Paul Joseph Arriola (born February 5, 1995) is an American professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 players who primarily use their feet to propel the ball around a rectangular field called a pitch. The objective of the game is ...

player who plays as a winger for

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Canada ...

club

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

and the United States national team.

Early life

Arriola was born in

Chula Vista Chula Vista (; ) is the second-largest city in the San Diego metropolitan area, the seventh largest city in Southern California, the fifteenth largest city in the state of California, and the 78th-largest city in the United States. The popul ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, a suburb of

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, to Dawn and Art Arriola. Arriola attended Mater Dei Catholic High School in Chula Vista and iHigh Virtual Academy in San Diego. Arriola holds a Mexican passport which he obtained through his great grandparents who were born there.

Club career

Youth

Arriola spent years with

U.S. Soccer Development Academy The U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) was an American soccer league. Formed in 2007, the league features youth academies and youth clubs from various organizations, including Major League Soccer and the United Soccer League. The DA's mission ...

club Arsenal FC based in

Temecula, California Temecula (; es, Temécula, ; Luiseño: ''Temeekunga'') is a city in southwestern Riverside County, California, United States. The city had a population of 110,003 as of the 2020 census and was incorporated on December 1, 1989. The city is a t ...

, a club that has produced several successful players including

Carlos Bocanegra Carlos Manuel Bocanegra (born May 25, 1979) is an American sports executive and former professional soccer player. A two-time MLS Defender of the Year, Bocanegra also played professionally in England, Scotland, France, and Spain. He earned over 1 ...

and Hector Jiménez, before joining the academy of the

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began play ...

in 2013.

Tijuana

In December 2012, Arriola was invited to train with Tijuana, after having previously trialed with the club. Following the 2012 season and despite being offered a professional contract by the Galaxy, Arriola opted to sign for

Club Tijuana Club Tijuana Xoloitzcuintles de Caliente, commonly known as Tijuana, or simply as '' Xolos'', is a Mexican professional football club based in Tijuana. The club's badge is the founder's (Jorge Hank) hairless xoloitzcuintle, Hermoso. Founded ...

Liga MX The Liga MX, officially known as the Liga BBVA MX for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional football division in Mexico, holding 2 tournaments per year. The league is considered the strongest in North America, and among the strongest in a ...

, the highest level of soccer in Mexico. Arriola was part of a string of American-born players to join the Xolos including

Edgar Castillo Edgar Eduardo Castillo Carrillo (born October 8, 1986) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a left-back. Castillo is noted for being one of five players to earn a senior cap for both sides of the United States-Mexico rivalry ...

Herculez Gomez Herculez Gomez (born April 6, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a forward. He currently works as a commentator in both English and Spanish for ESPN. Early life Gomez, the oldest of five children, was born in ...

Joe Corona Joe Benny Corona Crespín (born July 9, 1990) is an American professional Association football, soccer player who plays as a midfielder for Swedish club GIF Sundsvall, on loan from Houston Dynamo FC, Houston Dynamo. Youth and college Corona ...

, and

Greg Garza Gregory "Greg" Martin Garza (born August 16, 1991) is an American former professional soccer player who played as a left-back. Club career Estoril Praia Garza spent several years with Sporting Clube de Portugal's under-19 team, but he was not ...

. The Galaxy listed Tijuana's proximity to Arriola's hometown of San Diego, 18 miles, as one factor contributing to his decision to opt for Tijuana over the Galaxy. About his decision, Arriola himself stated, ""I felt that Xolos was the place for me. I love the club, it's my home team and the people down there are wonderful." The decision allowed Arriola to live on the United States side of the border with his family but cross it for training and matches. Arriola made his debut for the club in a preseason friendly against

Club América Club de Fútbol América S.A. de C.V., commonly known as Club América or simply América, is a professional football club based in Mexico City. Nicknamed ''Las Águilas'' (The Eagles), it competes in Liga MX, the top tier of Mexican football ...

Petco Park Petco Park is a baseball stadium in Downtown San Diego, California. It is the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres, and has also been used as a venue for concerts, soccer, golf, and rugby. The ballpark is located between Se ...

in San Diego on July 6, 2013. In the 54th minute, Arriola scored to make the score 5–0 in an eventual 5–2 victory for Tijuana. On July 19, 2013 Arriola made his professional league debut in a 3–3 draw with

Club Atlas Atlas Fútbol Club () is a Mexican professional football club based in Guadalajara, Jalisco that currently plays in Liga MX. It plays home matches at the Estadio Jalisco. Founded in 1916, Atlas has won three league titles and four domestic cups ...

to open the

2013–14 Liga MX season The 2013–14 Liga MX season (known as the Liga BBVA Bancomer MX for sponsorship reasons) was the 67th professional top-flight football league season in Mexico. The season was split into two competitions: the Torneo Apertura and the Torneo Cl ...

. Arriola was a second-half substitute and assisted on

Darío Benedetto Darío Ismael Benedetto (born 17 May 1990) is an Argentine professional footballer who plays as a striker for Argentine Primera División club Boca Juniors. Club career Early career Darío Benedetto began his career playing for Arsenal de Sara ...

's goal only four minutes after entering the match. Just a few days later, Arriola scored his second professional goal in

CONCACAF Champions League The CONCACAF Champions League, known officially as the Scotiabank CONCACAF Champions League for sponsorship reasons, is an annual continental club football competition organized by CONCACAF. The tournament is contested by clubs from North Ameri ...

against

C.D. Victoria Club Deportivo Victoria is a Honduran football club based in La Ceiba, Atlántida. They have enjoyed success in the past having won the Honduran first division once. They currently play in the Honduran first division. History Club Deportivo ...

D.C. United

On August 9, 2017, Arriola signed for

side

D.C. United D.C. United is a professional soccer club based in Washington, D.C. that competes in the Eastern Conference of Major League Soccer, the top tier of American soccer. Domestically, the club has won four MLS Cups (league championships), four Supp ...

for a club record fee of $3,000,000 plus allocation money for his rights to

LA Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pl ...

. Arriola debuted for United on August 13, 2017 in a 1–0 loss against

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in 20 ...

. He scored his first goal for D.C. United in their season finale, and last game in

RFK Stadium Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium, commonly known as RFK Stadium and originally known as District of Columbia Stadium, is a defunct multi-purpose stadium in Washington, D.C. It is located about due east of the U.S. Capitol building, near the w ...

on October 22, 2017, against the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

. The game ended in a 2–1 loss. He ended his 2017 season with D.C. United with 11 appearances, two assists and only one goal. In the 2018 D.C. United season, Arriola's performances greatly improved. On July 14, 2018, in a 3–1 win against Vancouver Whitecaps, Arriola scored a personal record two goals for United in their inaugural match at

Audi Field Audi Field is a soccer-specific stadium in Buzzard Point in Washington, D.C. It is the home stadium for both of Washington, DC’s professional soccer teams, D.C. United in Major League Soccer and Washington Spirit in the National Women’s So ...

. He ended the 2018 season with 28 appearances, 7 goals, and 8 assists. Since joining

, Arriola has been a key player. His smooth playing and effort helped D.C. United perform. Under

Ben Olsen Benjamin Robert Olsen (born May 3, 1977) is an American sports executive, Association football, soccer coach, and former professional player who was formerly the president of Washington Spirit, a professional women's soccer club in the Nationa ...

's management, Paul became diverse on the right and started playing both right midfielder and right back. During a 2020 pre-season game against Orlando City on February 15, 2020, Arriola suffered a serious knee injury. His injury was later revealed as a partially torn ACL. On February 22, D.C. United announced that Arriola was expected to miss the entire 2020 MLS season. On July 27, 2020, Arriola and D.C. United agreed to a multi-year contract extension through the 2023 season and an option for the 2024 season. Arriola returned to the field from his injury in D.C. United's last regular season game which ended in a 2–3 loss against Montreal Impact on November 8, 2020, ending playoff hopes.

Loan to Swansea City

On February 1, 2021, Arriola moved to Swansea City until the end of the

2020–21 EFL Championship The 2020–21 EFL Championship (referred to as the Sky Bet Championship for sponsorship reasons) was the 17th season of the Football League Championship under its current title and the 29th season under its current league division format. Tea ...

season. He made his debut on February 10, 2021, in a 1–3 loss against

Manchester City Manchester () is a city in Greater Manchester, England. It had a population of 552,000 in 2021. It is bordered by the Cheshire Plain to the south, the Pennines to the north and east, and the neighbouring city of Salford to the west. The tw ...

in the 5th round of the

2020–21 FA Cup The 2020–21 FA Cup was the 140th edition of the oldest football tournament in the world, the Football Association Challenge Cup. It was sponsored by Emirates and known as the Emirates FA Cup for sponsorship purposes. The winners qualified for t ...

. On March 31, 2021, Arriola's loan with Swansea ended after sustaining a quadricep injury that would sideline him for 4–6 weeks.

FC Dallas

On January 26, 2022, Arriola in exchange for $1.5 million in General Allocation Money in 2022 and $500,000 in 2023. D.C. United would also retain 30% of any transfer outside of MLS, with an additional $300,000 in General Allocation Money if Arriola reaches certain performance-based metrics.

International career

Arriola has been part of the United States youth national team set ups and was part of the squad for the

2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2011 CONCACAF U-17 Championship determined the four CONCACAF representatives to advance to the 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup in Mexico. Jamaica staged the championship between 14 and 27 February. The United States defeated Canada 3–0 in the fi ...

but did not appear in any matches because of an injury. The United States went on to win the tournament. He made three starts in four matches at the

2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the fourteenth tournament of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, and the eleventh played since the change in age limits from under 16s to Under 17s in 1991. It was held in Mexico with games being played amongst various venues ...

in Mexico. In 2013, Arriola joined the United States U18 squad for a trip to Europe for friendlies against

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and Uruquay. Despite playing for the youth teams of the United States, Arriola applied for Mexican citizenship which would allow him to play as a domestic player in

rather than occupying one of the five foreign player spots. Arriola made the United States U20 squad at the 2014

Dallas Cup The ''Dallas Cup'', is an annual international Football (soccer), football tournament for invited youth teams. The tournament was established i1980and is held in Dallas, Dallas, Texas, with FC Dallas serving as its host club. Venues used for the t ...

and 2014 NTC Invitational. Arriola made the United States U20 squad for the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

, appearing in four of the team's five matches and scoring a goal in a 4–0 rout of hosts New Zealand in the group stage. Arriola made the United States U23 squad for the Olympic qualifiers versus Colombia's U23 team. After not playing the first match on March 25, he started and played 45 minutes in the second leg at Toyota Stadium in Frisco, Texas. The United States U23 lost the series 3–2 on aggregate. Arriola_USMNT

Arriola made his senior team debut on May 22, 2016 against Puerto Rico, scoring his first international goal and notching an assist for a

Bobby Wood Bobby Shou Wood (born November 15, 1992) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker for Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. Youth and early career Wood was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, to a mother with partial ...

goal. Arriola scored his fourth international goal in the opening game of the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

against Guyana at

Allianz Field Allianz Field is a soccer-specific stadium in Saint Paul, Minnesota, Saint Paul, Minnesota, home to Minnesota United FC of Major League Soccer (MLS). Opening in 2019, the 19,400-seat stadium was designed by Populous (company), Populous, during ...

in Saint Paul, Minnesota. The goal was assisted by fellow teammate

Weston McKennie Weston James Earl McKennie (born August 28, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a midfielder for club Juventus and the United States national team. A versatile player, McKennie is capable of playing in a multitude of ...

, his first international assist, and was the team's first goal of the tournament and the first goal scored in a competitive match under the recently-appointed coach

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is also the current head coach of the United States men's national soccer team. Berhalter previously coached Columbus Crew SC in Major League Soc ...

. In the same match, Arriola had a shot which deflected off a defender before ricocheting off of teammate

Gyasi Zardes Gyasi A. Zardes (born September 2, 1991) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a forward for Austin FC of Major League Soccer and the United States national team. Born in Hawthorne, California, Zardes was part of the LA Galaxy ...

' face and into the goal and recorded an assist for Tyler Boyd's second goal. Arriola scored a header in USMNT's penultimate game in 2021-22 Concacaf World Cup qualifying, where the USMNT defeated Panama 5-1, virtually guaranteeing a spot in Qatar. However, he was omitted from the final World Cup squad for Qatar.

Personal life

Paul is in a relationship with Akela Banuelos. They both run a

YouTube YouTube is a global online video platform, online video sharing and social media, social media platform headquartered in San Bruno, California. It was launched on February 14, 2005, by Steve Chen, Chad Hurley, and Jawed Karim. It is owned by ...

channel together called Kickin' It with Akela and Paul. He and his girlfriend own two

pug The Pug is a breed of dog originally from China, with physically distinctive features of a wrinkly, short-muzzled face and curled tail. The breed has a fine, glossy coat that comes in a variety of colors, most often light brown (fawn) or blac ...

Career statistics

Club

International

International goals

:''As of matches played June 10, 2022. United States score listed first, score column indicates score after each Arriola goal.''

Honors

United States U17 *

CONCACAF U-17 Championship The CONCACAF U-17 Championship is an international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-17 World Cup. Results In 2009 the tournament returned ...

2011 File:2011 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: a protester partaking in Occupy Wall Street heralds the beginning of the Occupy movement; protests against Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, who was killed that October; a young man celebrate ...

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

2021 File:2021 collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: the James Webb Space Telescope was launched in 2021; Protesters in Yangon, Myanmar following the 2021 Myanmar coup d'état, coup d'état; A civil demonstration against the October–November 2021 ...

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 Liga MX. MLS initially adopted a tr ...

2022 File:2022 collage V1.png, Clockwise, from top left: Road junction at Yamato-Saidaiji Station several hours after the assassination of Shinzo Abe; 2022 Sri Lankan protests, Anti-government protest in Sri Lanka in front of the Presidential Secretari ...

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Arriola, Paul 1995 births Living people American expatriate soccer players American soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Association football wingers Club Tijuana footballers CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players D.C. United players Swansea City A.F.C. players FC Dallas players Designated Players (MLS) Liga MX players Major League Soccer players Expatriate footballers in Mexico American expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Soccer players from California Sportspeople from Chula Vista, California United States men's international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's under-23 international soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players 2015 CONCACAF U-20 Championship players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players