Richard Ledezma

Last updated

Richard Ledezma
Personal information
Date of birth (2000-09-06) 6 September 2000 (age 25)
Place of birth Phoenix, Arizona, U.S.
Height 1.74 m (5 ft 9 in) [1]
Position(s)
Team information
Current team
 Guadalajara
Number 37
Youth career
2016–2018 Real Salt Lake
Senior career*
YearsTeamApps(Gls)
2018–2019 Real Monarchs 5 (1)
2019–2023 Jong PSV 47 (7)
2018–2025 PSV 40 (2)
2023 → New York City FC (loan) 23 (0)
2025– Guadalajara 21 (1)
International career‡
2018–2019 United States U20 5 (0)
2019 United States U23 3 (2)
2020 United States 1 (0)
2026– Mexico 2 (1)
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 23 January 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 25 February 2026

Richard Ledezma (born September 6, 2000) is a professional footballer who plays as a midfielder or right-back for Liga MX club Guadalajara. [2] [3] Born in the United States, he plays for the Mexico national team. [4]

Contents

Club career

Early career

Ledezma grew up in Phoenix, Arizona, where he played youth soccer for Valparaiso United FC. [5] He made his professional debut for USL side Real Monarchs on April 11, 2018, as an 82nd-minute substitute in a 3–1 win over Seattle Sounders FC 2. [6] On June 4, he scored his first career goal for Real Monarchs, as part of a performance for which he was named to the USL Team of the Week. [7] On July 7, Ledezma was named the U.S. Soccer Development Academy Western Conference Player of the Year for the U-18/19 age group. [8]

PSV

On December 21, 2018, Ledezma left Salt Lake to sign for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven on a one-and-a-half-year deal. [9] On October 27, 2019, after his strong play for Jong PSV, Ledezma made PSV's senior squad for the first time for an Eredivisie match with AZ Alkmaar. On November 1, 2020, Ledezma made his PSV debut in the 74th minute and recorded an assist in a 4–0 win over ADO Den Haag.

On March 19, 2023, PSV announced that Ledezma had signed a contract extension with the club and would subsequently be loaned out. [10] On March 23, Ledezma was seen training with MLS club New York City FC [11] following months of rumors connecting him with the club. [12]

For the 2024–25 season he was back with PSV, starting in its first Champions League game, against Juventus. [13]

Guadalajara

On June 12, 2025, Ledezma signed with Mexican club Guadalajara on a free transfer. [14] Ledezma made his Liga MX debut on July 20 in a 1–0 loss to León. [15]

International career

United States youth and senior

Ledezma received his first international call-up from the United States under-19s in January 2018 and quickly advanced to the under-20 side. [16] He earned his first start for the United States under-20 side against the French under-21s, helping the United States to a 1–0 victory. [17]

On May 17, 2019, Ledezma revealed he was contacted by the Mexican Football Federation regarding switching to represent his ancestral Mexico. Ledezma did not close the door to representing either federation, but remained aligned with the United States for the time being. [18]

On June 4, 2019, in the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup, Ledezma recorded an assist in the United States's 3–2 victory over France in the Round of 16, as his through-ball in the 25th minute split Boubacar Kamara and Dan-Axel Zagadou setting up Sebastian Soto for the finish.

He received his first call-up to the senior United States squad for matches against Wales and Panama in November 2020. [19] On November 16, Ledezma made his senior national team debut against Panama when he came on as a substitute in the 68th minute and created two assists for goals by Sebastian Soto. [20]

Switch to Mexico national team

On November 23, 2025, Ledezma communicated his intention of applying for a one-time switch through FIFA in order to represent the Mexico national team. [21] On January 15, 2026, Mexico national team executives formally submitted their request for Ledezma’s international allegiance switch to FIFA, [22] which was approved on January 20. [23] [24]

On January 22, Ledezma participated the full 90 plus minutes in a friendly match against Panama with Mexico taking the 1–0 win. [25] On 25 February 2026, Ledezma scores his first goal for Mexico in a friendly match against Iceland in the 22nd minute as Mexico took the 4–0 win. [26]

Personal life

Born in the United States, Ledezma is of Mexican descent. [27]

Career statistics

Club

As of May 11, 2025 [28]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
ClubSeasonLeagueNational cup [a] ContinentalOtherTotal
DivisionAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoalsAppsGoals
Real Monarchs 2018 USL 51———51
Jong PSV 2019–20 Eerste Divisie 254———254
2020–21 92———92
2021–22 71———71
2022–23 60———60
Total477———477
PSV 2019–20 Eredivisie 000000—00
2020–21 Eredivisie30003 [b] 0—60
2021–22 Eredivisie511000—61
2022–23 Eredivisie70003 [b] 01 [c] 0110
2023–24 Eredivisie100000—10
2024–25 Eredivisie2413011 [d] 0—381
Total4024017010622
New York City FC (loan) 2023 MLS 23010—3 [e] 0270
Career total11510501704014110
  1. ↑ Includes KNVB Cup, U.S. Open Cup
  2. 1 2 Appearance(s) in UEFA Europa League
  3. ↑ Appearance in Johan Cruyff Shield
  4. ↑ Appearances in UEFA Champions League
  5. ↑ Appearances in Leagues Cup

International

As of February 25, 2026 [29]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National teamYearAppsGoals
United States 202010
Total10
Mexico 202621
Total21
Career total31

Scores and results list Mexico's goal tally first.

List of international goals scored by Richard Ledezma
No.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition
1February 25, 2026 Estadio Corregidora, Querétaro, MexicoFlag of Iceland.svg  Iceland 1–04–0 Friendly

Honors

PSV

Individual

References

  1. ↑ "R. Ledezma". Eredivisie. Retrieved 6 March 2023.
  2. ↑ "Richard Ledezma is the newest Chivas acquisition". Club Deportivo Guadalajara. 12 June 2025.
  3. ↑ "FIFA U-20 World Cup Poland 2019: List of Players: USA" (PDF). FIFA. 13 June 2019. p. 24. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2020.
  4. ↑ "Richard Ledezma, Brian Gutiérrez complete U.S. switch to Mexico". ESPN.com. 21 January 2026. Retrieved 23 January 2026.
  5. ↑ "Phoenix Native Richard Ledezma Named to U-20 World Cup Roster".
  6. ↑ "Seattle Sounders FC 2 vs Real Monarchs SLC". uslsoccer.com. Archived from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 13 April 2018.
  7. ↑ "Ledezma Earns Team of the Week Honors". rsl.com. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  8. ↑ "PLAYERS OF THE YEAR, CONFERENCE BEST XI'S NAMED AT BOYS' DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY END-OF-YEAR BANQUET". ussoccerda.com. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  9. ↑ "PSV lijft Amerikaans talent Ledezma in". www.psv.nl. 21 December 2018.
  10. ↑ PSV [@PSV] (19 March 2023). "Richy Ledezma extends until 2025 and will be loaned out. He will not be in the squad today" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 April 2023– via Twitter.
  11. ↑ nycfc.source [@NYCFCSOURCE] (23 March 2023). "Ledezma is in New York and already training with the team — The deal has been finalized, and we are now waiting on an announcement. #NYCFC RSL will receive a small fee in MLS money for the Homegrown Rights of Richy Ledezma. https://t.co/xlUWSGb1om" (Tweet). Retrieved 14 April 2023– via Twitter.
  12. ↑ Richy Ledezma NYCFC Loan PSV Eindhoven MLS 2023
  13. ↑ "Juventus 3–1 PSV (Sep 17, 2024) Final Score". ESPN Soccer. ESPN. Retrieved 17 September 2024.
  14. ↑ "Richard Ledezma, segundo refuerzo de Chivas para el Apertura 2025". ESPN México. 12 June 2025.
  15. ↑ https://chivaspasion.bolavip.com/noticias/asi-fue-el-debut-ante-leon-de-los-cuatro-fichajes-de-chivas-para-el-apertura-2025
  16. ↑ "Ledezma & Amaya continuing to push through with the U.S. U-20's". americansoccernow.com. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "LAST MINUTE STRIKE GIVES U-20 MNT 1–0 WIN AGAINST FRANCE U-21". ussoccer.com. Retrieved 8 July 2018.
  18. ↑ "Rising USMNT youth prospect Ledezma confirms contact from Mexican federation". SBI Soccer. 17 September 2019.
  19. ↑ "USMNT ROSTER ANNOUNCEMENT: BERHALTER CALLS 24 PLAYERS FOR NOVEMBER CAMP MATCHES VS WALES AND PANAMA". ussoccer.com. 3 November 2020. Retrieved 3 November 2020.
  20. ↑ "USA 6 – Panama 2: Match Report & Stats".
  21. ↑ Steiner, Ben (24 November 2025). "USMNT-Capped Midfielder Aims for Mexico Switch to Crack 2026 World Cup Roster". Sports Illustrated . Retrieved 24 November 2025.
  22. ↑ Hernández, Cesar (15 January 2026). "Mexico calls up dual-nationals Richard Ledezma, Brian Gutiérrez". ESPN . Retrieved 15 January 2026.
  23. ↑ "FIFA Change of Association Platform". knowledge.fifa.com. 20 January 2026. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  24. ↑ "Richard Ledezma switches soccer allegiance from US to Mexico, joins national team". Associated Press. 21 January 2026. Retrieved 21 January 2026.
  25. ↑ "Panama vs Mexico live score, H2H results, standings and prediction". Sofascore. 22 January 2026. Retrieved 24 January 2026.
  26. ↑ "Mexico 4–0 Iceland". ESPN . 25 February 2026. Retrieved 25 February 2026.
  27. ↑ "Source: Ledezma has 'no commitment' to Mexico". ESPN.com. 16 May 2022.
  28. ↑ Richard Ledezma at Soccerway. Retrieved 21 July 2021.
  29. ↑ Richard Ledezma at National-Football-Teams.com
  30. ↑ "PSV verrast Ajax met twee goals vlak na rust en wint KNVB-beker". NOS. 17 April 2022. Retrieved 30 December 2022.
  31. ↑ "Ajax – PSV". PSV.nl. 30 July 2022. Archived from the original on 23 September 2022. Retrieved 30 July 2022.
  32. ↑ "PSV main supplier of Eredivisie Team of the Month in August". Eredivisie. 12 September 2024. Retrieved 12 September 2024.
  33. ↑ "8 clubs provide players for the Eredivisie Team of the Month for December". Eredivisie. 9 January 2025. Retrieved 12 January 2025.
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