Emmanuel "Emi" Ochoa (born 5 May 2005) is a professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper for Liga MX club Cruz Azul and the Mexico national under-20 team. Born in the United States, he is a youth international for Mexico.
Born in Salinas, California, Ochoa started his career with local side El Camino before joining the Santa Cruz Breakers.
He joined the San Jose Earthquakes academy in 2019, before being promoted to the first team ahead of the 2020 season.
Ochoa made national sports headlines in November 2019 when, at only 14 years and 191 days old, he signed as a Homegrown Player for the San Jose Earthquakes, making him the youngest ever Homegrown Player in Major League Soccer history. He is also the second youngest player to register for an MLS team, behind Freddy Adu, and at the time of his signing was considered to be the best goalkeeper of his age group in the country.
On 17 January 2025, Cruz Azul announced the signing of Ochoa. He made his debut on 6 February 2026, keeping a clean sheet in a 3âÂÂ0 away victory over Canadian side Vancouver FC during the CONCACAF Champions Cup.
Born in the United States, Ochoa is of Mexican descent. He has represented the United States at under-14 and under-15 level. He is also eligible to represent Mexico. On March 9, 2020, Ochoa received a call up to the Mexico U-16 side, his first for any of Mexico's national team squads. He played in a scrimmage match against the youth team of Puebla on March 12, 2020.
In August 2021, Ochoa was called up to the Mexico under-18 squad, and made his debut in a 2âÂÂ1 loss to the Republic of Ireland under-17s.
In 2025, Ochoa was called up by coach Eduardo Arce to represent Mexico at the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in Chile.
Cruz Azul
Mexico