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Diego Luna (soccer, born 2003)

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Diego Luna
Luna with Real Salt Lake in 2025
Personal information
Full name Diego Angel Luna[1]
Date of birth (2003-09-07) September 7, 2003 (age 21)
Place of birth Sunnyvale, California, U.S.
Height 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)[2]
Position(s) Attacking midfielder, winger
Team information
Current team
 Real Salt Lake
Number 8
Youth career
Palo Alto SC
2015–2018 San Jose Earthquakes
2018–2021 Barcelona Residency Academy
Senior career*
Years Team Apps (Gls)
2021–2022 El Paso Locomotive 41 (13)
2022 Real Monarchs 3 (2)
2022– Real Salt Lake 87 (21)
International career‡
2021–2023 United States U20 21 (5)
2024 United States U23 1 (0)
2024– United States 12 (3)
Medal record
Representing  United States
Men's football
CONCACAF Gold Cup
Runner-up 2025 Canada–United States
* Club domestic league appearances and goals as of July 26, 2025
‡ National team caps and goals as of July 6, 2025

Diego Angel Luna (born September 7, 2003) is an American professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake and the United States national team.

Club career

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Born in Sunnyvale, California, Luna began his career with the Palo Alto Soccer Club before joining the youth setup at Major League Soccer club San Jose Earthquakes in 2015.[3][4] With the Earthquakes, Luna participated in various tournaments, including the Dallas Cup and Generation Adidas Cup.[4] In 2018, Luna left the Earthquakes academy and joined the Barcelona Residency Academy, the Arizona based academy for Spanish club Barcelona.[5]

El Paso Locomotive

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On April 5, 2021, Luna signed a professional contract with USL Championship club El Paso Locomotive.[5] He made his debut for the club on May 8 in their season opening 1–1 draw against New Mexico United. He came on as a 78th-minute substitute for Richie Ryan.[6] Following the match, as well as the second against Rio Grande Valley Toros, Locomotive head coach Mark Lowry said, "He has the mentality to go to the very top and we’re gonna help him do that."[7]

Luna scored his first professional goal for El Paso on June 3, the winning goal in a 1–0 road victory over Austin Bold.[8] He headed in a crossed ball from Macauley King in the 56th minute to give his side all three points.[8]

Real Salt Lake

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On June 2, 2022, Luna transferred to Real Salt Lake in a USL record deal of $250,000. He made his debut as an 88th-minute substitute against Vancouver Whitecaps.

International career

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Luna has received call-ups to camps with the United States under-14, under-17, and under-20 youth national teams.[4]

In 2022, Luna featured prominently with the United States U-20 team that won the CONCACAF U-20 championship, securing berths for the 2023 FIFA U-20 World Cup and the 2024 Olympics in the process.

Luna earned his first selection to the senior national team in January 2024.[9]

On July 23, 2024, Luna, after declining to join as an alternate for the United States Olympic team that was set to participate in the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris, he confirmed that he had not ruled out filing a one-time switch to FIFA switching his allegiance with Mexico.[10]

On January 6, 2025, Luna was called up by Mauricio Pochettino for training camp and friendlies against Venezuela and Costa Rica.[11] During the first half of the match against Costa Rica, Luna was elbowed in the face by a Costa Rican player and had his nose broken, but despite this Luna returned to the field to play through until halftime after having cotton shoved up his nostrils and changing to a fresh jersey after the previous had been bloodied. Luna provided an assist to Brian White's opening goal before going to the hospital for treatment after halftime, and in an interview following the end of the match which the United States won 3–0, Pochettino praised Luna's character and said that he had "big balls".[12][13]

On June 5, Luna was selected by Pochettino to represent the United States in the 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup,[14] and on June 29, Luna scored his first international goal for the senior team when he scored the first goal of a 2–2 draw against Costa Rica in the quarter-finals, helping the United States to the penalty shoot-out which they won 4–3.[15][16] On July 2, USMNT defeated Guatemala 2–1, with Luna scoring in the 4th and 15th minutes to mark his first international brace.[17] The USMNT would go on to lose 2–1 in the final against Mexico.[18]

Career statistics

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Club

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As of match played August 6, 2025[19]
Appearances and goals by club, season and competition
Club Season League National cup Playoffs Continental Other Total
Division Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals Apps Goals
El Paso Locomotive 2021 USL 31 9 — 1 0 — — 32 9
2022 10 4 1 0 — — — 11 4
Total 41 13 1 0 1 0 — — 43 13
Real Monarchs 2022 MLS Next Pro 3 2 — — — — 3 2
Real Salt Lake 2022 MLS 13 0 — — — — 13 0
2023 23 5 2 0 3 2 — 4[a] 0 32 7
2024 31 8 1 1 2 0 — 2[a] 0 36 9
2025 20 8 — 0 0 1[b] 0 3[a] 1 24 9
Total 87 21 3 1 5 2 1 0 9 1 105 25
Career total 131 36 4 1 6 2 1 0 9 1 151 40
  1. ^ a b c Appearances in Leagues Cup
  2. ^ Appearance in CONCACAF Champions Cup

International

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As of match played July 6, 2025[20]
Appearances and goals by national team and year
National team Year Apps Goals
United States 2024 1 0
2025 11 3
Total 12 3
Scores and results list United States goal tally first.
List of international goals scored by Diego Luna
No. Date Venue Opponent Score Result Competition
1 June 29, 2025 U.S. Bank Stadium, Minneapolis, United States  Costa Rica 1–1 2–2
(4–3 p)		 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup
2 July 2, 2025 Energizer Park, St. Louis, United States  Guatemala 1–0 2–1
3 2–0

Honors

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United States U20

Individual

References

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  1. ^ "Squad List – FIFA U-20 World Cup Argentina 2023: USA" (PDF). FIFA. May 18, 2023. p. 23. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 19, 2023. Retrieved May 18, 2023.
  2. ^ Soccer, U.S. (July 4, 2025). "Diego Luna".
  3. ^ "Diego Luna". U.S. Soccer Development Academy. Archived from the original on May 9, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c "New Locomotive Crewmember signed! Barca Residency Academy's Midfielder Diego Luna". El Paso Herald-Post. April 5, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  5. ^ a b Ryan, Nate (April 5, 2021). "Locomotive FC sign 17-year old FC Barcelona Academy product". KVIA-TV. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  6. ^ "ideo+Story: Locomotive snag a point in final minute with 1–1 draw vs. New Mexico United". El Paso Herald-Post. May 8, 2021. Retrieved May 9, 2021.
  7. ^ Ryan, Nate (May 28, 2021). "17-year-old Diego Luna making immediate impact on veteran Locomotive FC roster". KVIA-TV. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  8. ^ a b "Moon Shot! Luna scores first pro goal as Locos shut down Austin 1–0". El Paso Herald-Post. June 3, 2021. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  9. ^ Murray, Nicholas (January 5, 2024). "Diego Luna leads USL alumni on United States Men's National Team roster". USLChampionship.com. USL Championship. Retrieved January 5, 2024.
  10. ^ "Diego Luna open to Mexico switch after U.S. snub". ESPN.com. July 23, 2024. Retrieved July 24, 2024.
  11. ^ "Twenty-Four Players Called for First USMNT January Training Camp Under Mauricio Pochettino". United States Soccer Federation. January 6, 2025. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  12. ^ Boehm, Charles (January 23, 2025). "New USMNT hero? Diego Luna secures cult status". Major League Soccer. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  13. ^ Edler, Krysyan (January 23, 2025). "Watch: Real Salt Lake star breaks nose then assists with goal minutes later". Deseret News. Retrieved January 30, 2025.
  14. ^ "Mauricio Pochettino Selects 26-player Roster for 2025 Concacaf Gold Cup". United States Soccer Federation. June 5, 2025. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  15. ^ Tolmich, Ryan (June 30, 2025). "Chaos theory, Diego Luna's electric effort, Matt Freese's icy veins and winners and losers from USMNT's Gold Cup semifinal-clinching shootout win over Costa Rica". Goal. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  16. ^ "Freese shines in PKs as USA outlasts Costa Rica for Semifinals berth". CONCACAF. June 30, 2025. Retrieved June 30, 2025.
  17. ^ "USMNT 2-1 Guatemala: Luna scores two more as Yanks reach Gold Cup final". NBC Sports. July 3, 2025. Retrieved July 3, 2025.
  18. ^ Reineking, Safid Deen and Jim. "Mexico defeats USMNT to win Concacaf Gold Cup: Highlights from final in Houston". USA TODAY. Retrieved July 15, 2025.
  19. ^ Diego Luna at Soccerway
  20. ^ Diego Luna at National-Football-Teams.com
  21. ^ "Díaz, Jiménez, Richards headline Gold Cup Best XI". CONCACAF. July 9, 2025. Retrieved July 9, 2025.
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