![]() Herrera with DC United in 2025 | |||||||||||
Personal information | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Full name | Aaron Joseph Herrera [1] | ||||||||||
Date of birth | 6 June 1997 | ||||||||||
Place of birth | Las Cruces, New Mexico, United States | ||||||||||
Height | 1.80 m (5 ft 11 in) [2] | ||||||||||
Position(s) | Defender | ||||||||||
Team information | |||||||||||
Current team | D.C. United | ||||||||||
Number | 22 | ||||||||||
Youth career | |||||||||||
2012–2015 | Real Salt Lake AZ | ||||||||||
College career | |||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||
2015–2017 | New Mexico Lobos | 54 | (7) | ||||||||
Senior career* | |||||||||||
Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||
2016–2017 | FC Tucson | 11 | (0) | ||||||||
2018–2022 | Real Salt Lake | 124 | (1) | ||||||||
2018 | Real Monarchs | 5 | (0) | ||||||||
2022–2023 | CF Montréal | 19 | (0) | ||||||||
2024– | D.C. United | 42 | (1) | ||||||||
International career‡ | |||||||||||
2017 | United States U20 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||
2019–2021 | United States U23 | 6 | (0) | ||||||||
2021 | United States | 1 | (0) | ||||||||
2023– | Guatemala | 19 | (0) | ||||||||
Medal record
| |||||||||||
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 14 May 2025 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 2 July 2025 |
Aaron Joseph Herrera (born 6 June 1997) is a professional footballer who plays as a defender for Major League Soccer club D.C. United. Herrera made one appearance for the United States national team, before switching to play for the Guatemala national team.
Born in Las Cruces, New Mexico, Herrera played three years of college soccer at the University of New Mexico between 2015 and 2017, scoring 20 goals and tallying 8 assists in 54 appearances. [3]
Herrera also played with Premier Development League side FC Tucson in 2016 and 2017. [4]
On 15 December 2017, Herrera signed as a Homegrown Player for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. [5]
On 21 December 2022, Herrera was traded to CF Montréal for $500,000 in General Allocation Money, a 2023 international roster spot, Montréal's 2023 MLS SuperDraft first-round pick and a sell-on fee. [6]
On 12 December 2023, D.C. United acquired Herrera from CF Montréal in exchange for Brazilian defender Ruan and $500,000 in 2024 General Allocation Money. [7] During his maiden season with the club, Herrera was named to the 2024 MLS All-Star Team. [8]
Internationally, Herrera had represented the United States U20s. [9] In January 2021, Herrera made one appearance for the senior United States in a 7–0 friendly win over Trinidad and Tobago. [10]
He was named to the final 20-player United States under-23 roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship in March 2021. [11]
In June 2023, Herrera was named to Guatemala's preliminary squad ahead of the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup. [12] He made his Guatemala debut on 15 June in a friendly match against Costa Rica. [13]
In the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup quarter finals against Canada, Herrera was a critical player in Guatemala's penatly kicks victory, completing a goal-line clearance and scoring in the penalty shootout against Dayne St. Clair [14] [15] – marking Guatemala's first apperance in the Gold Cup semi-finals since 1996. [16]
Herrera was born in the United States to a Guatemalan father, Diego Herrera and American mother, Donni Herrera.
Club | Season | League | Cup | Continental | Other | Total | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
Real Monarchs | 2018 | United Soccer League | 5 | 0 | — | — | — | 5 | 0 | |||
Real Salt Lake | 2018 | Major League Soccer | 16 | 0 | 1 [a] | 0 | — | 3 [b] | 0 | 20 | 0 | |
2019 | 32 | 0 | — | 1 [c] | 0 | 2 [b] | 0 | 35 | 0 | |||
2020 | 20 | 0 | — | — | 1 [d] | 0 | 21 | 0 | ||||
2021 | 29 | 1 | — | — | 3 [b] | 0 | 32 | 1 | ||||
2022 | 27 | 0 | — | — | — | 27 | 0 | |||||
Total | 124 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 135 | 1 | ||
CF Montréal | 2023 | Major League Soccer | 19 | 0 | 2 [e] | 0 | 2 [c] | 0 | — | 23 | 0 | |
D.C. United | 2024 | Major League Soccer | 30 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 3 [c] | 0 | — | 33 | 1 | |
2025 | 12 | 0 | 1 [a] | 0 | — | — | 13 | 0 | ||||
Total | 42 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 46 | 1 | ||
Career total | 190 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 6 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 209 | 2 |
National team | Year | Apps | Goals |
---|---|---|---|
United States | 2021 | 1 | 0 |
Total | 1 | 0 | |
Guatemala | 2023 | 6 | 0 |
2024 | 6 | 0 | |
2025 | 7 | 0 | |
Total | 19 | 0 | |
Career total | 20 | 0 |
United States U20
Individual