Julián Araujo
Julián Vicente Araujo Zúñiga (born 13 August 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Primera Federación club Barcelona Atlètic. Born in the United States, he represents the Mexico national team.[3]
![]() Araujo in 2019 | |||
Personal information | |||
---|---|---|---|
Full name | Julián Vicente Araujo Zúñiga[1] | ||
Date of birth | 13 August 2001 | ||
Place of birth | Lompoc, California, United States | ||
Height | 1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)[2] | ||
Position(s) | Right-back | ||
Team information | |||
Current team | Barcelona B | ||
Youth career | |||
Central Coast Condors | |||
Santa Barbara Soccer Club | |||
Barça Residency Academy | |||
2018–2019 | LA Galaxy | ||
Senior career* | |||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) |
2018–2019 | LA Galaxy II | 2 | (0) |
2019–2022 | LA Galaxy | 100 | (1) |
2023– | Barcelona B | 0 | (0) |
International career‡ | |||
2017 | United States U16 | 4 | (0) |
2017–2018 | United States U18 | 6 | (0) |
2018 | United States U19 | 2 | (0) |
2018 | United States U20 | 2 | (0) |
2019–2021 | United States U23 | 6 | (0) |
2020 | United States | 1 | (0) |
2021– | Mexico | 6 | (0) |
*Club domestic league appearances and goals, correct as of 9 October 2022 ‡ National team caps and goals, correct as of 20 April 2023 |
Youth
Araujo was born in Lompoc, California, and is of Mexican descent. He attended Lompoc High School.[4] After two years at Lompoc High School, he left home and joined Barça Residency Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona in 2017.[5]
In March 2017, Araujo had committed to playing college soccer at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 2018 onward.[6]
Club career
LA Galaxy II
Araujo made his professional debut in a 2–2 draw with Seattle Sounders FC 2 on 4 October 2018, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Nate Shultz.[7]
LA Galaxy
On 1 March 2019, LA Galaxy acquired Araujo after trading $50,000 of Targeted Allocation Money to Colorado Rapids to gain the first spot in the Waivers Order.[8]
Araujo made 108 total appearances with the Galaxy, scoring once in the regular season and again in the playoffs. He became a regular starter beginning in 2019 and finished 2021 and 2022 as the team's defender of the year.[9]
Barcelona
On 1 February 2023, FC Barcelona and LA Galaxy agreed on a transfer for Araujo. The paperwork, however, was delivered 18 seconds late,[10] and the deal was left in limbo after FIFA rejected the transfer but the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled.[11] Ultimately, by 17 February Araujo was transferred to Barcelona.[12]
International career
United States
Araujo was eligible to play for the United States or Mexico.[13]
After an injury to Ayo Akinola, Araujo was named to the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad to represent the United States under-20.[14]
Araujo was called into the United States national soccer team by Gregg Berhalter for the January 2020 camp, but did not make an official match appearance.[4] He was called up again in December 2020 for a game against El Salvador, in which he made his senior level debut.[15] Araujo was named to the final 20-player United States under-23 roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship in March 2021.[16]
On 18 June 2021, Araujo was named to the preliminary 59-player USMNT roster for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup but was left off of the final roster on 1 July 2021. Berhalter cited Araujo's dual citizenship and him not feeling ready to become cap-tied to the USMNT.[17]
Mexico
On 13 August 2021, sports media in Mexico reported that Araujo himself had filed and submitted the one-time switch to FIFA in order to join Mexico.[18] As of 4 October 2021 FIFA officially approved Araujo's case.[19][20]
On 27 November 2021, Araujo was included in the Mexico national football team call-up by Gerardo Martino for a friendly match against Chile set to take place on 8 December.[21] He was given a starting berth in Mexico's 2–2 draw, playing the full 90 minutes.[22] In making his debut, Araujo became the third player in the history of the Mexico–United States rivalry in having represented both national teams alongside Martín Vásquez and Edgar Castillo.[23]
Career statistics
Club
- As of match played 20 October 2022[24]
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
LA Galaxy II | 2018 | USL | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
LA Galaxy | 2019 | MLS | 18 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1[lower-alpha 1] | 0 | — | 20 | 0 | |
2020 | MLS | 17 | 1 | — | — | — | 17 | 1 | ||||
2021 | MLS | 32 | 0 | — | — | — | 32 | 0 | ||||
2022 | MLS | 33 | 0 | 4 | 0 | — | 2[lower-alpha 2] | 1 | 39 | 1 | ||
Total | 100 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 108 | 2 | ||
Barcelona B | 2022–23 | Primera Federación | 0 | 0 | — | — | — | 0 | 0 | |||
Career total | 102 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 1 | 110 | 2 |
- Appearance in Leagues Cup
- Appearances in MLS Cup Playoffs
Honours
United States U20
Individual
References
- "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: USA" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
- "Julián Araujo". LA Galaxy. Retrieved 20 August 2022.
- "Julián Araujo, new Barça Atlètic player (17-02-23)". www.fcbarcelona.com. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
- "Lompoc native Julian Araujo gets a potential starting chance as Galaxy resume season". Santa Maria Times.
- Reyna, Lorenzo J. "Julian Araujo completes first season with Barca Academy as an All-Conference player". Santa Maria Times. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
- Reyna, Lorenzo J. "Araujo commits to UCSB, Prendergast lands first offer". Santa Yves Valley News.
- "Seattle Sounders FC 2 vs LA Galaxy II". Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
- "LA Galaxy sign defender Julian Araujo | LA Galaxy".
- "LA Galaxy Transfer Defender Julián Araujo to FC Barcelona | LA Galaxy".
- "Source: Araujo trains at Barca amid transfer delay". 15 February 2023.
- "Julián Araujo poised to join Barcelona as CAS overrules FIFA". 15 February 2023.
- "LA Galaxy Transfer Defender Julián Araujo to FC Barcelona | LA Galaxy".
- "Un Estados Unidos muy 'mexicano' clasifica al Mundial Sub-20". 17 November 2018.
- "Julian Araujo added to U.S. roster for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup | LA Galaxy".
- "USA 6 - El Salvador 0: Match Report & Stats". www.ussoccer.com.
- "U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team Head Coach Jason Kreis Names Roster for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship". www.ussoccer.com. 11 March 2021.
- @SoccerByIves (1 July 2021). "Gregg Berhalter reveals that Julian Araujo, a dual national, wasn't ready to make the final step to committing to t…" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
- "Reportes: Julián Araujo decide jugar con la Selección Mexicana". tudn.mx (in Spanish). 13 August 2021.
- "Julián Araujo ya es jugador elegible para México". mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 4 October 2021.
- "Q&A: Julian Araujo on why he chose to represent Mexico instead of the USMNT". The Athletic. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
- "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". MiSeleccion (in Spanish). 9 December 2021.
- "La SNM cerró la actividad del 2021 con empate". MiSeleccion (in Spanish). 8 December 2021.
- "Julián Araujo makes Mexico debut after switching from US". apnews.com. 8 December 2021.
- Julián Araujo at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
- Julián Araujo at National-Football-Teams.com
- "2021 MLS All-Star Team Roster". MLSsoccer.
- "2022 MLS All-Star Game Roster". Major League Soccer. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.