Wilder José Cartagena Mendoza

Wilder Cartagena earned a first-team promotion at Alianza Lima in 2012 and stayed with the Lima club until 2014, when Vitória de Setúbal signed him in Portugal. He never made a competitive appearance there and returned home in 2015 to join Universidad San Martín. A move to Mexico with Veracruz followed in 2018, then a second spell at Alianza Lima in 2019, a stint in Argentina with Godoy Cruz, and a switch to Kalba FC in the United Arab Emirates in 2021.

It was a loan from Kalba that brought him to Orlando City B and Orlando City SC for the 2022 season, a move that turned permanent when Orlando City acquired him outright in December 2023 on a contract through the 2025 MLS season; he signed a one-year extension with a club option for 2027 in November 2024. His clearest mark with the club came in the 2022 U.S. Open Cup final, when he came on as a substitute in the 91st minute as Orlando City beat Sacramento Republic FC 3–0. The title made him one of only six Peruvian players to have won a trophy in MLS, and it remains the only major honour of his career — he left Alianza Lima, Universidad San Martín and Kalba FC without a domestic league title.

Cartagena made his senior debut for Peru on 29 May 2018 in a friendly against Scotland and was named in the squad for the World Cup that followed, appearing as a substitute against Australia on 26 June 2018. He has since gone on to earn 40 caps without scoring, and featured for Peru at the Copa América in both 2021 and 2024. His 2024 season with Orlando City was cut short by an Achilles injury.