Sounders' Cristian Roldan has new motivation for the 2026 World Cup

RENTON - This one is for Mia.

Ask any father who's present in their children's lives and the little ones have likely taken over most thoughts and motivations. For Cristian Roldan, it's the pigtailed, brown-eyed face of Mia, who was born on the same date as his first MLS goal (July 13).

Since that summer day in 2024, it hasn't been enough for the Sounders midfielder to have made a FIFA World Cup roster for the U.S. men's national team, accomplishing that goal for the 2022 tournament in Qatar. Now he's pushing himself to log minutes in the quadrennial showcase that suddenly has greater meaning than a childhood dream.

Roldan, 31, was named to his second World Cup roster in May. The USMNT is slotted in Group D and will play Australia on Friday in Seattle, sandwiched between two games at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif. Their opener - in which he did not play - was a Friday night win over Paraguay, and they will play June 25 vs. Türkiye.

"I get emotional thinking about it," Roldan said, taking a deep breath to steady himself. "I don't want her to think of me as a bench player. I don't want her to think of me as a player that wasn't able to achieve a lot. … I just want to make her proud and extend my career much longer so she can really appreciate those moments."

'Well, what if I do?'

Soccer is "Dada." It's what Mia says anytime she sees a soccer match on television whether Roldan is playing or not.

Mia was born during a Sounders road win in Texas against Austin FC. And the first born of the growing family - wife Ciana is pregnant with their soon-to-be second daughter - was the light during a dark period.

Roldan suffered two concussions in 2023. The second happened after he helped the USMNT to a disappointing semifinal finish in the CONCACAF Gold Cup. The injury was severe, forcing Roldan to miss two months of play as he dealt with constant headaches, bouts of loneliness and the feeling of pulsating pain behind his eyeballs.

He returned to play in September 2023, but as the USMNT shifted through coaching changes, Roldan dropped out of consideration for call-ups. He was passed over for the Nations League tournament in March 2024 and Copa América in June 2024.

As months on the calendar flipped in 2025, newly appointed USMNT coach Mauricio Pochettino also overlooked Roldan for training camps.

By then Roldan was two years into using a mind trick learned with the help of biweekly therapy sessions.

"There was a shift where I was like, well, what if I do?" Roldan said of the pain dissipating and being able to play again. "You start believing what you're saying, and it might just happen. During that dark time, I started saying, ‘I'm going to get through this; I'm going to get out of this and feel normal, again.' That's where it all started."

Once healthy, the manifesting changed from getting through the concussive symptoms to making the World Cup roster as he put in the work on the field. The 2025 Sounders season was one of his best, logging 3,875 minutes through all competitions and contributing two goals with 12 assists.

It helped that Sounders coach Brian Schmetzer committed in 2024 to playing Roldan as a central midfielder instead of a versatile right winger.

The attention grabber was the FIFA Men's Club World Cup in June where the Sounders hosted European champion Paris Saint-Germain, South American champion Botafogo and Spanish titan Atlético Madrid at Lumen. The Sounders didn't win any of the group stage matches, but the team performed well and Roldan netted a goal in the 2-1 loss against Atléti.

In August, the Sounders tore through the Leagues Cup tournament, a competition between Liga MX and MLS. They defeated Lionel Messi's Inter Miami for the title before 69,314 fans at Lumen.

Still, when September call-up announcements started to trickle out, Roldan's name wasn't on USMNT's list. He and Ciana didn't stop believing while on vacation.

Roldan received the news two days into their trip and hasn't missed a call-up since despite 61 players earning a cap since Pochettino was hired. Roldan started three of his nine USMNT matches, recording two assists in a 2-1 win against Australia last year.

"I still feel like I have to earn the respect of people to think of me as a winner or high-level player, particularly with the national team," Roldan said. "People don't look at me like I deserve to be there. For me, that's frustrating. I see myself as a competitive midfielder. A player that does anything for the team and has been part of teams that have won big championships.

To this day, I play with that chip on my shoulder."

'On home soil'

That chip was dug out of the dirt in Pico Rivera, Calif., a predominantly Hispanic town of about 60,000 people approximately 20 miles east of where the USMNT played their World Cup opener.

Roldan's parents migrated to Los Angeles in the 1980s amid civil wars in their native countries. Cesar Roldan was a skilled mechanic in Guatemala, who could earn more money in the U.S. Ana Roldan was raised on a cattle ranch in El Salvador. She worked as a seamstress by day and for a fast-food chain by night once she moved to the states.

The couple married and purchased a one-story home in the 1990s to raise three boys - Cesar Jr., Cristian and Alex. All played soccer. Cesar, who's four years older than Cristian, works as the head athletic trainer for the LA Galaxy. Alex, a year younger, starts for the Sounders alongside his brother.

Cristian followed in his older brother's footsteps to play soccer and volleyball at El Rancho High School. But it was the yearly summer trips to El Salvador as a youth that ignited his love for soccer. Small in stature with big ears, a 6-year-old Cristian performed tricks at halftime as a ball boy for a cousin's match. The cheers from the crowd were captivating.

While in middle school, Cristian would join Cesar Jr.'s varsity soccer practices. Once enrolled at El Rancho, Cristian had the technical skill and tenacity to lead the team as a freshman. Alex joined a year later, playing deeper in the midfield.

The Dons held home games adjacent to the main campus in a vacant lot with splotchy grass, bad plumbing and no seating or lighting. Kickoff promptly followed the final school bell to finish the match before sundown.

Classmates, family members and the community stood or sat in their lawn chairs inches from the touchline to cheer for the Dons. And heckle the visitors, of course.

Defying odds as a small immigrant community with limited resources, Cristian helped the Dons overwhelm opponents en route to the Southern Section Division III title with a 29-2-1 record. He bagged 54 goals and totaled 31 assists that senior year, winning the 2013 Gatorade National Player of the Year award.

He was a barely recruited talent that starred at the University of Washington. Utilizing his volleyball skills to score signature headers from set pieces, UW won the conference title and Roldan earned Pac-12 Freshman of the Year honors.

A bad MLS combine dropped his 2015 SuperDraft stock from a top-five pick to then-Sounders general manager Garth Lagerwey making deals to select Roldan 16th overall. He's repaid the club by helping it win two league titles, the 2022 CONCACAF Champions Cup and Leagues Cup in more than 400 overall appearances draped in Rave Green.

When it comes to trophies won for club and country, Roldan is the most decorated player on the USMNT roster. But in soccer's hierarchy, Christian Pulisic, the USMNT's highest-paid player at $6 million annually, winning a UEFA Champions League (2020-2021) and FIFA Club World Cup (2021) title while playing for England's Chelsea outweighs Roldan's accomplishments.

In U.S. Soccer's pay-to-play system, Roldan grinded through the hard path outside of club soccer and elite academies to make a second World Cup roster.

"It is possible to make it out," Dons boys soccer coach Roberto Hernandez said of using Roldan as an example for his players to dream beyond the city lines of Pico Rivera. Hernandez co-captained the 2013 team with Roldan but his team plays at the recently unveiled multiuse stadium with lights.

"But it still shocks us, a kid from Pico Rivera making it out into the big stage for a second time," Hernandez said. "And on home soil, as well. He's within arms reach in our backyard."

'An ideal World Cup'

Roldan could play miles from the childhood home his parents still own. If he steps foot on the field in Seattle, it will be at his club team's stadium in the city that helped raise him.

Roldan learned to drive as a student-athlete at UW, cheekily bumping "Posse on Broadway by Sir Mix-A-Lot while driving on Broadway like the rap artist. The carload would stop at Tacos Chukis and continue to Seattle U to watch Alex Roldan play.

Seattle's diversity in everything from thought to food to outdoor adventures possible with his family and dog Charles are what Roldan wants to share with the world about his two hometowns. In thinking about Mia, he's also standing for immigrant rights as he has for Black Lives Matter in the past.

Roldan saw news clips, such as Los Angeles-based NBC4, of a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement raid last summer at a Walmart in Pico Rivera. The sightings increased in the town with El Rancho Unified School District releasing footage of ICE agents allegedly urinating on the grounds of rival Ruben Salazar High School.

"Seeing this is very saddening as a parent. We should be creating a wholesome environment for everybody to accomplish anything in life and that's not the case right now," said Roldan, who views playing for the U.S. as a celebration of what the nation gave his family. "Being able to even have a stronger voice during this time is really important with everything going on with ICE. … It's such an ideal World Cup for me to be part of."

All that's needed is to make his debut for Mia.

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This story was originally published June 13, 2026 at 6:42 AM.