Samuel Junqua (born November 9, 1996) is an American 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 as a defender for

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 ...

club

Real Salt Lake Real Salt Lake (RSL) is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Salt Lake City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. Fou ...

Career

Youth & College

Junqua attended the

University of California, Berkeley The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...

, where he played

college soccer College soccer, called college football in some countries, is played by teams composed of soccer players who are enrolled in colleges and universities. While it is most widespread in the United States, it is also prominent in Japan, South Kore ...

for four years between 2015 and 2018, making 68 appearances and tallying 3 assists. He was named to the 2018 All-

Pac-12 The Pac-12 Conference is a collegiate athletic conference in the Western United States. It participates at the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I level for all sports, and its football teams compete in the Football Bowl ...

third team. While in college, Junqua played in the PDL with FC Golden State Force and San Francisco Glens.

Professional career

Houston Dynamo

On January 11, 2019, Junqua was drafted 8th overall in the 2019 MLS SuperDraft by the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo Football Club is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Established on December 15, 2005, the club was founded after their fo ...

and was signed by the club on January 22, 2019. Junqua made his Dynamo debut on June 18, getting the start in a 3–2 loss to Minnesota United in a U.S. Open Cup match. He made his first appearance in a continental competition and his second overall appearance with the Dynamo on July 24, coming on as a sub in a

Leagues Cup The Leagues Cup is an annual soccer competition between clubs from Major League Soccer (MLS), the main soccer league in the United States, and Liga MX, the main soccer league in Mexico. It is hosted in Canada and the United States. It began in ...

match with

Club America Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises * ...

. Junqua spent most of the 2019 season on loan with the Dynamo's

USL Championship The USL Championship (USLC) is a men's professional association football, soccer league in the second tier of the United States soccer league system#Men's leagues, United States league system. It is organized by the United Soccer League (USL) a ...

affiliate Rio Grande Valley FC. He made his first appearance for the Toros on March 16, playing the full 90 in a 2–0 loss to

Fresno FC Fresno Football Club was an American professional soccer team based in Fresno, California. Founded in 2017, the team was a member of the USL Championship, a second-tier league in the American Soccer Pyramid. Their first game took place on March ...

. He would go on to make 17 appearances with RGVFC in his first pro season. On July 13, 2020, Junqua made his first appearance of the season and first MLS appearance of his career, coming on as a substitute in a 3–3 draw with

LAFC Los Angeles Football Club (LAFC) is an American professional soccer club based in Los Angeles. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. It was established on October 30, 2014, and began play in the ...

. He scored his first goal for the Dynamo on October 3 in a 2–1 loss to

Sporting Kansas City Sporting Kansas City is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Kansas City metropolitan area. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The ad ...

. He made his first career MLS start on October 7 in a 2–0 win over

Texas Derby The Texas derby is a local derby, soccer rivalry (derby) between the Houston Dynamo FC and FC Dallas, recognizing the best club in the state for the season until 2021 when Austin FC joined MLS. The two squads play a series of games with the seri ...

rivals

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional Association football, soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The franchise be ...

. Junqua finished the year with 9 appearances and 1 goal in a shortened season 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 ...

. It was a poor season for Houston as a team, finishing last in the Western Conference and missing out on the playoffs again. Junqua missed the first 8 games of the 2021 season after suffering a

concussion A concussion, also known as a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), is a head injury that temporarily affects brain functioning. Symptoms may include headache, dizziness, difficulty with thinking and concentration, sleep disturbances, a brief ...

in the final preseason match. He made his first appearance of the season on June 19, playing the full 90 minutes in a 1–1 draw against

. On July 3, Junqua picked up his first career MLS assist in a 1–1 draw with

FC Cincinnati Football Club Cincinnati is an American professional soccer club based in Cincinnati. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team was first announced on August 12, 2015 as a United Soccer Leag ...

. He ended the season with 22 appearances, 18 of them starts, and 1 assist, splitting time playing as both a left-back and as a center-back. The season was another disappointing one for Houston, with the Dynamo finishing last in the West for the 2nd straight season and failing to qualify for the playoffs once again. Junqua made 15 MLS appearances, 4 of them starts, and had an assist during the 2022 season as the Dynamo finished 13th in the conference, missing out on the playoffs. In the Open Cup, Junqua started all 3 games for Houston. On April 19, in their first cup game of the season, Junqua scored 3 minutes into stoppage time to give the Dynamo a 2–1 win over RGVFC. In the next round, he set up Sebastián Ferreira in the 82nd minute for a 1–0 win over

San Antonio FC San Antonio FC is a professional soccer club based in San Antonio, Texas. It competes in the USL Championship, the second-highest level of the United States soccer league system, as a member of the Western Conference. History San Antonio FC ...

. Junqua's contract expired following the 2022 season.

FC Dallas

On February 23, 2023, Junqua signed with

after the club acquired his rights from Houston in exchange for $75,000 of GAM.

Real Salt Lake

On December 23, 2024,

acquired Junqua from

and up to $500k in GAM in exchange for Anderson Julio.

Career statistics

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Junqua, Sam 1996 births Living people American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders California Golden Bears men's soccer players FC Dallas players De Anza Force players FC Golden State Force players Houston Dynamo FC draft picks Houston Dynamo FC players Sportspeople from Saratoga, California Real Salt Lake players Rio Grande Valley FC Toros players San Francisco Glens players Soccer players from Santa Clara County, California USL Championship players USL League Two players Major League Soccer players 21st-century American sportsmen