Shaquell Kwame "Shaq" Moore (born November 2, 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

right-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

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

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 ...

and the

United States national team The United States national team or Team USA may refer to any of a number of sports team representing the United States in international competitions. Olympic teams Additionally, these teams may compete in other international competitions such as ...

. He spent his early professional career in Spain, playing six

La Liga The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Primera División, commonly known as the Primera División or La Liga, and officially known as LaLiga EA Sports for sponsorship reasons, is a professional association football league in Spain and the highest ...

games for Levante and 99 in

Segunda División The Campeonato Nacional de Liga de Segunda División, commonly known as Segunda División or La Liga 2, and officially known as LaLiga HyperMotion for sponsorship reasons, is the men's second professional association football division of the Spa ...

for

Reus Reus () is the capital of Baix Camp, in Camp de Tarragona, Catalonia, Spain. The area has long been an important producer of wines and spirits, and gained continental significance during the time of the Phylloxera plague. Currently it is known f ...

and

Tenerife Tenerife ( ; ; formerly spelled ''Teneriffe'') is the largest and most populous island of the Canary Islands, an Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Spain. With a land area of and a population of 965,575 inhabitants as of A ...

. In 2022, he signed for

Nashville SC Nashville Soccer Club is an American professional soccer club based in Nashville, Tennessee. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team spent two seasons in the USL Championship before joining ...

for a fee of $2 million. Moore made his debut for the

in 2018 and was part of their team that won the

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

Club career

Early career

Moore was born in

Powder Springs, Georgia Powder Springs is a city in Cobb County, Georgia, United States. The population was 13,940 at the 2010 census, with an estimated population for 2019 of 15,758. The 12,000-capacity Walter H. Cantrell Stadium is located in Powder Springs. It is ...

, and was an

IMG Academy IMG Academy is a University-preparatory school, preparatory boarding school and sports training destination in Bradenton, Florida, United States. The organization is set across over 600 acres (243 ha) and features programs consisting of sport ca ...

alumnus during his youth. In April 2014, he started training with

team

. In August 2014, Moore moved to Spain and went on to train with three teams in the city of

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

Valencia CF Valencia Club de Fútbol, S. A. D. (; ), commonly referred to as Valencia CF or simply Valencia, is a Spanish professional Association football, football club based in Valencia, Spain, that currently plays in La Liga, the top tier of the Spani ...

Levante UD Levante Unión Deportiva, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club in Valencia, in the Valencian Community, namesake autonomous community. Founded on 6 September 1909, the club will compete in La Liga for the 2025– ...

, and

Huracán Valencia CF Huracán Valencia Club de Fútbol was a Spanish football team based in Torrent, in the Valencian Community. Founded in 2011, it played in Segunda División B until 2016, when it was dissolved. History Huracán Valencia Club de Fútbol was founde ...

, being assigned to the latter's ''Juvenil A'' squad, as the club waited for an international transfer certificate. On May 9, 2015, he finally signed a contract with Huracán. Moore made his senior debut for the club on August 22, 2015, coming on as a second-half substitute for Javi Soria in a 1–1

Segunda División B Segunda División B (English: second division B) was the third tier of the Spanish football league system containing 102 teams divided into five groups, until it was replaced by the new structure in 2021. It was administered by the Royal Spanish ...

home draw against

CD Atlético Baleares Club Deportivo Atlético Baleares, S.A.D. () is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football team based in Palma de Mallorca, Palma, the capital of the Mallorca, island of Mallorca, in the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands. Foun ...

. The following January 7, after being rarely used, he signed with

Real Oviedo Vetusta Real Oviedo Vetusta is a Spanish football club based in Oviedo, in the autonomous community of Asturias. Founded in 1929 as ''Unión Sportiva Ovetense'', it is the reserve team of Real Oviedo, and currently plays in , holding home games at '' El R ...

Levante

On August 30, 2016, Moore moved to another

reserve team In sports, a reserve team is a team composed of players who are under contract to a club but who do not regularly play in matches for the club's primary team. Reserve teams usually include players who are part of the larger first-team squad but ...

Atlético Levante UD Atlético Levante Unión Deportiva is a Spanish football team based in Valencia, in the namesake community. Founded in 1962, it is the reserve team of Levante UD, and plays in the . History The club was founded on 10 November 1962 after a merge ...

in the third division. The following year, he was included in a first-team matchday for the first time on September 30, 2017, for a

match against

Deportivo Alavés Deportivo Alavés, S.A.D. (; ''Sporting Alavés''), usually known as Alavés, is a List of football clubs in Spain, Spanish football club based in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, in the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Basque ...

. Moore made his main squad debut on October 26, 2017, starting in a 2–0 away win against

Girona FC Girona Futbol Club, Sociedad Anónima Deportiva, S.A.D. ( ) is a Spanish professional Football team, football club based in Girona, Catalonia, Spain. Founded on 23 July 1930, the team plays in La Liga, to which they gained promotion in the 2022 ...

for the season's

Copa del Rey The , commonly known as , or (in English) the Spanish Cup or King's Cup, and formerly known as Copa del Presidente de la República (1932–1936) and Copa del Generalísimo (1939–1976), is an annual knockout football competition in Spanis ...

. Three days later he made his La Liga debut, replacing Ivi in a 2–2 draw at

SD Eibar Sociedad Deportiva Eibar (in ) is a Spanish football league teams, Spanish professional football club based in Eibar, Gipuzkoa, in the autonomous Basque Country (autonomous community), Basque Country. Founded on 30 November 1940, the men’s te ...

. Following success in the previous two fixtures, Moore started his first game for Levante on November 18, 2017, in a 2–0 away defeat of

UD Las Palmas Unión Deportiva Las Palmas S.A.D. is a professional association football, football club based in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Canary Islands, Spain. The club will compete in Segunda División, the 2nd division in the Spanish football league syst ...

. He became only the fourth American to play in La Liga after

Kasey Keller Kasey C. Keller (born November 29, 1969) is an American former professional association football, soccer player who played in Europe and the United States, and was the starting Goalkeeper (association football), goalkeeper for the United State ...

Jozy Altidore Josmer Volmy "Jozy" Altidore ( ; born November 6, 1989) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a striker. He last played for the Major League Soccer club New England Revolution. Altidore made his professional debut in 2006, at ...

, and

Oguchi Onyewu Oguchialu Chijioke Onyewu (born May 13, 1982) is an American former association football, soccer player who is the Vice President of Sporting for the United States Soccer Federation. He was previously the sporting director for Orlando City B an ...

. He finished the campaign with eight first-team appearances. On July 13, 2018, Moore agreed to a

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...

-long loan deal with

side

CF Reus Deportiu Club de Futbol Reus Deportiu, S.A.D. was a Spanish football team based in Reus, in the autonomous community of Catalonia. Founded in 1909, it last competed in the Segunda Division (while its B team competed in the Tercera Division) before ...

, but on December 28, he was one of five players who left the team due to unpaid wages.

Tenerife

On July 24, 2019, Moore signed a three-year contract with

CD Tenerife Club Deportivo Tenerife, S.A.D. is a Spanish football club based in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Tenerife, in the Canary Islands. Founded in 1922, the club plays in the Segunda División, holding home matches at the Estadio Heliodoro Rodríguez L� ...

also in the second division. The following May, his deal was extended until 2024. Moore played 101 total games for the team from the

Canary Islands The Canary Islands (; ) or Canaries are an archipelago in the Atlantic Ocean and the southernmost Autonomous communities of Spain, Autonomous Community of Spain. They are located in the northwest of Africa, with the closest point to the cont ...

, scoring once to open a 4–2 win at

Extremadura UD Extremadura Unión Deportiva was a Spanish football team based in Almendralejo, in the autonomous community of Extremadura. Founded in 2007, it last played in Primera División RFEF – Group 1, holding home games at '' Estadio Francisco de la ...

on February 8, 2020. In his final match on June 19, 2022, the club lost 3–1 at home to

in the playoff final.

Nashville SC

On July 19, 2022, Moore signed with Major League Soccer side

for a reported fee of US$2 million. He made his debut 11 days later in a 1–1 home draw with

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional Association football, soccer club based in Vancouver. The Whitecaps compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference (MLS), Western Conference. The MLS ite ...

, playing for 63 minutes.

FC Dallas

On December 27, 2024, Moore was traded to

in exchange for up to $150,000 in General Allocation Money.

International career

After rejecting

Trinidad and Tobago Trinidad and Tobago, officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, is the southernmost island country in the Caribbean, comprising the main islands of Trinidad and Tobago, along with several List of islands of Trinidad and Tobago, smaller i ...

at the under-15 level, Moore represented the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

at the under-17, under-18, and under-20 levels. He captained the under-17s in 2012–13, including at the

2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship The 2013 CONCACAF Under-17 Championship, CONCACAF U-17 Championship was a North American international association football tournament that determined the 2013 FIFA U-17 World Cup participants from the CONCACAF region. The 2013 edition of the com ...

, and appeared with the under-20s at the

2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup The 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup was the twentieth edition of the FIFA U-20 World Cup since its inception in 1977 as the FIFA World Youth Championship. The competition took place for the first time in New Zealand, the third time on Oceanian soil after ...

. Moore received his first senior team call-up for a friendly against

Paraguay Paraguay, officially the Republic of Paraguay, is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the Argentina–Paraguay border, south and southwest, Brazil to the Brazil–Paraguay border, east and northeast, and Boli ...

on March 18, 2018. He made his full international debut on June 2, as a 70th-minute substitute for DeAndre Yedlin in a 1–2 friendly loss away to the

Republic of Ireland Ireland ( ), also known as the Republic of Ireland (), is a country in Northwestern Europe, north-western Europe consisting of 26 of the 32 Counties of Ireland, counties of the island of Ireland, with a population of about 5.4 million. ...

. Uncapped since November 2018, Moore was called up by coach

Gregg Berhalter Gregg Matthew Berhalter (, ; born August 1, 1973) is an American soccer coach and former player. He is the current head coach and director of football for Major League Soccer club Chicago Fire, a role he assumed following the end of the 2024 s ...

for the

. On July 18 in the final group game against

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

, he scored his first international goal and the only one of the American win; it came after 20 seconds, breaking

Clint Dempsey Clinton Drew Dempsey (; born March 9, 1983) is an American former professional soccer player who is a sports analyst on the television program '' Soccer on CBS Sports''. He played as a forward and midfielder for Premier League clubs Fulham and ...

's all-time record for the team's fastest goal by 14 seconds. He played all of his team's games as they won the title, though his appearance in the

final Final, Finals or The Final may refer to: *Final examination or finals, a test given at the end of a course of study or training *Final (competition), the last or championship round of a sporting competition, match, game, or other contest which d ...

against

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

was off the bench as

Reggie Cannon Reginald Jacob Cannon (born June 11, 1998) is an American professional soccer player who plays as a right-back for Major League Soccer club Colorado Rapids. He played one year of college soccer for the UCLA Bruins in 2016 and made his Major Lea ...

had recovered from injury. On November 9, 2022, Moore was named by Berhalter to the final U.S. squad for 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 ...

Personal life

Shaq Moore is the son of former Trinidad and Tobago soccer player Wendell Moore. His older brother CJ played soccer for the

Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs The Gardner–Webb Runnin' Bulldogs are the athletic teams that represent Gardner–Webb University, located in Boiling Springs, North Carolina. Gardner–Webb participates in 21 varsity sports at the NCAA Division I level. The school's progr ...

in 2012. Through his mother, he is the nephew of Richard Goddard, who played as a

goalkeeper In many team sports that involve scoring goal (sport), goals, the goalkeeper (sometimes termed goaltender, netminder, GK, goalie, or keeper) is a designated player charged with directly preventing the opposing team from scoring by blocking or i ...

for the Caribbean nation.

Career statistics

International

:''Scores and results list Moore's goal tally first.''

Honors

United States *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup () is an association football competition organized by CONCACAF as its top continental tournament for men's senior national teams from North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The tournament is held every two ...

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 ...

Individual *

Best XI:

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Moore, Shaq 1996 births Living people American sportspeople of Trinidad and Tobago descent Sportspeople from Powder Springs, Georgia Soccer players from Cobb County, Georgia African-American soccer players American men's soccer players Men's association football defenders IMG Academy alumni Huracán Valencia CF players Real Oviedo Vetusta players Atlético Levante UD players Levante UD footballers CF Reus Deportiu players CD Tenerife players Nashville SC players FC Dallas players Tercera División players Segunda División B players Segunda División players La Liga players Major League Soccer players United States men's youth international soccer players United States men's under-20 international soccer players United States men's international soccer players 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2022 FIFA World Cup players 2024 Copa América players American expatriate men's soccer players Expatriate men's footballers in Spain American expatriate sportspeople in Spain CONCACAF Gold Cup–winning players 21st-century African-American sportsmen 21st-century American sportsmen