Dominic Picon remembers the first time he saw Cristian Roldan at his older brother’s soccer practice and realized he was watching a player unlike any other his age.
“He was more mature at 16-, 17-years-old than I was in my mid-to-late 30s,” said Dominic Picon, who coached Roldan at El Rancho High School in Pico Rivera.
Before he went on to win two MLS championships with the Seattle Sounders, beat Lionel Messi and Inter Miami in the Leagues Cup and represent the U.S. men’s national team at both the 2022 and 2026 World Cups, Roldan would spend every day playing in the backyard with his two brothers, using makeshift goals made out of pipes set up by their father.
2026 is a long way from those backyard soccer days. Roldan earned a spot on the World Cup roster, only for the Americans to fall to Belgium in the Round of 16. As Argentina and Spain gear up for Sunday’s final, this year’s tournament has revealed the role of immigrant and diaspora communities in soccer.
Roldan’s journey is a version of that story – shaped by family, community and immigrants coming together to forge the path for one of the 26 players who represented the U.S on the sport’s biggest stage.
Teenage ‘workaholic’
Born to his father, Cesar, a mechanic who immigrated from Guatemala, and Ana, who came to the U.S. from El Salvador, Roldan grew up in the predominant Latino and working-class city of Pico Rivera, east of downtown Los Angeles.
It was here that he forged his soccer journey through local clubs, youth teams and neighborhood parks, alongside his older brother Cesar Jr., now a trainer with the LA Galaxy, and his younger brother Alex, now a teammate on the Seattle Sounders.
Roldan’s path throughout youth soccer in eastern Los Angeles County is painted with coaches who made sacrifices for their players, Cesar said, like Roberto Serna, who would cut his workday short as an electrician to coach Cristian and Alex when they played together for Necaxa USA FC, a club based in West Covina.
When he was 13-years-old, Roldan, along with Alex, moved to the Norwalk club Union Independiente FC, where their coach Sergio Gomez never let a player pay a dime in expenses to play for the team. However, Cesar said that Roldan and Alex made the move not because of money, but for the exposure and opportunity that Union Independiente gave.
Gomez described Roldan as a “workaholic” while playing for the club in his teenage years.
“During practice, he was very, very, responsible. He always made sure that nobody goofed around during practice. He was a role model for the rest of the kids,” Gomez said. “Before practice, before everybody showed up, he would do these individual drills, whatever the trainer told him to do.”
Roldan began to establish himself as technically gifted, fiercely disciplined and a jack of all trades, where Gomez could slide him into different positions depending on the team’s needs.
In one game when Union Independiente found themselves down 3-0 to undefeated Albion SC San Diego at halftime, Roldan roused his teammates during a halftime speech, telling them to either start playing as a team or go home, Gomez said.
The team listened. Union Independiente went on to win 5-3, with Roldan scoring twice. During the second half comeback, an opposing player dug his nails into Roldan’s back, drawing blood and ripping his shirt in the process.
Gomez tried to substitute him off but Cristian refused to come off the field. Cristian still has the ripped jersey from that day framed, Gomez said.
A hometown path in immigrant city
Roldan chose the unconventional path of attending his hometown public high school to play soccer, rather than accepting academy offers. He played all four years of his high school career for El Rancho’s varsity team, alongside Alex.
Roldan made history at El Rancho, winning CIF Southern Section championships in both his sophomore and senior years. In his senior year, he netted 54 goals, provided 31 assists and was named the 2013 Gatorade national player of the year, the highest individual honor in high school sports. No one has won the award at El Rancho in any sport before or since Roldan.
Roberto Hernandez, El Rancho’s boys soccer coach who also played with Roldan at the school, said their team benefited from players competing together for both their club and school teams.
Pico Rivera was unique in that its single high school united the city in a way that neighboring cities with multiple high schools did not, he added.
“Because of the immigrant background that a lot of us have, including Cristian Roldan – his parents came here for a better opportunity, and he was able to get that,” he said. “It just encompasses everything that the city is all about, the Latino community that we’re striving to do better than our parents did, and they set us up for success. Just going out there, whether it’s through football or a job, career – we can achieve. It’s been amazing. And that’s what Pico Rivera is all about.”
Hernandez remembered Roldan as the “link to everybody” on the team, bridging the younger and older players together while leading the team in celebratory songs on post-game bus rides home as they arrived back at El Rancho.
Off the field, Hernandez remembered the generosity of Roldan’s parents, always hosting him and their teammates after practice. Ana would make tamales or lasagna for the boys, and once she learned that Hernandez did not like cheese, she adjusted the recipe so he could enjoy it.
Martin Escobar, another friend of Roldan’s going back to middle school, remembers Ana yelling at her son whenever their group of friends would go out to skate, warning them to be careful.
“Where Cristian and his brothers really lucked out was having the type of parents they did,” Picon said. “What I really appreciated about them is they were not helicopter parents. They never called into question what we were doing, never asked about playing time, never approached me about anything soccer-related.”
One high school game Picon will never forget, he said, was when El Rancho played Century High School in the CIF Southern Section semifinals during Roldan’s senior year. Having barely conceded that year, El Rancho kept falling behind. But every time Century scored, Roldan responded with a goal of his own. With the game tied 2-2 in overtime, Alex set a pick for Roldan to get away from his defender on a corner kick. Roldan outjumped the defense and headed the ball in for the winning goal.
“I still can remember in my mind’s eye Cristian sprinting 100 yards with the rest of the team to our fans,” Picon said. “The reason why it stands out was not only the improbability of that victory, but how they left everything, especially Cristian, left everything on the field. Because not more than 10 or 15 minutes after we get on the bus ride to come back to Pico Rivera, all the kids were dead asleep.”
“Because of the immigrant background that a lot of us have, including Cristian Roldan – his parents came here for a better opportunity, and he was able to get that. It just encompasses everything that the city is all about, the Latino community that we’re striving to do better than our parents did, and they set us up for success.” — Roberto Hernandez, El Rancho High School boys soccer coach
Despite many accolades, Roldan was still without an offer to play Division I soccer near the end of his time in high school. While playing at the Surf Cup in San Diego for Union Independiente, University of Washington men’s soccer coach Jamie Clark approached Roldan’s mother in the stands, asking for a roster of the team. She responded that the coach ran out of rosters, but if he was looking for players then he should pay attention to No. 11, her son.
Clark said that he had already been watching him.
‘He’s what we need’
Roldan’s career took off from there. After two successful seasons at the University of Washington, he declared for the MLS draft and was selected by the Seattle Sounders in 2015. He went on to win MLS championships in 2016 and 2019, and currently serves as the team’s captain.
In 2018, Alex was drafted by the Seattle Sounders, reuniting the brothers on the same team after years of playing together growing up.
And in 2022, the ultimate dream came true when Roldan was selected to the U.S. men’s national team roster for the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar.
He ultimately did not see the field during the U.S. campaign, which saw them exit in the Round of 16, and after 2022, Cristian’s appearances with the national team became less frequent. It wasn’t clear if he would make it to the 2026 World Cup on home soil.
And then in October 2025, he was called up by U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino for two friendlies in preparation for the World Cup. In a game against Australia in Colorado, Roldan seized his opportunity and provided two assists to fellow Los Angeles County native Haji Wright.
“Cristian Roldan is the example of, if you want to build a perfect player, he has a little bit of everything,” Pochettino said in a press conference following the victory. “He’s what we need – a player with confidence, with self-belief, with a little bit of arrogance, with a little bit of being naughty, being competitive.”
Leading up to the 2026 World Cup roster announcement, Cesar said his son still did not know which way the decision would go. While out walking his dog with his wife, Cesar said they received a call from their son with the good news.
“It was in the morning when he called me and he told me about it. I was so excited, and we told him how proud we are about his success,” Cesar said.
“Not one but two World Cups, and him being there and seeing him with the U.S. national team uniform, for an immigrant like me that came and put together a family. It’s a dream – a dream that we don’t want to wake up from,” he added.
Uniting for Cristian, Team USA
At Iguana’s Sports Club in Pico Rivera for the U.S. Round of 16 match against Belgium, the community came together to cheer on their hometown hero. Before the game, when Roldan appeared onscreen during an interview in Spanish for the Telemundo broadcast, local resident and sports retailer Kenny De Baca yelled to the crowd in the bar, “El Rancho High! He went to El Rancho!”
The Roldans exemplify what makes Pico Rivera special, De Baca said.
“He went against the grain by going to El Rancho, being a prodigy soccer superstar. [Coaches] wanted him to go to other schools, but he decided to stay with his hometown school with his brother,” De Baca said. “In Pico Rivera, everyone goes to the same high school. … They’re tight-knit forever from all ages, so everyone knows everyone in the city. It’s a special city.”
Cristian and Alex are not the only sibling duo from Pico Rivera to play professional sports, as MLB players Randy and Ron Flores also hail from the city and briefly played together for the St. Louis Cardinals, mirroring the Roldan brothers.
The U.S. ultimately crashed out of the World Cup in a 4-1 loss to Belgium. Roldan, who was set to play in a previous game against Türkiye but suffered a quad injury in training, never ended up seeing the field.
But his value to the team went beyond his playing ability. As a veteran leader, he again served as that connective link throughout the team, the same way he did at El Rancho, Cesar said. Roldan also bonded with his teammates off the field, spending time with his best friend on the squad, Christian Pulisic, by going to the beach at Dana Point and playing video games together during their off-time, Cesar added.
Cesar remembers a time when an interviewer asked his son why he chose to represent the U.S. when he could have played for Guatemala or El Salvador.
“He said this country, the United States, has been so generous to my parents and our family – this is a way for me to give back,” Cesar said.
Cesar’s favorite memory from watching his son at the World Cup, he said, was hearing the entire Levi’s Stadium crowd in Santa Clara roar “Take Me Home, Country Roads,” following the U.S. team’s win against Bosnia and Herzegovina after playing with a man down.
‘I want to be the next Cristian Roldan’
Following the tournament, Roldan is rehabilitating his quad with the Seattle Sounders medical staff. He hopes to renew his contract with the team once it expires in 2027, Cesar said.
And if he gets called up again to the national team, “He’ll be ready,” Cesar added.
Roldan still comes back to visit the current El Rancho team when his schedule permits. And whenever he returns to that high school field, Hernandez said that he isn’t afraid to give the pro some tips on his defense.
“I played as a center back, and I know they use him as a defender at times for Sounders when some people are out. So I’ll always tell a joke with him, like ‘Hey, your one v. ones, man – you got to get better. I’ll teach you one of these days,” Hernandez said. “He’s very humble. He’ll just crack a smile and laugh about it.”
Hernandez sees the impact that Roldan has on the current El Rancho players, and how he inspires them by coming to practices, kicking the ball with them and sharing his story of how he went from where they are all the way to the World Cup, he said. Above all, Hernandez hopes that his players emulate Roldan’s humbleness.
“I get questions almost everyday about him,” Hernandez said. “Sometimes we’ll say, ‘Hey, you could be the next Messi,’ and some of these boys will be like, ‘No. I want to be the next Cristian Roldan coming out of Pico Rivera.’”