Boca Juniors have found one of their most promising young talents this season in Leonel Flores. The 19-year-old winger has started to earn an increasingly important role with the first team and quickly carried that impact into the CONMEBOL Sudamericana, where he has already scored an important goal and become one of the young players generating excitement ahead of the quarterfinal tie against São Paulo.
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The 19-year-old prospect giving Boca hope in the Sudamericana
Leonel Flores, a 19-year-old winger developed in Boca Juniors’ academy, has emerged as one of the team’s most exciting young players during the 2026 Copa Sudamericana.
Born on February 6, 2007 and raised in La Cava, in Beccar, Flores joined Boca when he was just seven years old. Before that, he took his first steps in neighborhood clubs in the northern area of Greater Buenos Aires before being recruited by Boca and beginning a journey of more than a decade through the club’s youth system.
From the academy to the first team
Flores had already been attracting attention at reserve level. In each of his last two tournaments in that category, he scored eight goals, while also producing standout moments such as an Olimpico against Platense and a four-goal performance against Aldosivi. His pace, ability to play on either wing and one-on-one threat eventually earned him a place in the senior squad.
His breakthrough at first-team level gathered momentum during August. In one of his first major appearances, he found the net and then delivered again just a few days later on the continental stage.
On August 11, against Deportivo Recoleta in the first leg of the Sudamericana round of 16, Flores scored the third goal in Boca’s 3-1 victory. After receiving a pass from Miguel Merentiel, he struck a powerful angled shot from the edge of the box to complete the comeback.
An important emergence in the Sudamericana
That goal against Recoleta helped establish him as one of the team’s breakout young players. Boca later won the return leg 4-0 in Paraguay and advanced with a dominant 7-1 aggregate score, securing a place among the final eight teams in the competition.
Flores also began to earn more regular minutes under Rodolfo Arruabarrena, featuring on both flanks and using his speed to attack space. Boca moved quickly to secure his future and extended the contract he had originally signed in September 2024. He is now tied to the club until June 2029.
From La Cava to the quarterfinals
Flores’ story is also shaped by his early development in youth football. Christian Benítez, his first coach at El Zorzal, recalled that even at five years old he was already attempting bicycle kicks and showing an unusual instinct for attacking the goal. Years later, that same player has become a genuine option for Boca’s first team.
He now faces the biggest challenge of his short professional career. Boca will face São Paulo in the Copa Sudamericana quarterfinals, with the first leg in Argentina and the return match in Brazil. For Flores, it will be his first continental tie of this magnitude and another opportunity to confirm the progress he has shown over the past few weeks.
At just 19 years old, with pace, one-on-one ability and already a goal in the knockout stage, Leonel Flores has emerged as one of Boca’s key young bets in their attempt to keep advancing in the Sudamericana and as one of the names to watch in Argentine football.
