Nicolás Castillo

Nicolás Ignacio Castillo Mora (born 14 February 1993) is a Chilean footballer who plays as a striker for Mexican club UNAM.

Castillo was born and raised in Renca, suburb of the capital Santiago. During his childhood he was part of Universidad Católica's supporter groups and later he joined the club's youth ranks aged 12.

In 2010 he made a goalscorer debut against San Pedro de Atacama football team for a cup game, sealing a 10–0 thrash of Católica after scoring the tenth and last goal of it. The same year he was named the year’s young player of the club.

Finally in 2011, he professionally debuted in a league game against Cobreloa coming on as an 84th-minute substitute during a 2–0 win. On 2 March 2012 Castillo scored his first competitive goal in a 2–0 win over Rangers, again for a league game.

As a result of his performance in the U20 World Cup, Castillo was linked with Premier League side Manchester United, where his compatriot Ángelo Henríquez was playing at the time. Despite the rumours surrounding his movement, a transfer never materialized.

In January 2014, Universidad Católica reached an agreement to sell Castillo to Belgian Pro League side Club Brugge The move became official as Castillo signed for a fee of €3 million on a deal until 2018. He scored in his debut for Club Brugge in a 3–1 win over Genk on 9 February 2014. He struggled to score again the same season, but did so during the play-offs in the last game of the season against Zulte Waregem, which Brugge winning 2–0.

On 9 November 2014, Castillo netted a hat-trick in Brugge's 5–0 home win over Westerlo. On 28 January, he was loaned to FSV Mainz 05 until the end of the season, with an option to buy. On 7 April, having only made one substitute appearance for the Bundesliga club, he was ruled out for the remainder of the season with damage to his right knee ligaments.

On 28 August 2015, Castillo joined Frosinone from Club Brugge until the end of the season.

Castillo was listed in the 21 man squad in the FIFA U-20 World Cup. In the tournament, Castillo scored four goals, making him the top-scorer for Chile, including scoring an opener against Egypt.

Castillo made his debut for Chile on 23 March 2013 in the 1–0 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification (CONMEBOL) loss away to Peru, coming on as a 70th-minute substitute for Jean Beausejour.

In 2016, he was nominated in the 2016 Copa América squad and was part of the Chilean victory. He was subbed in the 104th minute of the final against Argentina, which Chile won 4–2 on penalties where he converted the 3rd spot kick.

Club

Universidad Católica

• Primera División de Chile (2): Torneo Clausura 2015–16, Torneo Apertura 2016-17
• Copa Chile (1): 2011
• Supercopa de Chile (1): 2016

Club Brugge

• Belgian Cup: 2014–15

International

Chile

• Copa América: 2016