Fidel
Barajas

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Fidel Barajas played two seasons with the Black and Yellow after signing a multi-year contract in September 2022. The 2023 Eastern Conference champion has represented both Mexico and the United States at the youth international level.

Barajas enjoyed a breakout season in 2023, taking the league by storm with record-setting performances and winning the USL Championship Young Player of the Year award in the process. An All-League Second Team selection, the 17-year-old led the Championship (regular season and playoffs) in assists with 11 across 32 matches. He additionally tallied five goals, showcasing his lethal left foot often. He was also honored by his fellow players by winning the USL Players Association Young Player of the Year award for the Championship.

Entering 2024, he has 13 assists and five goals in 37 appearances across all competitions from 2022 to 2023.

Fidel’s game garnered international recognition when he was named to The Guardian’s Next Generation 2023, which is the British newspaper’s annual report of the top 60 young soccer players across the globe, and selected in Transfermarkt’s end-of-year Talents Calendar, which highlighted the best young talents around the world.

Barajas etched his name into the club and league record books throughout 2023.

At 16 years, 11 months and 20 days old, Barajas became the youngest goalscorer in club history when he scored his first career professional goal on March 25 against Tampa Bay. His 11 assists matched a single-season club record that has been standing for 23 years in Temoc Suarez’s tally of 11 in 2000. 

With a two-assist game on July 22 against Pittsburgh, Barajas became the fourth-youngest player in USL Championship history to achieve the feat. He was also the ninth-youngest player in league history to notch a two-goal game, which he did on Sept. 23 against Tulsa. 

Barajas was named to the league’s Team of the Week three times in 2023 and was a nominee for March Player of the Month. 

Fidel ended 2023 competing in the FIFA U-17 World Cup for Mexico in Indonesia. He recorded one goal and one assist, starting all four of Mexico’s matches.

Prior to the 2023 season, Barajas led Mexico to winning the Concacaf U-17 Championship. He started all seven of Mexico’s matches in the tournament while tallying three goals and five assists. His five helpers ranked second-most overall in the tournament.

Fidel appeared in three matches for the Battery in 2022, making his professional debut on October 1 against Hartford Athletic. Barajas registered an assist in each of his first two matches as a pro, one against Hartford and one against Indy Eleven.

A native of Sacramento, California, Barajas was previously a member of the talented San Jose Earthquakes Academy and competed in the development league MLS NEXT.

The youngster has already established quite the résumé in his career with both the U-17 U.S. national team (five caps) and the U-17 Mexico national team (25 caps, eight goals as of Dec. 1, 2023).

Before joining the Battery, Barajas competed in a UEFA Development Tournament in May 2022 with the USYNT, playing against the youth squads of Portugal, Italy and Belgium. The winger tallied an assist in the match against Belgium, a 0-3 victory. He’s also taken the field against the youth teams of Argentina and Uruguay. 

He has more recently represented the Mexico U-17’s in several tournaments. Barajas has competed in the Syrenka Cup in Poland, the UNCAF FIFA Forward U-16 Tournament in Honduras and the International Dream Cup in Japan, along with other friendlies.

Barajas attended Elk Grove Charter School and was ranked the No. 5 player in the U.S. by TopDrawerSoccer for the 2024 high school graduating class in June 2022. 

Prior to San Jose, Fidel was a member of Sacramento Republic FC’s academy in 2020 and youth club FC Sacramento from 2017 to 2019.

The winger holds dual citizenship with the U.S. and Mexico as his family is from Michoacán, Mexico.