DALLAS — In the 26 World Cup matches it has played in the last 70 years, the United States men’s soccer team has 25 goals, a paltry output even for a low-scoring sport.
So imagine, at age 21, being anointed America’s goal-scoring hope. Chosen from among the elite. For a formidable, globally watched challenge that occurs once every quadrennial.
Such is the weight of hope and expectation that Jesús Ferreira, at 5-9, 150 pounds, carries to Qatar for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
North Texas soccer fans have watched Ferreira grow up in FC Dallas’ system, and this season saw him score 18 goals and earn Major League Soccer’s Young Player of the Year award.
But to most of the projected 5 billion fans who will watch the four-week World Cup beginning Sunday, Ferreira is the latest largely unproven player to wear the mantle of America’s Striker. Does he feel burdened by it?
“A little bit, maybe,” he said. “But I know that if I put a lot of thought into that, it can affect me.
“So I try to be happy and excited and not focus so much on scoring, as making sure I help my team do the things we need to be doing.”
Ferreira wasn’t the only striker named to the 26-man United States squad — the others are Josh Sargent, 22, and Haji Wright, 24 — but he is the projected starter and the most analyzed by pundits, coaches and fans, with excitement and skepticism.
Considering Ferreira’s international inexperience — just 15 appearances for the U.S. — and relative youth, it would seem more realistic for him to shine in the 2026 World Cup, which will be played in 16 North American sites, including Arlington’s AT&T Stadium.
The state and direction of United States men’s soccer, though, necessitates a more urgent timetable, for Ferreira and the program.
After the humiliation of failing to qualify for the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. Soccer Federation named Gregg Berhalter to coach the national team.
The ensuing years have seen the U.S. qualify for its first Olympics since 2008 and on three occasions defeat Mexico, including in the 2021 Gold Cup final. Berhalter led the program to a 17-2-3 record in 2021 with an overhauled team, youthful and dynamic.
Berhalter, a standout defender on the U.S. team that reached the 2002 World Cup quarterfinals, is leading the second-youngest American World Cup squad; only the 1990 team was more youthful in average age. Ferreira is the team’s fourth-youngest player.
“Jesús is a guy that we see with a very good overall understanding of our game model,” Berhalter said. “He has the ability to really bring other players into the game, as well.
“[He’s] clever with his movement in and around the penalty box. And then he has a really good ability to press the opponent.”
The U.S. squad includes four players who came up through FC Dallas’ youth system: Ferreira; 27-year-old midfielder and Plano native Kellyn Acosta; 26-year-old fullback Shaq Moore; and 24-year-old midfielder and former Little Elm resident Weston McKennie.
Ferreira is the only one whose professional roots have remained in North Texas. When he was 9, he and his family moved here from South America when his father, David, came to FC Dallas, earning the MLS MVP award in 2010.
Ferreira long dreamed of playing for his native Colombia, like his father, but at age 17 he began getting invitations from U.S. Soccer to join its developmental camps. Ferreira received U.S. citizenship in 2019.
“Colombia didn’t call me up, didn’t have me in their plan, but the U.S. did,” he said. “It’s special when there’s a country that wants you to represent them. I’m excited to represent the U.S.”
Decision, sacrifice
After all, it was in America, specifically North Texas, where Ferreira evolved from elementary student who neither spoke nor understood English into the poised face of the FC Dallas franchise who has forged a bright future for himself and his family.
As for the pressure he’ll face in Qatar, Ferreira has already confronted plenty of it, on and off the pitch. He cites his mother, Yudelmira, as his example and inspiration.
He has been the man of the Ferreira family’s North Texas home since he was 14, when David returned to Colombia to continue his professional soccer career, initially as a player, now as a coach.
That largely left Yudelmira to raise Ferreira and younger brothers Santiago (now 18) and Matthew (11). “Santi” plays midfielder for North Texas SC, FC Dallas’ developmental team. Matthew, the only lefty in the family, plays in FC Dallas’ youth system.
“When my dad went back to Colombia, my mom had a decision to make,” Santiago said. “Stay here with us and see if Jesús could become a pro; or go back with my dad.
“She decided to stay. That’s a big sacrifice she made for us.”
Her sacrifice has been rewarded many times over, initially when Ferreira at age 15 became the youngest player to sign a homegrown contract with FC Dallas. Homegrown contracts enable MLS teams to sign local players from development academies directly to their roster. Ferreira is now FCD’s highest-paid player, earning north of $1 million a year.
The Ferreiras lived in a McKinney rental home until about four years ago, when the forward moved the family to a 9-acre property.
A four-year designated player contract that he signed with FC Dallas has enabled animal-loving Ferreira to add even more chickens and dogs (now five) to the family homestead. Ferreira has spoken of wanting to be a zoologist when his playing career ends.
“That’s a little side hustle that he’s earned,” said Santi with a laugh, adding that Ferreira next wants to add cows. “It’s a little crazy around there.”
Ferreira’s devotion to family is personal and public. A tattoo of his mother’s name covers much of his left forearm. In games, Ferreira and Santi wear shin pads that are customized with family photos, including of their father, although Ferreira doesn’t say much about David publicly.
“Obviously, one of our goals was for me to play with my dad,” Ferreira said. “That didn’t happen, but hopefully one day I can play with my brothers. It’s special to see that growth in them, and that belief for the club that we grew up watching.”
When Berhalter Facetimed to inform him that he’d made the World Cup roster, Ferreira was in his car, returning home from one of Santi’s matches. The first people Ferreira phoned were his mother and grandmother.
“Family is No. 1 to me; they’re the reason why I’m here,” Ferreira said. “They’re the group that stands behind me and supports me through the ups and downs.
“There might be people who don’t know how to push me to hit and go beyond my limits, but my family knows exactly what to say and do to push me to be that guy who is hungry to get more. Obviously, we’re going to keep fighting for more.”
‘A very interesting player’
While Ferreira’s World Cup run will be his debut on a global stage, it’s also a time for the 27-year-old FC Dallas franchise to bask.
“It’s really unique to develop top-quality players that can help the team to compete with the best of the MLS,” FC Dallas coach Nico Estévez said, “but also to have these top-level international players that put FC Dallas in a really good spot around the world.”
Estévez said he hopes that as fans watch Ferreira in Qatar, they understand that he just completed his first full season as a striker.
Estévez points out that young goal-scorers like Ferreira and Norway’s Erling Haaland are exceptions, that most don’t refine their games and efficiency until their mid-20s.
Granted, Pelé scored his first World Cup goal at age 17 in 1958. And Mexico’s Manuel Rosas (1930), England’s Michael Owen (1998) Argentina’s Lionel Messi (2006) were 18 when they scored their first World Cup goal. But they are among the extra-exceptional talents.
Ferreira? He’s not a traditional striker in that he plays more of a play-making role and often drops to midfield to receive passes. It’s an unconventionality that Berhalter and Estévez see as a strength.
Estévez was Berhalter’s assistant coach for the MLS’s Columbus Crew in 2019 and served as U.S. national team assistant from 2019-21 before being named FC Dallas’ coach in December 2021.
“Jesús understands the game,” Estévez said. “He can pass the ball. He can make combinations. He can run in behind. He does a lot of things very well. He also has a special talent for defending and a really good mentality for pressing.
“This makes him a very interesting player for any team.”
Ferreira’s 18 goals this past season tied the FC Dallas record held by Jason Kreis (1999) and Kenny Cooper (2008), but he went goal-less in Dallas’ final five regular-season and two playoff matches.
Had the pressure to score goals started to weigh on him? Will that be a concern in Qatar?
“He’s a really mature guy, a really quiet guy,” Estévez said. “I think he’s doing a really good job of controlling that, of knowing that if he wants to be a top player in the world, he needs to learn how to handle these situations.
“And we as coaches try not to put too much pressure on him; just help him enjoy the game.”
Having the name Jesús and being born on Christmas Eve and having exceptional soccer skills doesn’t mean Ferreira will be the United States’ 2022 World Cup savior.
Bringing excitement, and possibility, to the pitch in Qatar is a welcome start — and potentially a compelling preview for 2026.
