Jesús David Ferreira Castro (born December 24, 2000) is a professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays as a forward for

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 ...

club

Seattle Sounders FC Seattle Sounders FC is an American professional association football, soccer club based in Seattle. The Sounders compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The club was established on ...

. Born in Colombia, he represents the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. He scored his first professional goal on his debut in June 2017 against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

. In 2018, Ferreira was loaned 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

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: *Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. *Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the team ...

where he scored six goals in 14 matches, including his first career hat-trick. The next season, Ferreira returned to FC Dallas and broke through as a starter under coach

Luchi Gonzalez Luis Aquilino Gonzalez (born July 14, 1980) is an American soccer coach and former player who was recently the head coach of San Jose Earthquakes in MLS. Youth and college Gonzalez was born in Hialeah, Florida, to a Peruvian father and an Amer ...

. In January 2022, Ferreira signed a designated player contract with Dallas. Ferreira joined

in 2025. Ferreira made his senior debut for the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

in February 2020 against

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

. He was then part of the under-23 side that failed to qualify for the

Summer Olympics The Summer Olympic Games, also known as the Summer Olympics or the Games of the Olympiad, is a major international multi-sport event normally held once every four years. The inaugural Games took place in 1896 in Athens, then part of the King ...

in March 2020. Ferreira scored his first two goals for the United States in January 2021 against

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

Club career

Youth

Ferreira moved from Colombia to

Dallas Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...

, Texas at the age of 10 after his father, David Ferreira, signed with

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. He joined the club's youth side and progressed through the ranks before signing a homegrown contract on November 17, 2016.

FC Dallas

He made his professional debut on June 3, 2017, as a 71st-minute substitute during a 6–2 win over

, scoring his first goal in the 89th minute of the game. On December 10, 2019, Ferreira signed a four-year contract with FC Dallas. Ferreira recorded his first career MLS brace on August 29, 2021, scoring twice in a 5–3 victory over

Austin FC Austin FC is an American professional soccer club based in Austin, Texas. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 2018, the club began play in the 2021 season. Their home stadium is Q ...

. On January 18, 2022, Ferreira signed a designated player contract with FC Dallas, keeping him at the club until 2025. Ferreira was selected as MLS player of the week in week 4 of the 2022 season after recording a hat-trick and an assist for FC Dallas in their 4–1 victory over 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 ...

. He finished the 2022 season with 18 goals in 35 matches—his best for the club. In week two of the 2023 season, Ferreira was named to the league's Team of the Matchday after registering a brace in a 3–1 win over

LA Galaxy The Los Angeles Galaxy are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Greater Los Angeles area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The Gal ...

. According to media reports, Russian club

FC Spartak Moscow FC Spartak Moscow (, ) is a Russian professional association football, football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet Top League, Soviet championships (second only to FC Dynamo Kyiv, Dynamo Kyiv) and 10 Russian Premier League, Russian champ ...

offered $13 million to FC Dallas to sign Ferreira in January 2024. The transaction was allegedly halted by Major League Soccer, which owns all player contracts, due to the suspension of sports business relationships after the

Russian invasion of Ukraine On 24 February 2022, , starting the largest and deadliest war in Europe since World War II, in a major escalation of the Russo-Ukrainian War, conflict between the two countries which began in 2014. The fighting has caused hundreds of thou ...

. Ferreira remained with FC Dallas, where he had a contract through the 2025 season, but made fewer appearances in the 2024 season due to injuries. During his eight seasons with FC Dallas, he scored a total of 55 goals in 181 appearances.

Loan to Tulsa Roughnecks FC

In May 2018, Ferreira was loaned to Tulsa Roughnecks FC and scored his first goal for Tulsa on August 18, 2018, against

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 ...

and his first career

hat-trick A hat-trick or hat trick is the achievement of a generally positive feat three times in a match, or another achievement based on the number three. Origin The term first appeared in 1858 in cricket, to describe H. H. Stephenson taking three Wick ...

on September 5, 2018, against

Seattle Sounders FC 2 The Tacoma Defiance, formerly Seattle Sounders FC 2, are an American professional Association football, soccer team based in the Puget Sound region in Tukwila, Washington, United States. The team competes in MLS Next Pro, a league in the third ...

Seattle Sounders FC

On January 8, 2025, Ferreira was signed to a three-year contract by

after a trade with FC Dallas for winger Léo Chú and up to $2.3million in general allocation money over a two-year period. The rights to a future international transfer fee for Ferreira would also be split between Seattle and Dallas.

International career

Prior to obtaining United States citizenship, Ferreira attended

United States Soccer Federation The United States Soccer Federation (USSF), commonly referred to as U.S. Soccer, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and the official governing body of soccer in the United States. It is a full member of FIFA and governs American soccer ...

youth camps. In 2016, Ferreira was called up to the United States under-17 squad. In 2019, Ferreira received a call-up to the United States under-23 team ahead of qualifying games for the

2020 Summer Olympics The officially the and officially branded as were an international multi-sport event that was held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some of the preliminary sporting events beginning on 21 July 2021. Tokyo ...

. After that had been postponed due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he was called up again to the

2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship The 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship was the fifteenth and final edition of the CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship, CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying, the quadrennial, international, age-restricted association footbal ...

team. The team would fail to qualify for the

Olympics The modern Olympic Games (Olympics; ) are the world's preeminent international sporting events. They feature summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competit ...

. Ferreira made his first senior U.S. camp in January 2020. On February 1, 2020, he made his senior international debut for the United States in its friendly against

. On January 31, 2021, Ferreira scored his first and second goals at that level and was named Man of the Match in a game following his second January camp with the senior team. On June 10, 2022, Ferreira scored his first international hat-trick by scoring four goals against

Grenada Grenada is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean Sea. The southernmost of the Windward Islands, Grenada is directly south of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and about north of Trinidad and Tobago, Trinidad and the So ...

in a 5–0 victory during his 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League A campaign. He has been nicknamed " Pirate of the Caribbean" for his history of high-scoring games against national teams in the

Caribbean The Caribbean ( , ; ; ; ) is a region in the middle of the Americas centered around the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean, mostly overlapping with the West Indies. Bordered by North America to the north, Central America ...

area. Ferreira was a member of the United States' roster for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

, appearing once at the tournament in the 3–1 round of 16 loss to the

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

on December 3, 2022. On June 28, 2023, Ferreira scored his second international hat-trick with three goals in a 6–0 victory over

St. Kitts and Nevis Saint Kitts and Nevis, officially the Federation of Saint Christopher (St Kitts) and Nevis, is an island country consisting of the two islands of Saint Kitts and Nevis, both located in the West Indies, in the Leeward Islands chain of the Less ...

during the

2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 17th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. Canada and the United ...

in the second round of the group stage, eliminating the Sugar Boys from the tournament. He completed his third international hat-trick in the following match, a 6–0 victory against

, making him the first United States men's player to score hat-tricks in consecutive matches. He went on to score the equalizer 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 ...

in the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup semifinals in the 105th minute on July 12, 2023, but missed the first kick in the penalty shootout, where the United States lost 2–3. Ferreira was awarded the Golden Boot for scoring seven goals, the most of any player in the tournament.

Personal life

He is the son of David Ferreira, a professional player who played for clubs including

América de Cali América de Cali S. A., best known as América de Cali or América, is a Colombian professional football club based in Cali. It competes in the Categoría Primera A, the top-flight league of Colombian football. The team plays its home games at ...

Atlético Paranaense Club Athletico Paranaense (abbreviated CAP, commonly known as Athletico Paranaense and up to 2019 known as Atlético Paranaense) is a Brazilian football team from the city of Curitiba, capital city of the Brazilian state of Paraná, founded o ...

and the Colombia national team. In December 2019, Ferreira received U.S. citizenship. Ferreira owns a farm near Dallas where he raises chickens and three cows.

Career statistics

Club

International

''Scores and results list the United States' goal tally first.''

Honors

Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

2022 The year began with another wave in the COVID-19 pandemic, with SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant, Omicron spreading rapidly and becoming the dominant variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus worldwide. Tracking a decrease in cases and deaths, 2022 saw ...

2023 Catastrophic natural disasters in 2023 included the Lists of 21st-century earthquakes, 5th-deadliest earthquake of the 21st century 2023 Turkey–Syria earthquakes, striking Turkey and Syria, leaving up to 62,000 people dead; Cyclone Freddy ...

* MLS Young Player of the Year:

MLS Best XI The MLS Best XI is an annual acknowledgment of the best eleven players in Major League Soccer. The selection is determined by a collection of media, players, and MLS club technical staffs. Winners Appearances by player The following players ...

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

Golden Boot:

Best XI:

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Ferreira, Jesus 2000 births Living people Footballers from Santa Marta Sportspeople from McKinney, Texas Soccer players from Collin County, Texas American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players Colombian men's footballers American sportspeople of Colombian descent Colombian emigrants to the United States Men's association football forwards FC Dallas players Major League Soccer players FC Tulsa players USL Championship players Homegrown Players (MLS) United States men's under-23 international soccer players Designated Players (MLS) 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Footballers from Magdalena Department 21st-century American sportsmen Seattle Sounders FC players