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Former Washington Huskies Soccer Star Eliminated in World Cup
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- Former Washington Huskies Soccer Star Eliminated in World Cup
(Pamela Smith/Imagn Images)
One of the best players in the recent history of the Washington Huskies men's soccer team recently saw his World Cup run end in the city he's called home for more than a decade.
In a Round of 16 World Cup match between the U.S. men's national team and Belgium on Monday at Seattle Stadium/Lumen Field, midfielder Cristian Roldan and the rest of the Americans were eliminated in a 4-1 result.
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The USMNT briefly pulled even with Belgium 1-1 in the 31st minute on a goal from midfielder Mark Tillman.
Roldan wasn't on either of the U.S. team's gameday rosters in the knockout stage due to a quad injury, according to a report from the Seattle Times' Jayda Evans. He also didn't register a minute on the pitch in the group stage.
This is Roldan's second time competing for the USMNT in the World Cup. His other tenure on the World Cup team, in the Qatar games in 2022, also went by without a minute logged.
Despite not logging a minute, Roldan was one of the first to comfort his disappointed teammates Monday following the loss.
The entirety of Roldan's soccer career outside of his international tenure has come in the Emerald City.
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Roldan, who was born in Artesia, Calif., played with the Huskies from 2013-15. During his two seasons with Washington, Roldan appeared in 41 matches and scored 10 goals and assisted on seven more. He helped lead Washington a Pac-12 championship in 2013, the same season he was named the Pac-12 Newcomer of the Year. In his two seasons with UW, the program made it to the Round of 16 in the NCAA tournament both season and the quarterfinals in '13.
Following his college career, Roldan signed a Generation Adidas contract with Major League Soccer (MLS) in Jan. 2015. He was selected 16th overall in the 2015 SuperDraft by the Seattle Sounders .
Since then, Roldan has been a fixture with the Sounders at Lumen Field/Seattle Stadium and is currently the captain of the major league squad.
During his tenure with Seattle from 2015-present, Roldan helped lead the Sounders to MLS Cup wins in 2016 and 2019. The squad won the CONCACAF Champions League in 2022 and the Leagues Cup in 2025.
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Roldan was named an MLS All-Star in 2021, was a member of the CONCACAF Champions League Best XI in '22 and the MLS Best XI in '25.
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