the reserve league's runners-up, which helped Gill to be considered as a candidate for the first-team. His debut in the first-team came in the last game of the 2024 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol, a 10 home loss against CA Tigre.

In the following campaign's pre-season, Facundo Altamirano suffered an injury in a match versus Uruguay's Club Nacional de Football; and along with the lack of goalkeepers, led Gill to start in the following three matches, where he kept a clean sheet in all three. After this, San Lorenzo opted to acquire 50 percent of Gill's contract for $500,000, as he was playing without one, and sign him until December 2027. The rest was paid to his former team, CS San Lorenzo. During the 2025 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol, which expanded to a 30-team format featuring two 15-team groups with the top eight qualifying for the play-offs to determine the league champion, Gill impressed the first matches of San Lorenzo's campaign as he beat the club record of most consecutive clean sheets during the first games of the season. He recorded nine clean sheets and conceded six goals across the fifteen matches of the group stage, helping San Lorenzo finish fourth in Group B with 27 points and qualify for the play-offs of the Torneo Apertura. Following this, San Lorenzo beat Tigre in the round of 16 to play against AA Argentinos Juniors in the Quarter-finals. In the match the score was levelled 11 at 90 minutes, meaning that it had to be decided in penalty shootout, here Gill saved a shot by Maximiliano Romero to lead San Lorenzo to the semi-finals. His team was eliminated in the semi-finals by the future champions CA Platense in a 01 score. Gill ended the Torneo Apertura with a total twelve goals conceded and nine clean sheets across nineteen matches. In the Torneo Clausura, was eliminated by Central Cordoba (SdE) in the round of 16 after qualifying for the play-offs in fifth place inside group B. He ended this half of the season with eight clean sheets with twelve goals conceded, accumulating a total of seventeen clean sheets and twenty-four goals conceded across the entire season.

In the Torneo Apertura of the 2026 AFA Liga Profesional de Fútbol, San Lorenzo qualified for the league's play-offs after finishing in the seventh place of Group A with twenty-two points. In this period, Gill accumulated eleven goals and was the goalkeeper with the most clean sheets of the tournament. His club was eliminated in the Round of 16 by CA River Plate in a penalty shootout that ended 43 after the match had ended 22; nevertheless, Gill managed to save a penalty from Kendry Páez during the shootout. In the derby game versus CA Huracán of the second half of the 2026 campaign, Gill headbutted Lucas Blondel after he conceded a goal from Ecuadorian Jordy Caicedo in a match that ended 20. As a consequent he was sent out, and was suspended for two fixtures by the disciplinary court of the Argentine Football Association.

Lille OSC The game versus CA Huracán would prove to be his last in San Lorenzo, as on 26 August 2026, Gill joined Ligue 1 club Lille OSC, signing a five-year contract. The French club paid $4,650,000 to acquire half of his economical and sporting rights. On the otherhand, San Lorenzo repaid Gill a debt of $120,000 and received $300,000 for his performances with Paraguay during the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

International career Before debuting as professional, Gill was called up to the Paraguay U20s for the 2019 South American U-20 Championship. During the tournament he only disputed one game, a 30 loss to Ecuador. Later on, manager of the senior Paraguay national team, Gustavo Alfaro, was intrigued by Gill's playing in San Lorenzo. Because of this, Gill was called up to debut in a 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification match over the Peru national team on 6 September 2025, where the Paraguayans won 10, keeping a clean sheet. In the year, he played four more games with the national team, all of them friendlies, where he conceded seven goals in total.On 1 June 2026, Gill was announced as part of the Paraguay squad for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. He had won the trust of Alfaro as the first-choice goalkeeper following the friendlies he disputed. Paraguay's World Cup campaign started with a hammering 41 defeat versus the US national team. Gill faced criticism following the defeat, but the team's coach still decided to stick with him. After this initial game, Paraguay bounced back and managed to qualify to the round of 32 as one of the eight best third-placed teams after defeating Turkey and drawing with Australia, with two clean sheets from Gill.

On 29 June 2026, Paraguay went up against Germany in a round of 32 clash. The match ended 11 after extra-time following goals from Matías Galarza Fonda for Paraguay and Kai Havertz for Germany; a second German goal was disallowed after Waldemar Anton was penalized for pushing Gill prior to the shot. In the ensuing penalty shootout, Gill was named man of the match after saving two key penalties from Kai Havertz and Nick Woltemade to help Paraguay advance to the round of 16. He was named man of the match again in the Round of 16 clash against France, which ended in a 1–0 defeat after a penalty by Kylian Mbappé. During the match, Gill saved four of out five shots on target coming from the French team,Paraguay vs. France 0–1: Summary at Soccerway. Retrieved 22 September 2026. including an impressive double save against Mbappé. Following the conclusion of the World Cup, Gill finished with the highest number of saves among all goalkeepers throught the tournament, accumulating 23 in total.

Style of play A left-footed goalkeeper, Gill is known for his shot-stopping ability and consistency. He is particularly effective at making saves from close range and has been noted for his performances under pressure. He cites Manuel Neuer and fellow retired Paraguayan goalkeeper José Luis Chilavert as primary inspirations, having incorporated free-kick taking into his own skill set in a similar fashion to Chilavert.

Personal life Gill married his wife Melissa Avalos in January 2021; she became pregnant the following year. Their son Lautaro was born on 8 December 2022 but he, along with Avalos, who needed an emergency surgery, were hospitalized due to a troubling pregnancy. Because of this, Gill had to sell his Paraguay U-20 jersey from the 2019 South American U-20 Championship along with his other football equipment to support his wife and help cover medical expenses. Following Paraguay's triumph against Germany, the Municipal Council of San Lorenzo unanimously approved the proposal to award Gill the honour of Beloved Son (hijo dilecto) of San Lorenzo.

Career statistics

Club

ClubSeasonLeagueCupOtherTotalDivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsSportivo San Lorenzo2020Paraguayan Primera División20——20San Lorenzo2024Argentine Primera División10——10202534020—36020261901060260Total5403060630Lille2026–27Ligue 100000000Career total5603060650

International

+ Appearances and goals by national team and yearNational teamYearAppsGoalsParaguay202540202680Total120

Notes

References

External links