Julian Anthony Altobelli (born November 4, 2002) is a Canadian professional

soccer Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

player who plays for

York United FC York United Football Club (formerly known as York9 FC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto, Ontario. The club competes in the Canadian Premier League and plays its home games at York University's York Lions Stadium. History ...

of the

Canadian Premier League The Canadian Premier League (CPL or CanPL; ) is a professional Association football, soccer league in Canada and the highest level of the Canadian soccer league system. The league comprises eight teams, from five of provinces and territories of ...

Early life

Altobelli was born in

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

and is of Italian descent, where his grandparents were born. He grew up in

Bolton, Ontario Bolton ( 2021 population 26,795) is an unincorporated town and is the most populous community in the town of Caledon, Ontario, Canada, in the Regional Municipality of Peel. It is located beside the Humber River, approximately 50 kilometres nor ...

, where he played for local club Bolton Wanderers SC. He later moved with his family to

Vaughan Vaughan ( ) (2022 population 344,412) is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located in the Regional Municipality of York, just north of Toronto. Vaughan was the fastest-growing municipality in Canada between 1996 and 2006 with its population increa ...

, where he played for youth teams of

Vaughan Azzurri Vaughan Azzurri is a Canadian semi-professional soccer team based in Vaughan, Ontario, that currently competes in the League1 Ontario men's and women's divisions. The semi-professional team was founded in 2014 by the Vaughan Soccer Club, which ...

and

Woodbridge Strikers Woodbridge Strikers Soccer Club is a Canadian semi-professional soccer club based in Woodbridge, Ontario. The club was founded in 1976 as a youth soccer club and added its semi-professional club in League1 Ontario in 2014. The team plays home g ...

. He later joined the

Toronto FC Academy Toronto FC Academy, also known as TFC Academy, is the Youth system, youth academy and development system of Canadian Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, which competes in MLS Next. The academy has divisions from U14 to U19 and includes over 110 ...

in 2014.

Club career

After posting a highlight reel on

Instagram Instagram is an American photo sharing, photo and Short-form content, short-form video sharing social networking service owned by Meta Platforms. It allows users to upload media that can be edited with Social media camera filter, filters, be ...

, he caught the attention of his future player agent, who informed him that

club York9 was interested in him. After feeling the opportunities at Toronto FC lacking, he left the club's academy and signed with York9 on May 13, 2020, with options until 2023, becoming the club's youngest ever signing. After not making any appearances in the 2020 CPL season, which was shortened due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

, he requested and was granted his release from the club. In December 2020, he returned to the TFC system, signing with

Toronto FC II Toronto FC II is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Toronto, Ontario, that competes in MLS Next Pro, a third tier league of the United States soccer league system. It is the reserve team and minor league affiliate of Toronto FC as we ...

USL League One USL League One (USL1) is a professional men's association football, soccer league in the United States that had its inaugural season in 2019 USL League One season, 2019. The United States soccer league system, Division III league is operated ...

for the 2021 season. He made his debut on May 26, coming on as a substitute against

FC Tucson FC Tucson is an American soccer club based in Tucson, Arizona that plays in USL League Two. The club has an amateur women's team, FC Tucson Women, that play in the WPSL. Organized in 2010, the club first fielded a team in March 2011, then joine ...

. He scored his first goal on June 19, against Fort Lauderdale CF. In October 2023, he signed a short-term loan with the

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference (MLS), Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matc ...

first team, ahead of their match against

Charlotte FC Charlotte Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team is owned by David Tepper, who was awarded the e ...

. In March 2024, he re-signed with TFC2 for the 2024 season. He served as team captain for the 2024 season. In 2024, he signed another three short-term loans with the first team. On July 14, 2024, he became the all-time appearance leader for Toronto FC II, with his 85th cap across all competitions. He was awarded the MLS Next Pro Goal of the Matchweek twice that season. On September 15, 2024, he scored in his eighth consecutive match (the second longest streak in league history), netting his 20th goal for the club, tying him for the club all-time lead with Jordan Perruzza. Altobelli's contract expired following the 2024 season. In January 2025, Altobelli signed a one-year contract with an option for 2026 with his former club

(previously York9) of the

. On April 6, 2025, he scored a brace in his debut in a 2-0 victory over

Vancouver FC Vancouver Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club that competes in the Canadian Premier League, the top tier of the Canadian soccer league system. The club is based in Langley, British Columbia (district muni ...

International career

Altobelli has represented the Canada U17 team at the

2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship was the 6th edition of the CONCACAF Under-17 Championship (19th edition if all eras included), the men's under-17 international association football, football tournament organized by CONCACAF. It was hosted in ...

and the

2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup The 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup was the 18th edition of the FIFA U-17 World Cup, the biennial international men's youth association football, football championship contested by the under-17 national teams of the member associations of FIFA. It was ...

. He scored in a penalty kick shootout victory against Costa Rica U17 in the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF tournament which qualified the team for the U17 World Cup.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Altobelli, Julian 2002 births Living people Men's association football midfielders Canadian men's soccer players Soccer players from Toronto Canadian sportspeople of Italian descent Toronto FC players York United FC players Canada men's youth international soccer players Toronto FC II players Vaughan Azzurri players MLS Next Pro players USL League One players Toronto FC Academy players 21st-century Canadian sportsmen Canadian Premier League players