Christiano François (born July 17, 1993) is a Haitian 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 winger for the

Loudoun United Loudoun United FC is an American professional soccer team based in Leesburg, Virginia. The team was founded in 2018 as the reserve team of D.C. United and made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. After ownership changes, it ceased being t ...

in the

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

and for the Haiti national team.

Career

Early career

François came to the United States following the

2010 Haiti earthquake The 2010 Haiti earthquake was a catastrophic Moment magnitude scale, magnitude 7.0 Mw earthquake that struck Haiti at 16:53 local time (21:53 UTC) on Tuesday, 12 January 2010. The epicenter was near the town of Léogâne, Ouest (departm ...

, playing prep soccer for two years at

Saint Benedict's Preparatory School St. Benedict's Preparatory School is a Catholic college preparatory school in Newark, New Jersey run by the Benedictine monks of Newark Abbey. The school serves boys and girls in kindergarten through twelfth grade on a urban campus. The s ...

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

. He enrolled in the

University of Maryland The University of Maryland, College Park (University of Maryland, UMD, or simply Maryland) is a public land-grant research university in College Park, Maryland, United States. Founded in 1856, UMD is the flagship institution of the Univ ...

's Maryland English Institute and formed a close bond with fellow Haitian Widner Saint-Cyr. Following a freshman season where he scored 5 goals in 24 games for the Terrapins, François was forced to redshirt his sophomore year due to academic reasons.

D.C. United

After two years at Maryland, François decided to leave college early and sign a contract with

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 ...

. He was claimed by

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

via the Waiver Draft on January 24, 2014. On March 25, François was loaned to

USL Pro The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional soccer league in the second tier of the United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) as its premier league for men above USL League One. Operating under a f ...

affiliate club

Richmond Kickers Richmond Kickers is an American professional soccer club based in Richmond, Virginia. The Kickers compete as a member of USL League One (USL1). The club was established in 1993, and began play that same year as a United States Interregional S ...

He made his professional debut on April 5 in a 3-1 victory over the

Pittsburgh Riverhounds Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC is an American professional soccer team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Founded in 1998 and beginning play in 1999, the club plays in the Eastern Conference of the USL Championship, the second tier of the American ...

. On August 8, 2014; he was recalled from Richmond and released by

. On January 21, 2015 he signed with SC Vila Real as a forward and right-wing midfielder. In August 2015 he signed with Felgueiras 1932.

FC Motown

During 2016, François made appearances with New Jersey amateur side

FC Motown FC Motown is an American soccer club based in Morristown, New Jersey. Founded in 2012, the team currently fields teams in both the National Premier Soccer League (NPSL) and USL League Two. In 2020, the team formed a U23 side that competes in t ...

Rochester Rhinos

On March 21, 2017, he signed with USL side

Rochester Rhinos Rochester Rhinos, formerly known as the Rochester Raging Rhinos, was an American soccer team based in Rochester, New York, United States. The club won the 1999 U.S. Open Cup, marking the only time a non-MLS team has won the U.S. Open Cup sinc ...

Ottawa Fury

Following a season with

, François signed with

Ottawa Fury FC Ottawa Fury Football Club was a Canadian professional soccer club based in Ottawa, Ontario. The club competed in the North American Soccer League and USL Championship and played its home games at TD Place Stadium. The Ottawa Fury FC were di ...

of the USL Championship on December 3, 2018.

Miami FC

On January 18, 2021, François signed with USL Championship side

Miami FC Miami FC is an American professional association football, soccer team based in Miami, Florida that competes in the USL Championship, the second tier of the American soccer pyramid. The club began play in the North American Soccer League (201 ...

El Paso Locomotive FC

François joined

El Paso Locomotive El Paso Locomotive FC is an American professional soccer team based in El Paso, Texas. Founded in 2018, the team made its debut in the USL Championship in 2019. History First season In February 2018, the United Soccer League announced that El P ...

in the

's Western Conference on 8 February 2022. He made 26 league appearances, scoring one goal and assisting another, before departing the club following the expiry of his contract.

Rio Grande Valley FC Toros

On January 27, 2023, François signed with

Rio Grande Valley FC Rio Grande Valley FC, also known as RGVFC or Rio Grande Valley FC Toros, was an American professional soccer team based in Edinburg, Texas operated by Lone Star, LLC. They joined the USL Championship in the 2016 season. The team served as a hy ...

Loudoun United FC

François joined

on 15 December 2023.

International career

François made his debut for

Haiti national football team The Haiti national football team (, Haitian Creole: ''Ekip foutbòl Ayiti'') represents Haiti in international Association football, football. Haiti is administered by the Haitian Football Federation, Fédération Haïtienne de Football (FHF), ...

on 7 September 2019 in a

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League (, ) is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its secondary continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament takes pla ...

game against

Curaçao Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela. Curaçao includ ...

, he replaced Derrick Etienne in the 78th minute.

References

External links

*
Maryland Terrapins bio
*
desportivotransmontano.com
* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Francois, Christiano 1993 births Living people Men's association football forwards Haitian men's footballers Haitian expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Haitian expatriate sportspeople in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Portugal Haitian expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate men's soccer players in Canada Haitian expatriate sportspeople in Canada Maryland Terrapins men's soccer players Central Jersey Spartans players Baltimore Bohemians players D.C. United players Richmond Kickers players F.C. Felgueiras (2006) players FC Motown players Rochester Rhinos players Pittsburgh Riverhounds SC players Ottawa Fury FC players Reno 1868 FC players Miami FC players El Paso Locomotive FC players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players USL League Two players Campeonato de Portugal (league) players USL Championship players Haiti men's international footballers Undrafted Major League Soccer players Loudoun United FC players 21st-century Haitian sportsmen