Emmanuel Ochoa
Professional footballer (born 2005)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Emmanuel "Emi" Ochoa (born 5 May 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Cruz Azul.[1] Born in the United States, he is a youth international for Mexico.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Emmanuel Ochoa | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Date of birth | 5 May 2005 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Place of birth | Salinas, California, United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Position | Goalkeeper | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team information | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Current team | Cruz Azul | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Number | 30 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Youth career | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| El Camino | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2017–2019 | Santa Cruz Breakers | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019–2024 | San Jose Earthquakes | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Senior career* | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| Years | Team | Apps | (Gls) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021–2024 | San Jose Earthquakes | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022–2024 | → The Town FC | 44 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2025– | Cruz Azul | 0 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2026– | → Cruz Azul Hidalgo | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| International career‡ | |||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2019 | United States U15 | 3 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2021 | Mexico U18 | 1 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2022 | United States U19 | 2 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
| 2024–2025 | Mexico U20 | 12 | (0) | ||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of 22 August 2026 ‡ National team caps and goals as of 01:05, 11 October 2025 (UTC) | |||||||||||||||||||||||
Club career
Early career
Born in Salinas, California, Ochoa started his career with local side El Camino before joining the Santa Cruz Breakers.[2][3]
San Jose Earthquakes
He joined the San Jose Earthquakes academy in 2019, before being promoted to the first team ahead of the 2020 season.[4]
Ochoa made national sports headlines in November 2019 when, at only 14 years and 191 days old, he signed as a Homegrown Player for the San Jose Earthquakes, making him the youngest ever Homegrown Player in Major League Soccer history.[1][2][4] He is also the second youngest player to register for an MLS team, behind Freddy Adu, and at the time of his signing was considered to be the best goalkeeper of his age group in the country.[5][6][7]
Cruz Azul
On 17 January 2025, Cruz Azul announced the signing of Ochoa.[8] He made his debut on 6 February 2026, keeping a clean sheet in a 3–0 away victory over Canadian side Vancouver FC during the CONCACAF Champions Cup.[9]
International career
Born in the United States, Ochoa is of Mexican descent. He has represented the United States at under-14 and under-15 level.[1][2][10][11] He is also eligible to represent Mexico.[6] On March 9, 2020, Ochoa received a call up to the Mexico U-16 side, his first for any of Mexico's national team squads.[12] He played in a scrimmage match against the youth team of Puebla on March 12, 2020.[13][14]
In August 2021, Ochoa was called up to the Mexico under-18 squad, and made his debut in a 2–1 loss to the Republic of Ireland under-17s.[15][16]
In 2025, Ochoa was called up by coach Eduardo Arce to represent Mexico at the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Chile.[17]
Career statistics
Club
- As of 22 August 2026[18]
| Club | Season | League | National cup[a] | Continental[b] | Other | Total | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Division | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | Apps | Goals | ||
| San Jose Earthquakes | 2021 | MLS | — | — | — | — | — | |||||
| 2024 | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| Total | — | 1 | 0 | — | — | 1 | 0 | |||||
| The Town FC | 2022 | MLS Next Pro | 15 | 0 | — | — | — | 15 | 0 | |||
| 2023 | 18 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 20 | 0 | ||||
| 2024 | 11 | 0 | — | — | 2 | 0 | 13 | 0 | ||||
| Total | 44 | 0 | — | — | 4 | 0 | 48 | 0 | ||||
| Cruz Azul | 2025–26 | Liga MX | — | — | 2 | 0 | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Cruz Azul Hidalgo (loan) | 2026–27 | Liga de Expansión MX | 2 | 0 | — | — | — | 2 | 0 | |||
| Career total | 46 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 0 | 53 | 0 | ||
- Includes U.S. Open Cup
- Includes CONCACAF Champions Cup
Honours
Cruz Azul
Mexico