Francisco Javier Calvo Quesada (; born 8 July 1992) is a Costa Rican professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby lea ...

who plays as a

centre-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield player whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Defenders fall into four main categories: centre-backs, full-backs, sweepers ...

for

Süper Lig The Süper Lig (, ''Super League''), also known as Trendyol Süper Lig for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Turkey and the highest level of the Turkish football league system. In the 2023–2024 season, twen ...

club

Hatayspor Hatayspor Kulübü, known as Atakaş Hatayspor due to sponsorship reasons, is a Turkish professional football club located in Antakya, Hatay Province. Hatayspor, founded in 1967 through a merger of three local clubs, aimed to promote sports and po ...

and

captains Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

the Costa Rica national team.

Early life

After starting with

Deportivo Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its Association football, football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, Costa Rica, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aym ...

as a youth player from 2005 to 2010, Calvo moved to the United States to study at

San Jacinto College San Jacinto College () is a public community college in the Greater Houston area, with its campuses in Pasadena and Houston, Texas. Established in 1961, San Jacinto College originally consisted of the independent school districts (ISD) of Chan ...

after getting a scholarship and played football at university level during that period.

Club career

On his return to Costa Rica in 2011, Calvo played for Herediano before a stint at Pérez Zeledón where he scored 5 goals in 21 matches. In January 2013 he moved abroad to play for then Danish champions

Nordsjælland North Zealand, also North Sealand (), refers to the northeastern part of the Danish island of Zealand. The Danish tourist authorities have recently introduced the term Danish Riviera to cover the area in view of its increasing importance for to ...

but he returned to Herediano in summer 2013. In January 2015, Calvo joined

Santos de Guápiles Santos may refer to: People *Santos (surname) * Santos Balmori Picazo (1899–1992), Spanish-Mexican painter * Santos Benavides (1823–1891), Confederate general in the American Civil War Places *Santos, São Paulo, a municipality in São Paulo ...

as a loan. In late May 2015, Calvo joined

Saprissa Deportivo Saprissa is a Costa Rican sports club, mostly known for its football team. The club is based in San Juan de Tibás, San José, and play their home games at the Estadio Ricardo Saprissa Aymá. Their colours are burgundy and white. It ...

. In his first season with Saprissa, he appeared in 39 matches and scored five goals. The following season, he continued to be a set-piece threat as he scored 9 goals in 24 matches playing as a defender. On 27 December 2016, Calvo joined

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a professional Association football, soccer league in North America and the highest level of the United States soccer league system. It comprises 30 teams, with 27 in the United States and 3 in Canada, and is sanc ...

side

Minnesota United FC Minnesota United Football Club, often shortened to MNUFC, is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Minneapolis–Saint Paul metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the W ...

. In 2018, Calvo was selected as an MLS All-Star, becoming the first Minnesota United player in club history to receive the honor. On 3 May 2019, Calvo was traded to Chicago Fire. Following the 2021 season, Calvo's contract option was declined by Chicago. On 26 January 2022, Calvo signed as a free agent with

San Jose Earthquakes The San Jose Earthquakes are an American professional association football, soccer club based in San Jose, California. The Earthquakes compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Origin ...

. On 5 March 2022, Calvo scored two late set piece goals for a ten-man San Jose team to salvage a 3–3 draw at home against the Columbus Crew. This performance led to him being named in the MLS Team of the Week. He then moved to

Konyaspor Konyaspor Kulübü (, Konya Sports Club), commonly referred to as Konyaspor, is a Turkish professional football club based in Konya, one of the largest cities in central Anatolia. Due to sponsorship agreements, the club is also officially known ...

in the Turkish

. On 15 January 2024, Calvo signed with Juárez in Mexico. On 31 March 2024, he notches his first goal for the club by scoring a header contributing a 2–1 win against

Santos Laguna Club Santos Laguna S.A. de C.V., simply known as Santos Laguna or Santos, is a Mexican professional football club based in Torreón, Coahuila. The club competes in Liga MX, the top division of Mexican football. Founded in 1983 as Club Santos I ...

International career

On 29 May 2011, Calvo made his debut with the Costa Rica senior team in San José in a friendly game against

Nigeria Nigeria, officially the Federal Republic of Nigeria, is a country in West Africa. It is situated between the Sahel to the north and the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean to the south. It covers an area of . With Demographics of Nigeria, ...

. He was also part of the Costa Rica squad at the

2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2011 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the 18th FIFA U-20 World Cup. Colombia hosted the tournament between 29 July and 20 August 2011, with matches being played in eight cities. The tournament was won by Brazil national under-20 football team, Brazil w ...

. Calvo was also a reserve call-up for Costa Rica at the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on Jun ...

, and later impressed senior head coach

Ricardo La Volpe Ricardo Antonio La Volpe Guarchoni (; born 6 February 1952) is an Argentine former professional footballer and manager. He is a World Cup-winning goalkeeper who played for most of his career in Argentina and Mexico. As a coach, La Volpe was i ...

to win him a call-up for the Costa Rica squad at the

2011 Copa América The 2011 Campeonato Sudamericano Copa América, better known as the 2011 Copa América or the Copa América 2011 Argentina, was the 43rd edition of the Copa América, the main international association football, football tournament for national ...

. He made his debut in the competition in a game against

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

, which ended in a 1–0 loss, and played in a 2–0 win against

Bolivia Bolivia, officially the Plurinational State of Bolivia, is a landlocked country located in central South America. The country features diverse geography, including vast Amazonian plains, tropical lowlands, mountains, the Gran Chaco Province, w ...

. also he played

Argentina Argentina, officially the Argentine Republic, is a country in the southern half of South America. It covers an area of , making it the List of South American countries by area, second-largest country in South America after Brazil, the fourt ...

in a 3–0 loss. In May 2018, Calvo was named in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the

2018 FIFA World Cup The 2018 FIFA World Cup was the 21st FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national association football, football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Russia from 14 June to 15 July 2018, after the country was awarded t ...

in Russia. He later reprised the same role at the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup was the 22nd FIFA World Cup, the quadrennial world championship for national football teams organized by FIFA. It took place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022, after the country was awarded the hosting ri ...

in Qatar. On 15 October 2024, he featured in his 100th international match for Costa Rica in a 3–0 victory over

Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...

during the CONCACAF Nations League A.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first.''

Honours

CS Herediano *

Liga FPD The Primera División of Costa Rica, commonly known as Liga de Fútbol de Primera División (Liga FPD), and Liga Promerica for sponsorship reasons, is the top professional association football division in Costa Rica. It is administered by the Uni ...

: Clausura 2012 Deportivo Saprissa *

Apertura 2015 The ' () and ' () tournaments is a split season format for Spanish-speaking sports leagues. It is a relatively recent innovation for many Latin American football leagues in which the traditional association football season from August to May is ...

, Apertura 2016 Individual *

MLS All-Star The Major League Soccer All-Star Game is an annual Association football, soccer game held by Major League Soccer featuring selected players from the league against an international club or selected players from another league. MLS initially ado ...

2018 Events January * January 1 – Bulgaria takes over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, after the Estonian presidency. * January 4 – SPLM-IO rebels loyal to Chan Garang Lual start a raid against Juba, capital of ...

* CONCACAF Nations League Finals Best XI:

2021 Like the year 2020, 2021 was also heavily defined by the COVID-19 pandemic, due to the emergence of multiple Variants of SARS-CoV-2, COVID-19 variants. The major global rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, which began at the end of 2020, continued ...

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Calvo, Francisco 1992 births Living people Footballers from San José, Costa Rica Men's association football defenders Costa Rican men's footballers 21st-century Costa Rican sportsmen Costa Rica men's international footballers Costa Rica men's under-20 international footballers C.S. Herediano footballers A.D. Municipal Pérez Zeledón footballers FC Nordsjælland players Deportivo Saprissa players Santos de Guápiles F.C. footballers Minnesota United FC players Chicago Fire FC players San Jose Earthquakes players Konyaspor footballers Hatayspor footballers FC Juárez footballers Liga FPD players Danish Superliga players Major League Soccer players Süper Lig players Liga MX players Costa Rican expatriate men's footballers Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark Expatriate men's soccer players in the United States Expatriate men's footballers in Turkey Expatriate men's footballers in Mexico Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Denmark Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in the United States Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Turkey Costa Rican expatriate sportspeople in Mexico 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 Copa América players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Copa América Centenario players 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2018 FIFA World Cup players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2024 Copa América players 2025 CONCACAF Gold Cup players Junior college men's soccer players in the United States FIFA Men's Century Club