Aaron Herrera (footballer)

Last updated

Aaron Herrera
Aaron Herrera NYCFC vs DC United on Aug 30 2025-018 (cropped).jpg
Herrera with DC United in 2025
Personal information
Full name Aaron Joseph Herrera [1]
Date of birth (1997-06-06) 6 June 1997 (age 28)
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
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2015–2017 New Mexico Lobos 54 (7)
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(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
Representing Flag of the United States.svg  United States
Winner CONCACAF U-20 Championship 2017
* 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.

Contents

Early life

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]

Club career

FC Tucson

Herrera also played with Premier Development League side FC Tucson in 2016 and 2017. [4]

Real Salt Lake

On 15 December 2017, Herrera signed as a Homegrown Player for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. [5]

CF Montréal

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]

D.C. United

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]

International career

United States

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]

Guatemala

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]

Personal life

Herrera was born in the United States to a Guatemalan father, Diego Herrera and American mother, Donni Herrera.

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 10 May 2025 [17]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueCupContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Monarchs 2018 United Soccer League 50———50
Real Salt Lake 2018 Major League Soccer 1601 [a] 0—3 [b] 0200
2019 320—1 [c] 02 [b] 0350
2020 200——1 [d] 0210
2021 291——3 [b] 0321
2022 270———270
Total12411010901351
CF Montréal 2023 Major League Soccer1902 [e] 02 [c] 0—230
D.C. United 2024 Major League Soccer301003 [c] 0—331
2025 1201 [a] 0——130
Total421103000461
Career total19024060902092
  1. 1 2 Appearance in U.S. Open Cup
  2. 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in MLS Cup Playoffs
  3. 1 2 3 Appearance(s) in Leagues Cup
  4. ↑ Appearance in MLS is Back Tournament knockout stage
  5. ↑ Appearances in Canadian Championship

International

As of match played 2 July 2025 [18]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
United States 202110
Total10
Guatemala 202360
202460
202570
Total190
Career total200

Honours

United States U20

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying – Rosters Provisional Lists" (PDF). mcusercontent.com. Archived (PDF) from the original on 31 May 2022. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  2. ↑ "Aaron Herrera". Real Salt Lake. Retrieved 21 August 2022.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. ↑ "Aaron Herrera – 2017". golobos.com. The University of New Mexico. 30 July 2015. Archived from the original on 11 April 2018. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  4. ↑ "Aaron Herrera". uslpdl.com. USL PDL. Archived from the original on 16 May 2017. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  5. ↑ "Real Salt Lake sign Homegrown defender Aaron Herrera, Monarchs' Taylor Peay". mlssoccer.com. Major League Soccer. 15 December 2017. Archived from the original on 4 March 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  6. ↑ "CF Montréal acquire Aaron Herrera in trade with Real Salt Lake | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer. Archived from the original on 27 March 2023. Retrieved 21 December 2022.
  7. ↑ "D.C. United Acquire Defender Aaron Herrera from CF Montréal in Exchange for $500K GAM and Defender Ruan". dcunited.com. Archived from the original on 18 December 2023. Retrieved 12 December 2023.
  8. ↑ "Forward Christian Benteke and Defender Aaron Herrera Selected to the 2024 MLS All-Star Game". dcunited.com. D.C. United. 1 July 2024. Retrieved 5 July 2024.
  9. ↑ "Las Cruces born soccer player riding high after U-20 World Cup experience". lcsun-news.com. Las Cruces Sun-News. 16 June 2017. Archived from the original on 8 December 2019. Retrieved 3 May 2020.
  10. ↑ "USMNT Thumps Trinidad & Tobago In First Friendly Of 2021". www.teamusa.com. 31 January 2021. Retrieved 3 July 2025.
  11. ↑ "U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team Head Coach Jason Kreis Names Roster for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship". www.ussoccer.com. 11 March 2021. Archived from the original on 19 July 2021. Retrieved 20 March 2021.
  12. ↑ "National team roster – 2023 Concacaf Gold Cup" (PDF). 1 June 2023. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 June 2023. Retrieved 3 June 2023.
  13. ↑ "El jugador del CF Montreal destaca en la alineación de la Bicolor para enfrentar a Costa Rica". ESPNDeportes.com (in Spanish). 16 June 2023. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  14. ↑ mlssoccer. "Aaron Herrera & Guatemala ride "incredibly special" Gold Cup run | MLSSoccer.com". mlssoccer. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  15. ↑ Herrera makes a miraculous save to rob Canada of the sure goal - Video - TSN. 29 June 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025– via www.tsn.ca.
  16. ↑ "Guatemala stun Canada in shootout to book Gold Cup semifinal spot against USMNT or Costa Rica | Goal.com US". www.goal.com. 29 June 2025. Retrieved 2 July 2025.
  17. ↑ Aaron Herrera at Soccerway . Retrieved 17 February 2024.
  18. ↑ Aaron Herrera at National-Football-Teams.com
  19. ↑ "U-20 MEN'S NATIONAL TEAM CLAIMS FIRST CONCACAF U-20 CHAMPIONSHIP WITH SHOOTOUT WIN VS. HONDURAS". ussoccer.com. 5 March 2017. Archived from the original on 12 October 2017. Retrieved 29 June 2021.
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