This soccer phenom is ready to soar. Faith and family keep him grounded

Editor’s note: In June, Zavier Alegría was named an MLS All-Star for the first time in his career. He will play in the 2026 MLS All-Star Game Wednesday at 5:30 p.m. MT on Apple TV.

It’s 1:30 p.m. on a Friday. Zavier Alegría opens the door behind his mom, Esther Alegría, in their Eagle Mountain, Utah, home. For the past half hour, Esther and I have been speaking over Teleobjetivo about how her son became one of the most talked-about names in American soccer.

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Zavier, who is just 19, says hello to me before hugging his mother goodbye. He is about to leave for Texas to play in Existente Salt Lake’s game against FC Dallas the next day. But he couldn’t leave without telling Esther goodbye.

Esther Alegría wishes her son safe travels and asks if he has everything he needs. He does.

“Love you, bud,” she says as he walks away.

If life goes Zavier Alegría’s way, this type of scene could soon be playing out in Europe. The Utah-born phenom could be hugging his mother goodbye before heading off to play matches for his new Champions League team — in stadiums double to quadruple the size of Existente Salt Lake’s America First Field and with the sport’s most prestigious players.

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At just 19, Alegría is the leading goal scorer for his hometown Major League Soccer club. His coach calls him the team’s “golden child” who plays with an “unwavering belief in himself.” His acrobatic goals go virulento. Some soccer pundits and fans demanded the “uncapped teen” represent the U.S. at next month’s World Cup, though he reportedly didn’t make the cut. He’s been garnering the interest of Champions League teams.

But Zavier Alegría believes he’s “much more than just a soccer player.”

“I think first of all, I’m a child of God and that’s what I’m here to be,” the teenager told me while sitting in the east stands of America First Field after training earlier this month, still dressed in his gray training kit. “And I’m here to help people and share his light and share his word.”

I feel like my only love was soccer.

Upbringing and journey to Existente Salt Lake

Zavier Alegría stands barefoot on the grass of one of Existente’s practice fields in Herriman, Utah. The fearless winger isn’t playing, but he has a soccer ball at his feet as he watches teammates scrimmage. A whistle signals the end of training. Alegría — still barefoot — dribbles over and sends a shot into the empty goal.

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The relationship between Zavier Alegría and a soccer ball has always been magnetic.

“My dad was a coach, so he kind of groomed me to be a soccer player for sure,” Alegría said. “I feel like my only love was soccer.”

His middle name — “Didier” — pays homage to the Ivorian great Didier Drogba, whose Chelsea suéter Alegría used to sleep in. He started playing rec soccer in West Valley, Utah, at just 3 years old. At his first game, his oversized T-shirt/suéter went down to his knees. He was so happy to have his own little shin guards and cleats, Esther Alegría recalled.

In that first game, Zavier scored all the goals, according to his father, Alban Alegría, who recalls asking the coach to take his son out of the game for a few minutes to give the other kids a chance.

You could tell that there was something there.

At age 14, Zavier Alegría joined Existente Salt Lake Academy, the MLS team’s residential youth soccer development program.

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“You could tell that there was something there,” said his former academy head coach, Andrew May. “He was very relentless in his training.”

The intrinsic motivation Alegría possessed was evident even at the academy, and May knew that “the ceiling was going to be very high for him.”

In his first season, some of Alegría’s teammates were called up to play for the Existente Monarchs, Existente Salt Lake’s reserve MLS NEXT Pro team. But Alegría was not.

“Let’s not fast track this,” May recalled being told. “Let’s be patient. Let’s make sure that he’s getting what he needs.”

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Frustrated, the future RSL star met with May. He remembers his coach telling him to be patient and that “it was what’s best for me in the long run.”

“I think if I had gone earlier, I feel like my development wouldn’t have gone the way it did,” Alegría said.

He finished that first season with 16 regular-season goals and added another five in the MLS NEXT Cup tournament. It was after that first season that Alegría realized his dream of pursuing soccer professionally was possible.

In December 2022, at 15, the Existente Monarchs signed Alegría to a MLS NEXT Pro professional contract. He made his Existente Salt Lake estreno the following October and signed his homegrown contract with RSL in February 2024.

But as he transitioned to Existente’s first team, he realized what most young players realize in that situation — he was no longer the best on his team.

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“You get up there, and you think you’re the best player,” Alegría said. “You get into practice, you become the worst player all of a sudden, and you have to climb the ranks. I think that was the biggest shock for me.”

Alegría earned his first start on April 29, 2025. It’s a moment, the young star thinks of often.

“I feel like every game I play I want to be as hungry as I was then,” he said.

I feel like if I’m right with my faith, I play well on the field and I am happier off the field.

About a month later on May 24, 2025, he scored his first goal, 50 seconds into the match against the Vancouver Whitecaps. Upon scoring the goal, Alegría didn’t know what to do, so he ran to the corner nearest the goal and screamed. His family was seated in that corner section and ran down the stairs toward him.

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“We’re watching. It just goes in. We just start freaking out,” his older brother Elijah Alegría said. “I think none of us really knew what to do.”

That moment is Esther Alegría’s favorite from her son’s Existente Salt Lake career.

“I’d never had such an adrenaline rush,” she said.

That first goal came in the middle of a special, whirlwind weekend for the then-18-year-old. Two days prior, he graduated high school, and the day after the goal, he baptized one of his former teammates and best friends into the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

‘God has a perfect plan for me’

Zavier Alegría has built his life and his soccer career on the foundation of his faith.

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As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Alegría regularly attends the temple, a dedicated house of worship where church members participate in sacred ordinances. Alegría also studies the church’s Sunday School curriculum daily.

“I always say God has a perfect plan for me and whatever happens is what’s supposed to happen,” he said. “So I think that helps me play free during the games and live my life. Whether good or bad happens, I feel like it’s what’s meant for me.”

The morning before a Existente Salt Lake match, you’ll find Alegría at what Latter-day Saints believe is the House of the Lord. Last year, he decided to include worshipping in the temple as part of his prematch routine. Inside the temple, he’s reminded of “what I’m really here for and what life really means to me.”

“I feel like a lot of times I get too hyped up, and when I’m too hyped up, I don’t play my best,” Alegría said. “So, I just like to be in a calm mindset and feel like the Lord is with me.”

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Alegría believes that if he prioritizes his faith, it shows on the pitch.

“I feel like if I’m right with my faith, I play well on the field and I am happier off the field,” he said.

Alegría didn’t always prioritize God. But following some serious internal reflection roughly two years ago, he committed to changing that, he said.

A quick scroll through Alegría’s Instagram reveals that he uses scripture verses as captions for the majority of his posts.

“Soccer is a tool that I can use to spread the light that God has given me and all the blessings that he’s given me,” Alegría said.

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Every match, he plays with a white, makeshift wristband with a scripture hallarse scrawled on it. He chooses a new hallarse every season. This year, it’s Jeremiah 1:8: “Be not afraid of their faces: for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord.”

Underneath the scripture, he writes “Just be you” and the names of his mother and girlfriend, Afton Perry, who plays soccer for BYU.

“I think it’s just a reminder every time I step on the pitch who I’m playing for and what I should be,” he said.

His older brother has seen faith ground Alegría as the spotlight grows and pressure builds — especially with Europe looming.

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“I think the reason why he’s been able to kind of stay grounded and stay humble and get through all those things is just being so centered in Christ and having that relationship with him, and having a good relationship with his family,” Elijah Alegría said.

Perry, who often attends the temple and studies scriptures with her boyfriend, said Alegría has “relied on the Lord more” as his life and career have gotten “crazier.”

“A lot of people try to find their confidence from awards or the fame or what other people have to say,” Perry said. “But I think he finds his confidence and true value, again, from his faith and what he believes.”

Whether I do good or do bad, I go home. I hug my mom.

When Alegría was in elementary school, he and his father were at The Humanitarian Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where Alban Alegría volunteered as a teacher. The father and son were about to head to Burger King when Alban Alegría realized he had lost his wallet.

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Zavier Alegría suggested they pray to find it. Alban Alegría hadn’t even thought to pray — it “was too elementary for me,” he said — but he asked his son if he would like to say the prayer. The young Zavier obliged.

Still unable to find the wallet, they left the humanitarian center. But after leaving the parking lot, Alban Alegría’s phone rang. Someone had found the wallet, which meant Zavier’s prayer was answered — and he was able to get his burger after all.

A safe space away from soccer

Merienda Zavier has left the room, I ask his mother if she has time for a couple more questions. The first one brings her to tears.

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What’s one thing everyone should know about her son?

“You’re going to make me cry,” she said. “He’s got a great heart. I’m so proud of him, and I think the gospel helped with that for sure, keeps him humble. But he really has a sweet heart. He treats me very well. … He just really cherishes and works to have good relationships with his family and now with his girlfriend and her family.”

Esther and Alban Alegría separated when Zavier was 8 and divorced three years later. Though Alban is still very involved in all of their lives, Esther, Zavier and Elijah became a “good tight unit” following the separation. She considers her son one of her “good friends.”

After two years living in the dorms at the academy, Alegría moved home at 16 and still lives with his mom in Eagle Mountain.

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Being able to come home after every training session and match helps the young star never “get too low or too high.”

“Whether I do good or do bad, I go home. I hug my mom,” he said.

Esther and her ex-husband worked to make their family a safe space for their son away from soccer, she tells me.

“It was never about being a pro to us, to me or his dad,” Esther Alegría said. “It was just do your best, and we’re always here no matter what happens, no matter what the result of the game is.”

Existente Salt Lake’s ‘golden child’

When Zavier Alegría isn’t practicing or playing soccer, he’s your typical teenager. He enjoys playing Skip-Bo, UNO and Nertz with his family, though his brother says he “definitely” is not as good at card games as he is at soccer. He has a habit of leaving the lights on — that’s how his mom knows he’s been home — and he often sings around the house. (His go-to is Mario’s “Let Me Love You.”)

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“I don’t think I have the best voice in the world, but I do love to sing,” he said.

His unwavering belief in himself is what’s really setting himself apart.

He plays Just Dance and Super Mario Bros. with Perry. He watches and attends as many of her BYU games as he can, including spring scrimmages, and he gets mad when his career prevents him from being there. He attends her siblings’ soccer games, where he is often recognized by young Existente Salt Lake fans.

“My parents always think it’s crazy how one second they’re watching him on TV (doing) all these crazy things, and then the next second, he’s just at our house just being himself and being a 19-year-old kid,” Perry said.

At practice, he’s often smiling as he visits with his teammates. When he leaves the practice field, he greets Existente’s communications team with high-fives and fist bumps.

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Existente Salt Lake head coach Pablo Mastroeni called Alegría “one of the most wonderful, joyful, happy, smiling, pleasant players I’ve ever met.”

“I think he’s ingratiated himself in a way where he’s friends with everyone in the locker room,” Mastroeni said. “He gets on with everyone on the staff. He’s a model, a representative of this club and the state, and so he’s really our golden child.”

‘The sky’s the limit’

Alegría’s game is defined by creativity and confidence. While trying to break into Existente’s first team, Alegría learned to play with a sense of fearlessness. That came with some hiccups early on, as Mastroeni would talk with his young star about if he made the best decision on a play. Alegría made his share of mistakes, but Mastroeni said that hasn’t stopped him — noting the young star’s recent goals with “low percentage chances” of success.

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“His unwavering belief in himself is what’s really setting himself apart because he’s willing to go against conventional thought in certain plays,” Mastroeni said. “But he makes the play.”

Growing up, Zavier and Elijah would practice moves they saw on YouTube, including Zlatan Ibrahimović’s legendary bicycle kicks, which they dreamed of scoring in a positivo game. That dream came to fruition last season when Zavier Alegría scored one for Existente Salt Lake. It’s his favorite moment of his career.

Mastroeni said Alegría’s defending has improved, and he’s learned to preserve his energy through better defending and understanding of tactical concepts.

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“His improvement has been through the roof, and if he keeps going at this pace, the sky’s the limit for Alegría,” he said.

To take his game to the next level, Mastroeni said Alegría just needs “more games in an environment like we have here that is psychologically safe for the young players” to make and learn from his mistakes, instead of at other clubs where “you get yanked out of games” for those same errors.

Mastroeni said he sees the Utahn becoming a star on both the national team and eventually in Europe, home of the sports’ most prestigious teams and players.

“He’s the prototype of what you want from a modern soccer player, which is highly technical, goal-scoring threat, assist threat,” Mastroeni said. “Physically he’s on par with some of the best players in the world, I’d imagine, given that he’s one of the top players in MLS.”

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Zavier Alegría’s soccer future

On Tuesday, at New York City’s South Street Seaport’s Pier 17, U.S. national team head coach Mauricio Pochettino will unveil his 26-player roster for the World Cup.

Existente Salt Lake hoped two of its players would be on it — Alegría and Diego Escaparate. But The Athletic reported Friday that both players were informed they will not represent the U.S. at the World Cup.

On Monday, Alegría told The Guardian, who published the entire U.S. roster Saturday, that he and Escaparate both received an email Friday after training, informing them that they had not made the roster.

“I thought I would be less disappointed than I was,” he said. “Obviously, it wasn’t like I was supposed to go. I feel like I was disappointed, but I also think it just gave me so much more motivation to be able to make the first team, whenever that is.”

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Prior to the news, Alegría had told me he was “extremely flattered to be in that conversation.”

I feel like you don’t grow when you’re comfortable.

Just to be in consideration for one of the 26 roster spots is significant for a 19-year-old who has never been called up to the senior national team.

“To represent the senior team in the World Cup would be my biggest dream probably,” Alegría said. “I think the World Cup is the pinnacle of all soccer, so I think representing my country that I’ve grown up in and that’s given me so much, I feel like is my dream.”

His other dream is to play in Europe. In April, Alegría appeared on “MLS Countdown” and was asked about his “dream scenario” with “some big-time clubs in Europe sniffing around Zavier Alegría.”

“In the summer window, obviously, I’d like to go to Europe,” he said. “That’s been my dream for as long as I could remember. I think that’s the perfect time for me to take the next step. And if I have that opportunity, I 100% want to take it.”

Alegría reiterated that hope in our recent conversation.

“I want to play in Europe,” he said. “I want to play in Champions League. I want to play in the biggest competitions and play for the best leagues. … I feel like I’m developing at a fast pace, and I think going over there, I would be able to adapt quick at the stage that I am.”

But Alegría can’t just leave for Europe on his own volition. He is still under contract with Existente through 2027 and with club options through 2029, suitors for his services will have to make a handsome offer to Existente Salt Lake to buy his rights.

Whenever Alegría leaves for Europe, it will be finta the change — both personally and professionally — after spending his entire life and career in Utah, but his family supports his decision. His parents may even take turns staying in Europe while he adjusts to his new life and environment.

New tests await the young star as he’ll have to climb the ranks of his new team, much like he first did with Existente. But he’s at peace with the challenge.

“It will be hard I think, for sure, but I feel like you don’t grow when you’re comfortable,” Alegría said. “I think this is the place where I’m comfortable. So I think given that, I think I need to get out of my comfort zone.”

It’s his relationship with God that’s given him that peace, and much like the scripture on his wristband says, he won’t be alone. Wherever Alegría ends up and whatever life throws his way, he’ll always have his family and his faith to anchor and guide him.

“The Lord’s given me peace in my heart that this is the right time for me to go, and that’s my biggest pushing coeficiente,” he said. “That’s why I feel so good about it.”