Camilo Andrés Vargas Gil (born 9 March 1989) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Atlas and the Colombia national team.
At the age of 16, Camilo Vargas joined the youth teams of Independiente Santa Fe. Camilo joined the first team and made his debut as a professional footballer with Independiente Santa Fe on March 11, 2007, in the game against La Equidad at the Estadio Metropolitano de Techo, a match for the Colombian Apertura Tournament. Vargas entered the field in the final minutes, replacing Oscar Castro in Santa Fe's 2-1 victory.[2] Camilo continued with the first team, but also alternated with the reserve team. In 2009, Camilo won his first professional title when Independiente Santa Fe won the 2009 Copa Colombia. In the 2010 Copa Colombia, Vargas qualified Santa Fe against Real Cartagena. On September 11, the 260th Bogotá Classic was played between Santa Fe and Millonarios. He had a good match, saving a penalty and keeping the score at 0-0. That year he played 7 games, and little by little he was demonstrating his qualities as a goalkeeper.
In 2011, Camilo had more opportunities to save in both the local league and the Copa Sudamericana. He would confirm his good form when on November 23, 2011, the penultimate date of the Torneo Finalización, in the 265th derby, a corner kick was awarded in the last minute, in favor of Santa Fe. Vargas left his goalkeeping position and headed past the Millonarios defense to score the winning goal for his club. He became the man of the match.[3][4][5] Camilo Vargas began to show himself and demonstrate that he was ready to be a starter in Independiente Santa Fe. In 2012, Camilo achieved one of his goals by being champion of the Torneo Apertura, earning the seventh star for the Cardinals, and becoming one of the key figures in the team that ended a 36-and-a-half-year drought without winning a league title. Thanks to the championship won in 2012, he played in the 2013 Superliga Colombiana against their local rival, Millonarios, champion of the Torneo Finalización. Two matches are played in this tournament at the beginning of the year. Santa Fe, with Camilo Vargas in goal, won the series, getting off to a great start in 2013. That year, Camilo Vargas was instrumental in Santa Fe reaching the semifinals of the Copa Libertadores, following strong performances in the tournament and being chosen as the man of the match twice. That year, he also began to be considered by José Néstor Pékerman to become part of the Colombian senior national team, thanks to his strong performances in the league and in the Libertadores.
In 2014, Vargas reached the peak of his professional career, becoming a figure and idol among the Santa Fe fans thanks to his strong performances in Santa Fe. He was also included on the list of 23 Colombian players who went to play in the 2014 FIFA World Cup. After the World Cup, Camilo made his debut with the national team and reached his peak with Independiente Santa Fe, being figure in almost every match he played in the red and white jersey. In addition, in the final four, Vargas scored another goal, a penalty kick, against Atlético Huila on November 22, 2014; that goal would help Santa Fe reach the final of the Torneo Finalización. In the second leg of the final against Deportivo Independiente Medellín, Camilo prevented the Paisa team from taking the title. Thus, Camilo Vargas became one of the fans' greatest idols, and with his outstanding performance he managed to earn the Cardinals' eighth star. In January 2015, in a highly controversial development, Camilo Vargas' transfer to Atlético Nacional was confirmed.
After being loaned out to Deportivo Cali from July 2016 to July 2017, and later the 2018 season, Deportivo Cali confirmed that they had redeemed the player's purchase option and signed a contract until 2021 with the goalkeeper.[6]
On 6 July 2019, Vargas was confirmed as a new player in Club Atlas.[7] In 2021, Vargas was the undisputed starter for the team, including the final for the Mexican tournament (La Liga MX) against Leon for away and home matches. During the away game he was partly responsible for an error which ended in a goal for Leon. However, during the home match he played a role keeping the zero including the extra time. The match ended going for the penalties round where he made two saves giving Atlas the win. This title ended a 70 years hiatus for the team.[8]
Since the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Vargas has been consistently called up to the Colombia national football team, usually as a backup for David Ospina. In 2023, Vargas was promoted to first-choice goalkeeper for his national team.
Vargas was included in the squad that had a run to the 2014 World Cup quarterfinals in Brazil, but he failed to see any action during the tournament. He made his international debut shortly after, in a 3-0 win against El Salvador at the Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, on 10 October 2014. In May 2018, he was included in the team for the 2018 World Cup in Russia,[9] although he once again failed make an appearance.
Having been an unused substitute for the 2015, 2019 and 2021 Copa América tournaments, Vargas was the main goalkeeper during 2024 Copa América,[10] featuring in every Colombia match of the competition. He has retained his starter status throughout the 2026 FIFA World Cup qualification competition.
| Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| Santa Fe | 2007 | Categoría Primera A | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||
| 2008 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | — | — | 5 | 0 | ||||
| 2009 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | ||||
| 2010 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 7 | 0 | ||||
| 2011 | 22 | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 36 | 1 | |||
| 2012 | 42 | 0 | 5 | 0 | — | — | 47 | 0 | ||||
| 2013 | 41 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 12 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 56 | 0 | ||
| 2014 | 33 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 8 | 0 | — | 46 | 1 | |||
| Total | 155 | 2 | 19 | 0 | 27 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 203 | 2 | ||
| Atlético Nacional | 2015 | Categoría Primera A | 18 | 0 | — | — | — | 18 | 0 | |||
| 2017 | 1 | 0 | — | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | 19 | 0 | — | — | — | 19 | 0 | |||||
| Argentinos Juniors (loan) | 2016 | Argentine Primera División | 6 | 0 | — | — | — | 6 | 0 | |||
| Deportivo Cali (loan) | 2016 | Categoría Primera A | 17 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | — | 19 | 0 | ||
| 2017 | 20 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 22 | 0 | |||
| Total | 37 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 | 0 | — | 41 | 0 | |||
| Deportivo Cali (loan) | 2018 | Categoría Primera A | 35 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 7 | 0 | — | 42 | 0 | |
| Deportivo Cali | 2019 | 21 | 1 | — | 4 | 0 | — | 25 | 1 | |||
| Total | 56 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 11 | 0 | — | 67 | 1 | |||
| Atlas | 2019–20 | Liga MX | 28 | 0 | 0 | 0 | — | — | 28 | 0 | ||
| 2020–21 | 36 | 0 | — | — | — | 36 | 0 | |||||
| 2021–22 | 46 | 0 | — | — | — | 46 | 0 | |||||
| 2022–23 | 33 | 0 | — | 3 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 38 | 0 | |||
| 2023–24 | 34 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | 37 | 0 | ||||
| 2024–25 | 33 | 0 | — | — | 3 | 0 | 36 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 209 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 8 | 0 | 220 | 0 | ||
| Career total | 485 | 3 | 21 | 0 | 43 | 0 | 10 | 0 | 559 | 3 | ||
| Colombia | ||
|---|---|---|
| Year | Apps | Goals |
| 2014 | 4 | 0 |
| 2017 | 1 | 0 |
| 2019 | 1 | 0 |
| 2020 | 3 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| 2022 | 1 | 0 |
| 2023 | 8 | 0 |
| 2024 | 16 | 0 |
| 2025 | 2 | 0 |
| Total | 37 | 0 |
Independiente Santa Fe
Atlético Nacional
Atlas
Colombia
Individual
Colombia squads | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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