Reginald Jacob Cannon (born June 11, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a

right-back In the sport of association football, a defender is an outfield position whose primary role is to stop attacks during the game and prevent the opposition from scoring. Centre-backs are usually positioned in pairs, with one full-back on either s ...

for Portuguese

Primeira Liga The Primeira Liga (; English: Premier League, also written as Liga Portugal 1), also known as Liga Portugal Bwin for sponsorship reasons, is the top level of the Portuguese football league system. Organised and supervised by the Liga Portugal ...

club Boavista and the United States national team. He played one year of

college soccer College soccer is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. It is very prominent in United States, Japan, South Korea, Canada, and as well as in South Africa and Philippines, the Philippines. Th ...

for the

UCLA Bruins The UCLA Bruins are the athletic teams that represent the University of California, Los Angeles. The Bruin men's and women's teams participate in NCAA Division I as part of the Pac-12 Conference and the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) ...

in 2016 and made his

Major League Soccer Major League Soccer (MLS) is a men's professional soccer league sanctioned by the United States Soccer Federation, which represents the sport's highest level in the United States. The league comprises 29 teams—26 in the U.S. and 3 in Cana ...

debut for

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the leag ...

the following year, totalling 75 appearances for the club. In 2020, he moved to Boavista for a potential fee of $3.5 million. Cannon made his first appearance for the United States national team in 2018. He played at the

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Amer ...

2019 File:2019 collage v1.png, From top left, clockwise: Hong Kong protests turn to widespread riots and civil disobedience; House of Representatives votes to adopt articles of impeachment against Donald Trump; CRISPR gene editing first used to experim ...

and

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, winning the latter as well as the

2021 CONCACAF Nations League Finals The 2020 CONCACAF Nations League Finals was the final tournament of the 2019–20 edition of the CONCACAF Nations League, the inaugural season of the international football competition involving the men's national teams of the member associati ...

Youth and development

Cannon played high school soccer at Grapevine Faith Christian School in

Grapevine, Texas Grapevine is a city and suburb of Dallas and Fort Worth located in northeast Tarrant County, Texas, United States, with minor portions extending into Dallas County and Denton County. The city is located in the Mid-Cities suburban region betwe ...

, coached by Matt McKinney. During his freshman year Grapevine Faith won the TAPPS Division 2 Texas state championship in boys' soccer. In high school Cannon played for the FC Dallas academy team. Cannon won back-to-back national championships for FC Dallas's academy before joining

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

. Cannon played one year of

at the

in 2016, making 20 appearances for the Bruins. He was one of three players and the only freshman to appear in and start every match for the Bruins. Further, he finished the year having played 1,753 minutes; playing the third most minutes on the team.

Professional career

FC Dallas

Cannon left college and signed a

homegrown Homegrown may refer to any plants grown in a domestic setting. It may also refer to: Music *Home Grown, an American rock band formed in 1994 * ''Home Grown'' (Geri Allen album), 1985 * ''Homegrown'' (Dodgy album), 1995 * ''Home Grown'' (Blue Mou ...

player contract with

on December 22, 2016. He was the 18th homegrown player in Dallas's history. On June 14, 2017, he made his professional debut when he started in a 2–1 win over

Tulsa Roughnecks Tulsa Roughnecks may refer to any of four distinct professional soccer teams: * Tulsa Roughnecks (1978–1984), the original top-flight team that played in the North American Soccer League from 1978 to 1984. * Tulsa Roughnecks (1993–2000), the te ...

in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup. Cannon made his MLS debut for the club on September 2, in a 2–2 tie at home to the

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

, as an added-time substitute for

Michael Barrios Michael David Barrios Puerta (born 21 April 1991) is a Colombian professional footballer who plays as a winger for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids. Club career Barrios spent four seasons with Colombian Categoría Primera A side Uniaut ...

. In the 2018 season, Cannon cemented his place as a regular starter for the team. He made his first start for the team in their first game of the season, a 1–1 tie at home to

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake, often shortened to RSL, is an American professional soccer franchise based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes as a member club of Major League Soccer (MLS) in the Western Conference. RSL began play in ...

on March 4. He totalled 34 appearances, and scored once to open a 2–2 tie against

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on Marc ...

at the

Toyota Stadium Toyota Stadium may refer to: *Toyota Stadium (Georgetown, Kentucky), home stadium of Georgetown College, United States *Toyota Stadium (Japan), an open-roof association football stadium in Toyota, Japan * Toyota Stadium (South Africa), rugby stadium ...

on May 19. Cannon played 29 games for Dallas in the 2019 season. He scored two goals for the team, a career high for the defender. Amidst transfer speculation, Cannon signed a new, four-year contract with a team option with the team in March 2020. He started the first two games of the season before the league went on hiatus due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identified ...

. His team did not take part in the subsequent season restart,

MLS is Back Tournament The MLS is Back Tournament took place during the 2020 Major League Soccer season to mark the league's return to action after being suspended as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Of the 26 Major League Soccer teams, 24 participated in the tourna ...

, being forced to withdraw after ten players and one staff member tested positive for coronavirus.

Boavista

On September 9, 2020, FC Dallas announced that they had reached an agreement with Portuguese side Boavista F.C. for the transfer of Cannon in a deal worth up to $3.5 million, along with a 25–50% sell-on fee. He debuted for Boavista in the team's 2020–21

opener against C.D. Nacional; the game ended in a 3–3 draw. Cannon was sent off for the first time as a professional on November 5, 2021 in the 58th minute of a 5–2 home loss to F.C. Famalicão, for a foul on

Iván Jaime Iván Jaime Pajuelo (born 26 September 2000) is a Spanish footballer who plays as a winger or attacking midfielder for Primeira Liga club Porto. Club career Málaga Born in Málaga, Andalusia, Jaime joined Málaga CF's youth setup in 2011. He m ...

International career

On October 16, 2018, Cannon made his first senior appearance for the

United States men's national soccer team The United States men's national soccer team (USMNT) represents the United States in men's international soccer competitions. The team is controlled by the United States Soccer Federation and is a member of FIFA and CONCACAF. The U.S. team ...

in a friendly against

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, which finished 1–1. He made the cut for the

2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 15th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was primarily hosted in th ...

, due to

Tyler Adams Tyler Shaan Adams (born February 14, 1999) is an American professional soccer player who plays for Premier League club Leeds United and captains the United States national team. Primarily a midfielder, Adams is capable of playing as a fullback ...

's injury, and played four matches including the 1–0 final loss to

Mexico Mexico ( Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guate ...

. Cannon faced strong competition at right-back from DeAndre Yedlin and Sergiño Dest. On June 6, 2021 he came on as a substitute for the former for the second half of extra time, as the United States defeated Mexico 3–2 in the

CONCACAF Nations League The CONCACAF Nations League ( es, Liga de Naciones CONCACAF, french: Ligue des Nations de la CONCACAF) is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the member associations of CONCACAF, the ...

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: * Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which decides a winner for an event ** Another term for playoffs, describing a sequence of con ...

. Three days later, he scored his first senior international goal in a 4–0 friendly win over Costa Rica at the

Rio Tinto Stadium America First Field (formerly Rio Tinto Stadium and referred to as The RioT) is an American soccer-specific stadium in Sandy, Utah, that serves as home stadium for Major League Soccer club Real Salt Lake. The stadium opened on October 9, 2008 ...

. He made four appearances at the

2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 16th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, the biennial international men's soccer championship of the North, Central American, and Caribbean region organized by CONCACAF. The tournament was originally scheduled ...

, as second-choice to

Shaq Moore Shaquell Kwame "Shaq" Moore (born November 2, 1996) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Nashville SC and the United States national team. He spent his early professional career in S ...

and starting only in the 1–0 win over Mexico in the

on August 1. Cannon was not chosen for the

2022 FIFA World Cup The 2022 FIFA World Cup is an international football tournament contested by the men's national teams of FIFA's member associations. The 22nd FIFA World Cup is taking place in Qatar from 20 November to 18 December 2022; it is the first Wo ...

, as Dest and Moore were selected at right-back.

Personal life

Cannon is the grandson of atmospheric scientist Dr. Warren Washington. His step-sister, Bianca Smith, is a professional baseball coach. Cannon married his wife, Kendall, in April 2020. On August 12, 2020, Cannon spoke out against Dallas fans for booing and throwing a bottle at the players before a 0–1 loss against

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is a Major League Soccer team based in Nashville, Tennessee. The team began play in the league in 2020 as a continuation of the USL club of the same name and plays its home matches at Geodis Park. It is principally owned ...

because the players knelt during the national anthem in solidarity of the

Black Lives Matter Black Lives Matter (abbreviated BLM) is a decentralized political and social movement that seeks to highlight racism, discrimination, and racial inequality experienced by black people. Its primary concerns are incidents of police brut ...

movement, calling the fans' actions "disgusting". He subsequently received racist comments and death threats.

Career statistics

Club

International

:''Scores and results list United States' goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Cannon goal''.

Honors

United States *

: 2019–20

References

External links

UCLA bio
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cannon, Reggie 1998 births Living people People from Grapevine, Texas Sportspeople from the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex Soccer players from Texas Soccer players from Chicago African-American soccer players American soccer players Association football fullbacks UCLA Bruins men's soccer players FC Dallas players Boavista F.C. players Homegrown Players (MLS) Major League Soccer players Primeira Liga players United States men's international soccer players 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players CONCACAF Gold Cup-winning players American expatriate soccer players American expatriate sportspeople in Portugal Expatriate footballers in Portugal 21st-century African-American sportspeople