Julián Araujo

In this Spanish name, the first or paternal surname is Araujo and the second or maternal family name is Zúñiga.

Julián Araujo
Araujo with Barcelona in 2024
Personal information
Full name Julián Vicente Araujo Zúñiga[1]
Date of birth (2001-08-13) 13 August 2001[2]
Place of birth Lompoc, California, United States
Height 1.76 m (5 ft 9 in)[3]
Position Right-back
Team information
Current team
 Celtic
(on loan from AFC Bournemouth)
Number 22
Youth career
2013–2015 Central Coast Condors
2015–2016 Santa Barbara Soccer Club
2016–2017 Lompoc High School
2017–2018 Barça Residency Academy
2018–2019 LA Galaxy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2018–2019 LA Galaxy II 2 (0)
2019–2023 LA Galaxy 100 (1)
2023–2024 Barcelona 0 (0)
2023–2024 → Las Palmas (loan) 25 (1)
2024– AFC Bournemouth 12 (0)
2026– → Celtic (loan) 10 (1)
International career‡
2017 United States U16 4 (0)
2017–2018 United States U18 6 (0)
2018 United States U19 2 (0)
2018 United States U20 2 (0)
2019–2021 United States U23 6 (0)
2020 United States 1 (0)
2021– Mexico 16 (0)
Medal record
Men's football
Representing  Mexico
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Winner 2023 United States–Canada
Winner 2025 United States–Canada
CONCACAF Nations League
Runner-up 2024 United States
2023 United States
Representing  United States
CONCACAF U-20 Championship
Winner 2018 United States
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 4 March 2026
‡ National team caps and goals as of 2 July 2025

Julián Vicente Araujo Zúñiga (born 13 August 2001) is a professional footballer who plays as a right-back for Scottish Premiership club Celtic on loan from Premier League club AFC Bournemouth. Born in the United States, he plays for the Mexico national team.[4]

Youth

Araujo was born in Lompoc, California, and is of Mexican descent. He attended Lompoc High School[5] for two years, then left home and joined Barça Residency Academy in Casa Grande, Arizona in 2017.[6]

In March 2017, Araujo had committed to playing college soccer at the University of California, Santa Barbara from 2018 onward.[7]

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.[8]

LA Galaxy

On 1 March 2019, LA Galaxy acquired Araujo after trading $50,000 of Targeted Allocation Money to Colorado Rapids to gain the first spot in the Waivers Order.[9]

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.[10]

Barcelona

On 1 February 2023, Barcelona and LA Galaxy agreed on a transfer for Araujo. The paperwork, however, was delivered 18 seconds late,[11] and the deal was left in limbo after FIFA rejected the transfer but the Court of Arbitration for Sport overruled.[12] Ultimately, by 17 February Araujo was transferred to Barcelona.[10]

Loan to Las Palmas

On 1 August 2023, Araujo was loaned to La Liga side Las Palmas for the entire 2023–24 season.[13][14]

On 31 October, Araujo scored his first goal with the club in a 3–0 away win against Manacor to advance in the second round of the Copa del Rey.[15] On 1 December, he scored his first league goal with the club, scoring the first goal in their 2–0 win over Getafe.[16] On 7 January 2024, during a Copa del Rey match against Tenerife, 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.[17] He returned a month later on 10 February, coming on in stoppage-time for Marvin Park in their 2–0 win over Valencia.

AFC Bournemouth

On 13 August 2024, Araujo joined Premier League team AFC Bournemouth on a five-year deal.[18] He made his debut on 17 August in a 1–1 away draw against Nottingham Forest.[19]

Loan to Celtic

On 2 January 2026, Araujo joined Scottish Premiership club Celtic on loan for the remainder of the 2025–26 season.[20]

Araujo scored his first Celtic goal on 15 February when he netted a last minute winner against Kilmarnock at Rugby Park. In the 97th minute, he swept the ball home with his weaker left foot, then celebrated by jumping into the stand with the Celtic fans and linking arms.[21]

International career

United States

Araujo was eligible to play for the United States and Mexico.[22]

After an injury to Ayo Akinola, Araujo was named to the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup squad to represent the United States under-20.[23]

Araujo was called into the United States national soccer team by Gregg Berhalter for the January 2020 camp, but did not make an official match appearance.[5] He was called up again in December 2020 for a game against El Salvador, in which he made his senior level debut.[24] Araujo was named to the final 20-player United States under-23 roster for the 2020 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship in March 2021.[25]

On 18 June 2021, Araujo was named to the preliminary 59-player USMNT roster for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup 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.[26]

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 Mexico.[27] As of 4 October 2021 FIFA officially approved Araujo's case.[28][29]

On 27 November 2021, Araujo was included in the Mexico national football team call-up by Gerardo Martino for a friendly match against Chile set to take place on 8 December.[30] He was given a starting berth in Mexico's 2–2 draw, playing the full 90 minutes.[31] 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 and Edgar Castillo.[32]

In the summer of 2023, Araujo was part of Mexico national team that reached 3rd-place finish at the 2023 CONCACAF Nations League Finals and won the 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup. He also won the latter tournament in 2025.[33]

Career statistics

Club

As of match played 8 March 2026[34]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup[a] League cup[b] Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
LA Galaxy II 2018 USL 2 0 — — — 2 0
LA Galaxy 2019 MLS 18 0 1 0 — 1[c] 0 20 0
2020 17 1 — — — 17 1
2021 32 0 — — — 32 0
2022 33 0 4 0 — 2[d] 1 39 1
Total 100 1 5 0 — 3 1 108 2
Barcelona 2022–23 La Liga 0 0 0 0 — 0 0 0 0
Las Palmas (loan) 2023–24 La Liga 25 1 3 1 — — 28 2
Bournemouth 2024–25 Premier League 12 0 0 0 1 0 — 13 0
2025–26 0 0 — 1 0 — 1 0
Total 12 0 0 0 2 0 — 14 0
Celtic (loan) 2025–26 Scottish Premiership 10 1 2 0 — 1[e] 0 13 1
Career total 149 3 10 1 2 0 4 1 165 5
  1. ^ Includes U.S. Open Cup, Copa del Rey
  2. ^ Includes EFL Cup
  3. ^ Appearance in Leagues Cup
  4. ^ Appearances in MLS Cup playoffs
  5. ^ Appearance in UEFA Europa League

International

As of match played 2 July 2025[35]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
Mexico 2021 1 0
2022 2 0
2023 9 0
2024 2 0
2025 2 0
Total 16 0

Honours

Barcelona

United States

Mexico

Individual

References

  1. ^ "2024/25 Premier League squad lists". Premier League. 13 September 2024. Retrieved 14 September 2024.
  2. ^ "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.
  3. ^ "Julián Araujo". UD Las Palmas. Retrieved 17 December 2023.
  4. ^ "Julián Araujo, new Barça Atlètic player (17–02–23)". FC Barcelona. Retrieved 17 February 2023.
  5. ^ a b "Lompoc native Julian Araujo gets a potential starting chance as Galaxy resume season". Santa Maria Times. 7 June 2021.
  6. ^ Reyna, Lorenzo J. (17 July 2018). "Julian Araujo completes first season with Barca Academy as an All-Conference player". Santa Maria Times. Retrieved 1 June 2021.
  7. ^ Reyna, Lorenzo J. (21 March 2017). "Araujo commits to UCSB, Prendergast lands first offer". Santa Yves Valley News.
  8. ^ "Seattle Sounders FC 2 vs LA Galaxy II". Archived from the original on 8 October 2018. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  9. ^ "LA Galaxy sign defender Julian Araujo". LA Galaxy.
  10. ^ a b "LA Galaxy Transfer Defender Julián Araujo to FC Barcelona". LA Galaxy. 17 February 2023.
  11. ^ "Source: Araujo trains at Barca amid transfer delay". 15 February 2023.
  12. ^ "Julián Araujo poised to join Barcelona as CAS overrules FIFA". 15 February 2023.
  13. ^ "Julián Araujo, nuevo jugador de la UD Las Palmas". UD Las Palmas. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 2 August 2023.
  14. ^ "Julián Araujo to go on loan to Las Palmas". FC Barcelona. 1 August 2023. Retrieved 1 August 2023.
  15. ^ "La UD sella en la segunda parte de Manacor su pase copero (0–3)" (in Spanish). 31 October 2023.
  16. ^ Jason Anderson (1 December 2023). "Julian Araujo bags his first La Liga goal as Las Palmas downs Getafe". prosoccerwire.
  17. ^ Gill Clark (10 January 2024). "Barcelona loanee Julian Araujo hit with four-match ban after red card for Las Palmas". barcablaugranes.
  18. ^ "Julián Araujo signs from FC Barcelona". AFC Bournemouth. 13 August 2024. Retrieved 13 August 2024.
  19. ^ "Late Semenyo strike earns Cherries opening day point". AFC Bournemouth. 17 August 2024.
  20. ^ "Welcome to Celtic, Julián Araujo". www.celticfc.com. 2 January 2026. Retrieved 2 January 2026.
  21. ^ Irvine, David (15 February 2026). "Watch as Araujo completes stunning Celtic comeback to spark wild celebrations". The National.
  22. ^ "Un Estados Unidos muy 'mexicano' clasifica al Mundial Sub-20". MARCA Claro México. 17 November 2018.
  23. ^ "Julian Araujo added to U.S. roster for the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup | LA Galaxy". lagalaxy.
  24. ^ "USA 6 – El Salvador 0: Match Report & Stats". ussoccer.com.
  25. ^ "U.S. Under-23 Men's National Team Head Coach Jason Kreis Names Roster for Concacaf Men's Olympic Qualifying Championship". ussoccer.com. 11 March 2021.
  26. ^ @SoccerByIves (1 July 2021). "Gregg Berhalter reveals that Julian Araujo, a dual national, wasn't ready to make the final step to committing to the #USMNT" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  27. ^ "Reportes: Julián Araujo decide jugar con la Selección Mexicana". tudn.mx (in Spanish). 13 August 2021.
  28. ^ "Julián Araujo ya es jugador elegible para México". mediotiempo.com (in Spanish). 4 October 2021.
  29. ^ "Q&A: Julian Araujo on why he chose to represent Mexico instead of the USMNT". The Athletic. 5 October 2021. Retrieved 5 October 2021.
  30. ^ "Convocatoria de la Selección Nacional de México". MiSeleccion (in Spanish). 9 December 2021.
  31. ^ "La SNM cerró la actividad del 2021 con empate". MiSeleccion (in Spanish). 8 December 2021.
  32. ^ "Julián Araujo makes Mexico debut after switching from US". apnews.com. 8 December 2021.
  33. ^ "Araujo's Mexico seal CONCACAF Gold Cup glory". AFC Bournemouth. 7 July 2025.
  34. ^ Julián Araujo at Soccerway. Retrieved 11 January 2021.
  35. ^ Julián Araujo at National-Football-Teams.com
  36. ^ "Barcelona 2022–23 La Liga Squad". ESPN.
  37. ^ "Barcelona 2022–23 Squad". ESPN.
  38. ^ "United States U23 Squad – 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Championship". ESPN.
  39. ^ "Mexico beats Panama in Gold Cup final with late Gimenez goal". ESPN. 16 July 2023. Retrieved 17 July 2023.
  40. ^ "United States 1-2 Mexico: Mauricio Pochettino's side beaten in Gold Cup final". BBC Sport. Retrieved 7 July 2025.
  41. ^ "Julian Araujo voted LAG Confidential's LA Galaxy 2020 Young Player of the Year". 26 December 2020.
  42. ^ "LA Galaxy announce 2020 team awards | LA Galaxy".
  43. ^ "LA Galaxy announce 2021 team awards | LA Galaxy".
  44. ^ "2021 MLS All-Star Team Roster". MLSsoccer.
  45. ^ "2022 MLS All-Star Game Roster". Major League Soccer. 12 July 2022. Retrieved 10 August 2022.
  46. ^ "IFFHS".
  47. ^ "IFFHS". www.iffhs.com.
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