Julián Vicente Araujo Zúñiga (born 13 August 2001) 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

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

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 ...

club

Bournemouth Bournemouth ( ) is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area, in the ceremonial county of Dorset, England. At the 2021 census, the built-up area had a population of 196,455, making it the largest ...

. Born in the United States, he plays for the Mexico national team.

Youth

Araujo was born in Lompoc, California, and is of Mexican descent. He attended

Lompoc High School Lompoc High School is a public high school serving Lompoc, in northern Santa Barbara County, California, United States. It was first established in the small farming community in 1892. It is part of the Lompoc Unified School District, as is cro ...

. After two years at Lompoc High School, he left home and joined Barça Residency Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona in 2017. In March 2017, Araujo had committed to playing

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 ...

at the

University of California, Santa Barbara The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Santa Barbara County, California, United States. Tracing its roots back to 1891 as an ...

from 2018 onward.

Club career

LA Galaxy II

Araujo made his professional debut in a 2–2 draw with Seattle Sounders 2 on 4 October 2018, coming on as an 88th-minute substitute for Nate Shultz.

LA Galaxy

On 1 March 2019, LA Galaxy acquired Araujo after trading $50,000 of Targeted Allocation Money to

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Founded in ...

to gain the first spot in the Waivers Order. 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.

Barcelona

On 1 February 2023,

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

and LA Galaxy agreed on a transfer for Araujo. The paperwork, however, was delivered 18 seconds late, and the deal was left in limbo after

FIFA The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (), more commonly known by its acronym FIFA ( ), is the international self-regulatory governing body of association football, beach soccer, and futsal. It was founded on 21 May 1904 to o ...

rejected the transfer but the

Court of Arbitration for Sport The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; , TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland, and its courts are located in New York City, Sy ...

overruled. Ultimately, by 17 February Araujo was transferred to Barcelona.

Loan to Las Palmas

On 1 August 2023, Araujo was loaned to

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

side

Las Palmas Las Palmas (, ; ), officially Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, is a Spanish city and capital of Gran Canaria, in the Canary Islands, in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the capital city of the Canary Islands (jointly with Santa Cruz de Tenerife) and the m ...

for the entire 2023–24 season. On 31 October, Araujo scored his first goal with the club in a 3–0 away win against

Manacor Manacor () is a town and Municipalities of Spain, municipality on the island of Mallorca, part of the Spanish Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. It is the second-largest town in Mallorca, after the capi ...

to advance in the second round of the

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. On 1 December, he scored his first league goal with the club, scoring the first goal in their 2–0 win over

Getafe Getafe () is a municipalities in Spain, municipality and a city in Spain belonging to the Community of Madrid. , it has a population of 180,747, the region's sixth most populated municipality. Getafe is located 13 km south of Madrid's city c ...

. On 7 January 2024, during a Copa del Rey match against

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

, Araujo picked up a red card for a violent conduct on Nacho Martínez after Nacho Martínez had gone down in the penalty area. On 10 January, it was announced that he would serve a four-match suspension. He returned a month later on 10 February, coming on in stoppage-time for

Marvin Park Marvin Olawale Akinlabi Park (; ; born 3 July 2000), known as Marvin Park or simply Marvin, is a Spanish professional footballer who plays for La Liga club Las Palmas. Mainly a right back, he can also play as a right winger. Club career Real ...

in their 2–0 win over

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Bournemouth

On 13 August 2024, Araujo joined

team

on a five-year deal.

International career

United States

Araujo was eligible to play 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 ...

and

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. After an injury to Ayo Akinola, Araujo was named to the

2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 22nd edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth football championship contested by the under-20 national teams of the member associations of FIFA, since its inception in 1977 a ...

squad to represent the United States under-20. Araujo was called into the United States national soccer team by

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is the current head coach and director of football for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire, a role he assumed following the end of the 2024 s ...

for the January 2020 camp, but did not make an official match appearance. He was called up again in December 2020 for a game against

El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...

, in which he made his senior level debut. Araujo was named to the final 20-player United States under-23 roster for 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 ...

in March 2021. On 18 June 2021, Araujo was named to the preliminary 59-player USMNT roster for the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's association football, soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean regions organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was ...

but was left off the final roster on 1 July 2021. Berhalter cited Araujo's dual citizenship and unwillingness to become cap-tied to the USMNT.

Mexico

On 13 August 2021, sports media in Mexico reported that Araujo himself had filed and submitted the one-time switch to FIFA to join

. As of 4 October 2021 FIFA officially approved Araujo's case. On 27 November 2021, Araujo was included in the Mexico national football team call-up by

Gerardo Martino Gerardo Daniel "Tata" Martino (born 20 November 1962) is an Argentine professional football coach and former player who last coached Major League Soccer club Inter Miami. Martino played mostly for Newell's Old Boys in his native Rosario. He ...

for a friendly match against

Chile Chile, officially the Republic of Chile, is a country in western South America. It is the southernmost country in the world and the closest to Antarctica, stretching along a narrow strip of land between the Andes, Andes Mountains and the Paci ...

set to take place on 8 December. He was given a starting berth in Mexico's 2–2 draw, playing the full 90 minutes. 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 Martín Vásquez Gómez (born December 24, 1963) is an American former professional Association football, soccer player. The first of five players to have played for both the United States men's national soccer team, United States and Mexico ...

and

Edgar Castillo Edgar Eduardo Castillo Carrillo (born October 8, 1986) is an American former professional soccer player who played 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 ...

. In the summer of 2023, Araujo was part of Mexico national team that reached 3rd-place finish at the

2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals The 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League, 2022–23 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the second season of the international Association football, football competition involvi ...

and won 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 ...

Career statistics

Club

International

Honours

Barcelona *

2022–23 The dash is a punctuation mark consisting of a long horizontal line. It is similar in appearance to the hyphen but is longer and sometimes higher from the baseline. The most common versions are the endash , generally longer than the hyphen ...

United States U20 *

CONCACAF U-20 Championship The CONCACAF Under-20 Championship is the second longest running international association football event in the North America, Central America and the Caribbean region, CONCACAF, and is the qualification tournament for the FIFA U-20 World Cup. Th ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

Mexico *

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

runner-up: 2023–24; third place:

Individual *

CIF Southern Section The California Interscholastic Federation-Southern Section (CIF-SS) is the governing body for high school athletics in most of Southern California and is the largest of the ten sections that comprise the California Interscholastic Federation (CI ...

All-West Conference Best XI: 2016–17 *US Youth prospects Best XI: 2018 *

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 ...

Young Player of the Year: 2020 *

Defender of the Year: 2020, 2021 *

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 ...

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

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 ...

* LA Sports Awards Community Athlete of the Year: 2022 *

U23 Player of the Month Nomination: December 2023 * Europe's Top 5 Leagues U21 Team of the Month: December 2023

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Araujo, Julian 2001 births Living people Men's association football fullbacks Dual internationalists (men's football) Mexican men's footballers Mexico men's international footballers American men's soccer players United States men's international soccer players American sportspeople of Mexican descent Ventura County FC players LA Galaxy players UD Las Palmas players AFC Bournemouth players Sportspeople from Lompoc, California Soccer players from Santa Barbara County, California United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players USL Championship players United States men's under-23 international soccer players Major League Soccer players La Liga players Premier League players Lompoc High School alumni 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players Mexican expatriate men's footballers Mexican expatriate sportspeople in Spain Mexican expatriate sportspeople in England American expatriate men's soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Spain American expatriate sportspeople in England Expatriate men's footballers in Spain Expatriate men's footballers in England 21st-century American sportsmen 21st-century Mexican sportsmen