André Carrillo's Biography: the Culebra of the national team

Few Peruvians have played for two of the three big clubs in Portugal, and he is one of them. André Carrillo passed through Sporting Lisbon and Benfica, tried the Premier League with Watford, earned money and titles in Saudi Arabia with Al-Hilal and in 2026 plays for Corinthians in Brazil. At 35 he has one of the most travelled careers in Peruvian football. Here you will find his full path with the verified facts: where he came from, why they call him "la Culebra", what each of his transfers means and where he is playing right now.

Who is André Carrillo?

André Carrillo is a Peruvian footballer born on June 14, 1991 in Lima. He plays as a midfielder and is known for his time at Sporting Lisbon, Benfica and Al-Hilal, as well as for his career with the Peruvian national team. In 2026 he plays for Corinthians in Brazil.

André Carrillo's personal details

Field: Detail

Full name: André Martín Carrillo Díaz

Nickname: La Culebra

Date of birth: June 14, 1991

Place of birth: Lima, Peru

Age (2026): 35 years old

Star sign: Gemini

Nationality: Peruvian

Position: Midfielder

Current club: Corinthians (Brazil)

Professional debut: December 5, 2009, with Alianza Lima

André Carrillo's childhood and early years

André Martín Carrillo Díaz was born in Lima on June 14, 1991 and came through the youth divisions of Alianza Lima, one of the clubs with the most tradition in Peruvian football.

His professional debut came on December 5, 2009, having just turned 18. Making your debut so young at a big club in Peru involves something that would later shape his career: he reached the European market with official first division minutes behind him, not only with promise.

The nickname appeared early. "La Culebra" is the label he has been known by since his first years and it refers to the way he takes players on: a fast winger, able to beat opponents in short spaces. In Peru football nicknames tend to describe the style rather than the person, and his is no exception.

At Famosix we avoid recording childhood details that are not confirmed by reliable sources. What is documented is that his move abroad was fast: in a short time he went from Alianza Lima to Portuguese football.

André Carrillo's professional career

His career is one of the most international in contemporary Peruvian football and it covers four countries outside Peru.

After his initial spell at Alianza Lima, he made the leap to Portugal with Sporting Lisbon, one of the three big clubs in the country. He then arrived at Benfica, the most decorated club in Portugal, an uncommon circumstance: few players wear the shirts of two of the three big Portuguese clubs.

From there he moved to England, to Watford, which allowed him to play in the Premier League, the league with the greatest media exposure in the world. The next move took him to Saudi Arabia, to Al-Hilal, one of the most powerful clubs on the Asian continent, where he stayed several years.

In 2026 his career took another geographical turn when he signed for Corinthians, one of the clubs with the biggest fan base in Brazil.

That long list of destinations has a double reading. It speaks of a footballer with a market, able to find a place in leagues very different from each other; and also of a career without the prolonged attachment to a single club that those who reach their ceiling in Europe usually have.

His longest spell was the Saudi one. Saudi Arabian football offers contracts hard to match in Europe for a player who has already passed thirty, and a good part of the South American footballers who go there do so for that reason. The trade-off is visibility: you play far from the European media spotlight and at times that make it hard to follow from the Americas.

On the Peruvian national team front, Carrillo has been for more than a decade one of the regular names in the starting eleven, in the generation that took Peru back to a World Cup after thirty-six years of absence.

Milestones of his career:

• December 5, 2009: he makes his professional debut with Alianza Lima
• He signs for Sporting Lisbon: first step in Portuguese football
• He moves to Benfica: he becomes one of the few Peruvians to play for two big Portuguese clubs
• He plays for Watford: he reaches the English Premier League
• Spell at Al-Hilal: years in Saudi Arabian football
• 2026: he signs for Corinthians in Brazil

André Carrillo's clubs

André Carrillo's personal life

Carrillo has kept his private life considerably more reserved than other Peruvian footballers of his generation, whose names circulate frequently through the showbusiness programmes.

That discretion is consistent with his professional profile. His media presence is almost always tied to sport: call-ups, transfers and national team matches, rather than to showbusiness.

It is a notable difference within his own generation. Several of the Peruvian footballers who shared a dressing room with him in the national team appear frequently on the showbusiness programmes, with their separations and their controversies filling prime time. Carrillo has stayed out of that circuit almost entirely, and his name rarely heads a piece that is not about sport.

At Famosix we respect that distinction and we record only what he has made public. In an industry where footballers' private lives are discussed as much as their performance, the decision to keep it aside deserves to be treated as what it is: a legitimate choice.

Fun facts about André Carrillo

• He played for two of the three big clubs in Portugal: Sporting Lisbon and Benfica, something uncommon among Peruvians.
• He made his debut at 18: on December 5, 2009, with Alianza Lima.
• He has played in five countries: Peru, Portugal, England, Saudi Arabia and Brazil.
• His nickname describes his game: "la Culebra" alludes to the way he takes on and beats opponents.
• He went from Asian to Brazilian football: two markets with very different logics and demands.
• He is a Gemini: his birthday is on June 14, in the middle of the international tournament season.
• He came out of Alianza Lima's youth ranks: the same club where he made his professional debut.

André Carrillo in 2026

2026 finds him in Brazil, wearing the shirt of Corinthians as a midfielder. It is a demanding destination: the club from São Paulo has one of the biggest and most demanding fan bases on the continent, and the Brasileirão is a league of a high level and a tight calendar.

The move has sporting logic. After several years in Saudi Arabia, a league with a lot of money but less competitiveness, returning to South American football means recovering competitive rhythm in a context where the matches are watched from Peru.

That detail is no small thing for an international. Playing in Brazil means the Peruvian national team's coaching staff can follow him week by week in a league of proven level, something much harder to assess from the Saudi championship.

At 35 he faces the stage in which a fast winger reinvents his game: less pure dribbling, more reading and positioning. At Famosix we follow his sporting performance, which is the ground where his career is measured, and not the speculation about his life off the pitch. You can see other figures of Peruvian sport in our ranking of Peruvian celebrities.

Conclusion

André Carrillo has played in five countries and for two of the three big clubs in Portugal, a path very few Peruvian footballers can show. His spell at Corinthians is the most recent chapter of a long and travelled career. At Famosix we follow his sporting news with the confirmed facts.

Sources consulted

• Wikipedia: André Carrillo
• SL Benfica: Thank you, Carrillo! Transfer Al Hilal
• beIN SPORTS: Watford sign Carrillo on loan from Benfica
• América Deportes: Corinthians amplió vínculo con André Carrillo hasta el 2026