Jacob Christian Montes Hoff (born October 20, 1998) is a professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

midfielder In the sport of association football, a midfielder takes an Glossary of association football terms#O, outfield position primarily in the middle of the pitch. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in t ...

for Belgian

Challenger Pro League The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

club

Daring Brussels Daring Brussels, formerly known as Racing White Daring Molenbeek or RWDM, is a Belgian professional football club based in Molenbeek-Saint-Jean, Brussels. The club plays in the Challenger Pro League (second tier). The club is seen in Belgium as ...

. Born in the United States, he represents the Nicaragua national team.

Club career

Portland Timbers

Montes began his career with the FC Florida Prep Academy, whose alumni include

Julian Gressel Julian Emil Kurt Gressel (born December 16, 1993) is a professional soccer player who plays as a full-back for Major League Soccer club Minnesota United. Born in Germany, he represents the United States national team. He began his career in Ger ...

and

Niko Hämäläinen Nicholas Antero "Niko" Hämäläinen (born 5 March 1997) is a Finnish professional footballer who plays as a left-back for Veikkausliiga club KuPS. Born and raised in the United States, he plays for the Finland national team thanks to his eligib ...

. In October 2015, he trialled with English side

Manchester United Manchester United Football Club, commonly referred to as Man United (often stylised as Man Utd) or simply United, is a professional association football, football club based in Old Trafford (area), Old Trafford, Greater Manchester, Engl ...

, and in February 2016, he spent a week with German club

Borussia Dortmund Ballspielverein Borussia 09 e. V. Dortmund, often known simply as Borussia Dortmund () or by its initialism BVB (), or just Dortmund by International fans, is a German professional sports club based in Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia. It is ...

. In 2016, he joined the

Portland Timbers The Portland Timbers are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in Portland, Oregon. The Timbers compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Timbers have p ...

Academy. Montes scored eight goals in 25 games for the Under-17/18 team and was subsequently signed to

United Soccer League The United Soccer League (USL) is an organizer of various professional and amateur soccer leagues in the United States league system. It currently organizes its Championship, League One, and League Two for men, its Super League and W Leag ...

side

Portland Timbers 2 Portland Timbers 2 is an American professional soccer team based in Portland, Oregon. The team, often referred to as "T2", serves as the reserve squad for the Portland Timbers of Major League Soccer (MLS). The team was a member of the USL Champ ...

. He made his professional debut on March 25, 2017, as a 73rd-minute substitute in a 2–1 loss to

Real Monarchs Real Monarchs is a professional soccer club playing in the MLS Next Pro, a third division league of American soccer. The team is an affiliate of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club Real Salt Lake. Real Monarchs are based in the Real Salt Lake ...

. Montes made a further seven appearances and was named the Timbers' 2017 Academy Player of the Year.

Georgetown University

After one season with the Timbers, he opted to play

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

Georgetown University Georgetown University is a private university, private Jesuit research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Founded by Bishop John Carroll (archbishop of Baltimore), John Carroll in 1789, it is the oldest Catholic higher education, Ca ...

for four years. In 2019, he scored 11 goals as he captained the team to its first NCAA National Championship. With a further five assists, he was named

Big East Conference The Big East Conference (stylized as BIG EAST) is a collegiate List of NCAA conferences, athletic conference that competes in National Collegiate Athletic Association, NCAA NCAA Division I, Division I in 10 men's sports and 12 women's sports. H ...

Midfielder of the Year. Montes rejected multiple contract offers from the Portland Timbers during his collegiate career. In March 2021, Montes completed a trial with an undisclosed

Premier League The Premier League is a professional association football league in England and the highest level of the English football league system. Contested by 20 clubs, it operates on a system of promotion and relegation with the English Football Lea ...

team who had been tracking him for several months. A month later, he opted out of pre-season training and notified

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

that he did not intend to play professionally in the United States for the 2021 season. On May 20, his MLS rights were made available to other clubs following the expiration of the Timbers' ownership, and later picked up by the

New England Revolution The New England Revolution are an American professional association football, soccer club based in the Greater Boston area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. It is on ...

Crystal Palace

On May 25, 2021, it was announced that Montes would join Premier League side

Crystal Palace Crystal Palace may refer to: Places Canada * Crystal Palace Complex (Dieppe), a former amusement park now a shopping complex in Dieppe, New Brunswick * Crystal Palace Barracks, London, Ontario * Crystal Palace (Montreal), an exhibition buildin ...

on a one-year deal, subject to international clearance. He completed the move without being eligible for a British work visa, meaning he would have to leave the club temporarily on loan.

Loans to Belgium

On July 31, 2021,

Belgian First Division B The Challenger Pro League, previously known as 1B Pro League is the second-highest division in the Football in Belgium, Belgian football Belgian football league system, league system, one level below the Belgian Pro League. It was created by the ...

Waasland-Beveren Sportkring Beveren (SK Beveren) is a Belgian professional association football club based in Beveren, East Flanders. The club is affiliated with the founded number 4068 and has yellow and blue as its colours. The team was founded in 1936 in H ...

announced that they had acquired Montes from Crystal Palace on loan for one year, though this arrangement was ended in January 2022 and Montes joined another Belgian team, RWD Molenbeek, again on loan.

Botafogo

On August 12, 2022, Montes signed a two-year contract with Brazilian Série A club

Botafogo Botafogo (local/standard alternative Brazilian Portuguese pronunciation: ) is a beachfront neighborhood (''bairro'') in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is a mostly upper middle class and small commerce community, and is located between the hills of M ...

. The move reunited him with Botafogo owner

John Textor John Charles Textor (born September 30, 1965) is an American businessman. He is the former executive chairman of streaming television service FuboTV. He has been recognized for his work in the fields of digital media and entertainment with the nic ...

, who had previously overseen his transfers within his multi-club network, including

and Belgian side RWDM. Initially considered an unknown prospect, Montes struggled for playing time in his first season, making only three Série A appearances and totalling 85 minutes. He did not feature at all for the club during the 2023 campaign. On April 21, 2024, he scored his first goal for Botafogo in a 5–1 victory over Juventude, marking just the second goal of his professional career and ending a scoring drought of 1,146 days.

Daring Brussels

In the summer of 2024, Montes returned to RWD Molenbeek, which had since rebranded as

, remaining within the multi-club network owned by John Textor. In January 2025, Montes sustained an injury that ruled him out for the remainder of the season.

International career

On October 7, 2016, Montes made his under-19 international debut for the United States in a 4–0 friendly victory against

Liga MX Liga MX, also known as Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Mexico and the highest level of the Mexican football league system. Formerly known as Liga Mayor (1943–1949) and also as Primera Divis ...

side

Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, simply known as Tijuana or Xolos, is a Mexican professional Association football, football club based in Tijuana, Baja California, that competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. The club ...

. Montes is also eligible to play for Nicaragua through his paternal family. In March 2021, he discussed a potential call-up to the Nicaragua national team for the 2022 World Cup qualifiers later that month. Montes made his international debut for Nicaragua in a friendly match against

Panama Panama, officially the Republic of Panama, is a country in Latin America at the southern end of Central America, bordering South America. It is bordered by Costa Rica to the west, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north, and ...

on June 10, 2023.

Career statistics

International career

International goals

''Scores and results list Nicaragua's goal tally first.''

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Montes, Jacob 1998 births Living people Sportspeople from Lake Worth Beach, Florida Soccer players from Florida Nicaraguan men's footballers Nicaragua men's international footballers American men's soccer players Nicaraguan people of American descent Sportspeople of American descent American people of Nicaraguan descent Sportspeople of Nicaraguan descent Men's association football midfielders USL Championship players USL League Two players Challenger Pro League players Campeonato Brasileiro Série A players Georgetown Hoyas men's soccer players Portland Timbers 2 players FC Florida U23 players Crystal Palace F.C. players S.K. Beveren players R.W.D. Molenbeek (2015) players Botafogo de Futebol e Regatas players American expatriate men's soccer players Nicaraguan expatriate men's footballers American expatriate sportspeople in Brazil Expatriate men's footballers in Brazil 21st-century Nicaraguan people 21st-century American sportsmen Expatriate men's footballers in England Expatriate men's footballers in Belgium American expatriate sportspeople in Belgium