This review explores the multifaceted roles of key galectin family members—Galectin-1 (Gal-1), Galectin-2 (Gal-2), Galectin-3 (Gal-3), Galectin-8 (Gal-8), and Galectin-9 (Gal-9)—in shaping host–pathogen interactions, mediating mucosal defense, and contributing to either containment or persistence of infection as well as their implications in the early stages of gastric carcinogenesis. Here, LGALS9 is linked to infection.