Loris Benito

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Benito and the second or maternal family name is Souto.

Loris Benito Souto (born 7 January 1992) is a Swiss professional footballer who plays as a left-back or centre-back for Young Boys and the Switzerland national team.

Loris Benito

Benito playing for Switzerland U21 in 2013
Personal information
Full name	Loris Benito Souto[1]
Date of birth	(1992-01-07) 7 January 1992 (age 33)[1]
Place of birth	Aarau, Switzerland
Height	1.84 m (6 ft 0 in)[1]
Position(s)	Left-back centre-back
Team information
Current team	Young Boys
Number	23
Youth career
2000–2009	FC Aarau
Senior career*
Years	Team	Apps	(Gls)
2009–2012	FC Aarau	47	(2)
2012–2014	FC Zürich	58	(0)
2014–2015	Benfica	2	(0)
2015	Benfica B	3	(0)
2015–2019	Young Boys	71	(2)
2019–2021	Bordeaux	55	(1)
2022	Sion	13	(0)
2022–	Young Boys	74	(2)
International career‡
2010–2011	Switzerland U19	12	(1)
2011–2012	Switzerland U20	6	(0)
2014	Switzerland U21	7	(0)
2018–	Switzerland	13	(1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 18:26, 7 December 2025 (UTC) ‡ National team caps and goals as of 19:44, 4 June 2023 (UTC)

Club career

Benito was born in Aarau, Switzerland. A product of local FC Aarau youth ranks, he made his professional debut on 1 November 2009 at age 17 under then-coach Martin Andermatt. His performances led to a move in 2012 to FC Zürich.^[2]

Benito playing for BSC Young Boys in 2017

On 10 March 2013, in an away match against FC Thun, Benito was bitten on the finger by a beech marten he had caught after it invaded the pitch.^[3]

After solid performances in the Swiss league, news started about a potential move abroad.^[4] On 22 June 2014, Benito signed a five-year deal with Portuguese champions Benfica for an unconfirmed fee of around €2.5 million.^[5]

On 18 October 2014, Benito made his debut for Benfica in a win at S.C. Covilhã (2–3) in the third round of Taça de Portugal.^[6] On 6 December 2014, he debuted in Primeira Liga in a home win (3–0) against Belenenses.

On 22 February 2015, Benito debuted for Benfica B against Oriental in Segunda Liga.^[7]

On 23 June 2015, he returned to Swiss football, signing a four-year contract with BSC Young Boys.^[8][9] His first two seasons back in Switzerland were spent mostly on the sidelines with injuries including a metatarsal fracture and torn ligaments in his knee.

He also played for French club FC Girondins de Bordeaux between 2019 and 2021.

Benito with Bordeaux in 2020

On 30 January 2022, Benito signed a 1.5-year contract with Sion.^[10]

On 4 July 2022, he returned to Young Boys on a three-year contract.^[11] He scored a late own goal against Celtic on 22 January 2025, to put Celtic in the knockout stages of the UEFA Champions League.^[12]

International career

In May 2019, Benito played in the 2019 UEFA Nations League Finals, where his team finished fourth.^[13]

In 2021, he was called up to the national team for the 2020 UEFA European Championship, where the team created one of the main sensations of the tournament reaching the quarter-finals.^[14]

Personal life

He is the nephew of Ivan Benito.^[15] Of Galician descent, Benito is fluent in German, Italian, Spanish, English, Portuguese (Galician), and French.^[16]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 11 December 2025^[17]

Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Club	Season	League			National cup[a]		League cup[b]		Continental		Other		Total
		Division	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals	Apps	Goals
Aarau	2009–10	Swiss Super League	7	0	0	0	—		—		—		7	0
	2010–11	Swiss Challenge League	26	0	2	0	—		—		—		28	0
	2011–12	Swiss Challenge League	13	2	2	0	—		—		—		15	2
	Total		46	2	4	0	—		—		—		50	2
Zürich	2011–12	Swiss Super League	2	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		2	0
	2012–13	Swiss Super League	28	0	2	1	—		0	0	—		30	1
	2013–14	Swiss Super League	28	0	2	0	—		2[c]	0	—		32	0
	Total		58	0	4	1	—		2	0	0	0	64	1
Benfica	2014–15	Primeira Liga	2	0	2	0	1	0	1[d]	0	0	0	6	0
Benfica B	2014–15	Liga Sabseg	3	0	—		—		—		—		3	0
Young Boys	2015–16	Swiss Super League	10	0	1	0	—		1[d]	0	—		12	0
	2016–17	Swiss Super League	7	0	0	0	—		2[c]	0	—		9	0
	2017–18	Swiss Super League	23	1	3	0	—		5[e]	0	—		31	1
	2018–19	Swiss Super League	31	1	3	0	—		8[d]	0	—		42	1
	2019–20	Swiss Super League	0	0	0	0	—		0	0	—		0	0
	Total		71	2	7	0	—		16	0	—		94	2
Bordeaux	2019–20	Ligue 1	23	1	2	0	2	0	—		—		27	1
	2020–21	Ligue 1	31	0	0	0	—		—		—		31	0
	2021–22	Ligue 1	1	0	0	0	—		—		—		1	0
	Total		55	1	2	0	2	0	—		—		59	1
Sion	2021–22	Swiss Super League	13	0	0	0	—		—		—		13	0
Young Boys	2022–23	Swiss Super League	19	0	4	1	—		4[f]	0	—		27	1
	2023–24	Swiss Super League	16	2	2	0	—		7[d]	0	—		25	2
	2024–25	Swiss Super League	27	0	3	0	—		5[d]	0	—		35	0
	2025–26	Swiss Super League	12	0	2	0	—		7[c]	0	—		21	0
	Total		74	2	11	1	—		22	0	—		108	3
Career total			321	7	30	2	7	0	41	0	0	0	397	9

1. Includes Swiss Cup, Coupe de France, Taça de Portugal
2. Includes Taça da Liga, Coupe de la Ligue
3. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
4. Appearance(s) in UEFA Champions League
5. Four appearances in UEFA Champions League, one appearance in UEFA Europa League
6. Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa Conference League

International

As of match played 20 June 2021^[18]

Appearances and goals by national team and year

National team	Year	Apps	Goals
Switzerland	2018	2	0
	2019	3	1
	2020	5	0
	2021	3	0
Total		13	1

Scores and results list Switzerland's goal tally first.^[18]

No.	Date	Venue	Opponent	Score	Result	Competition
1.	16 November 2019	Victoria Stadium, Gibraltar	Gibraltar	4–1	6–1	UEFA Euro 2020 qualification

Honours

Benfica

• Primeira Liga: 2014–15^[19]
• Taça da Liga: 2014–15
• Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2014

FC Zürich

• Swiss Cup: 2013–14

Young Boys

• Swiss Super League: 2017–18, 2018–19, 2022–23
• Swiss Cup: 2022–23

Individual

• Swiss Super League Team of the Year: 2018–19^[20]