GOAL US takes a look at what makes the Alaska native special, and how he might be the next teenage star to leave MLS for Europe
Ahead of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup kicking off, Seattle Sounders general manager and chief soccer officer Craig Waibel said there isn’t a team at the tournament — or anywhere else in professional soccer — that doesn’t know who Obed Vargas is.
“At this point, what I’d say is I don’t know if there’s a club in the world that doesn’t know who he is,” Waibel told reporters after a training session before their Group Stage match against Botafogo. “I mean, anyone who’s got analytics, he’s triggered and kind of set off the red alarms.”
At just 19 years old, the Mexico international has quickly become one of MLS’s brightest young stars, with a rapid rise that’s now drawing global attention. A proper defensive midfielder, Vargas is athletic, agile, intelligent, and most importantly, talented.
“I don't think he has a ceiling,” Teammate Reed Baker-Whiting said ahead of the Botafogo match. “I think his ceiling is European football, being one of the top guys in Europe. He's a great player, one of the hardest workers I know, and one of the most competitive people I know. So I think with those traits, there's really no ceiling for the talent he has.”
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Born in Anchorage, Alaska, Vargas comes from a state with little to no footballing excellence, but that has yet to deter him. In 2021, he became the third-youngest player in league history to start or play in a match at 15 years and 351 days old, and in 2025, he started for Seattle at the Club World Cup against Atletico Madrid – the club he's supported since he was a child.
If he maintains his current trajectory, it doesn't feel far-fetched to say he could play for them one day, too.
But who exactly is Vargas? What makes him different from the rest of the crop? And how has he, per Waibel, caught the eye of the entire world? GOAL scouts the midfielder who could be the next great Mexican star.
Getty Images SportWhere it all began
As a teenager in Anchorage, Vargas played for his local Cook Inlet Soccer Club, winning four State Cups, but the competition level was never at a point where Vargas really thought he could become the footballer he has become, present day.
“Growing up playing soccer in Alaska is definitely unique,” Vargas told Major League Soccer's Breakaway. “It's not the same as everywhere else. Not as many teams. Not as [much] competition. There are maybe four or five teams in the whole state. “And you could tell, the level in Alaska wasn't as high and wasn't as competitive as the lower 48," he added. “And I always knew that … I kind of took [the success] with a grain of salt because, yeah, we were the best team here in Alaska. But once you step out of Alaska, I thought we were going to be the worst. “And so that kind of always kept me grounded, kept me humble because I knew I was the best player here in Alaska. But I didn't know how far that was going to get me.”
At 14, Vargas joined the Sounders academy, leaving his family behind in Alaska to pursue his footballing dreams. In Seattle, he lived with host families as part of the club’s homestay program for their academy players, and that was the start of what has been a special five-plus years.
On July 22, 2021, he made his debut for the club after the Sounders found themselves depleted with 10 first-team players missing due to injuries and international call-ups, and six months later, he was rewarded for his efforts. On Dec. 14, 2021, Vargas signed his first professional deal with the Sounders, and the following 2022 campaign is where he properly announced himself to the rest of MLS – and North American soccer as a whole.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportThe big break
In 2022, the Sounders made a historic run in the CONCACAF Champions League, becoming the first – and still only – MLS team to ever win the competition title. In the second leg of the final against Pumas UNAM, disaster struck early, and less than 30 minutes into the match, things didn't look to be going in Seattle's favor.
Fullback Nouhou Tolo departed the match after just 11 minutes with a thigh injury, and to make matters worse, star midfielder Joao Paulo went down with what was revealed to be a torn ACL, and with limited options on the bench, manager Brian Schmetzer had only one other defensive midfielder available on the bench: 16-year-old Vargas.
A teenager with limited professional experience was thrown into a continental final; it was the risk of all risks from the Sounders' manager, but lucky for him, it paid off. Vargas was inserted into the match and ran the midfield show with ease, looking like a seasoned pro on the pitch as Seattle won the title 5-2 on aggregate.
“It was easy,” Schmetzer said of the decision to throw Vargas into the match after 29 minutes in 2022. “The kid had already played in some big games. He played against León, he played against Motagua.”
It was the moment when all of North America stopped, looked, and realized: this kid is the real deal.
Mind you, that included both the United States and Mexico, as well.
In June 2024, Vargas filed a one-time switch with FIFA from the United States to Mexico. Vargas was on track to represent the USMNT at the 2024 Paris Olympics in 2023, but missed call-ups in the buildup of winter and spring for the competition, with the last straw being an invite to train with the U19 team in June. Thereafter, he filed his switch to represent , for whom he had eligibility through family heritage.
“Right now, my focus is the Sounders,” Vargas told reporters in Seattle upon declining the invite to the U.S. U19 camp. “My aim was the Olympic team, but I think that door is kinda closed now. For me to go into a U-19 or U-20 camp, I don’t see the point of missing games with the Sounders where I’m playing a lot.”
Since then, Vargas has made one appearance for Mexico, making his debut with the senior team in September 2024.
Biggest strengths
Vargas excels in driving forward in the middle of the pitch. He facilitates the midfield in transition, and connects both the defense and offense like a CDM should. However, where he really shines is off the ball.
The 19-year-old is a disruptor in the center of the park, and often finds himself winning midfield battles due to perfectly timed runs and near-perfect spatial awareness with an understanding of where the opposition is around him, and where his midfield partner sits as well.
On the attack, he also offers an understanding of how transitional game works and that, as a midfielder, if there's an opportunity, he can drive forward and contribute to the attack. He's shown immense growth in that department to begin 2025, with the perfect example being his goal against St. Louis CITY SC in May.
ImagnRoom for improvement
Despite Vargas being the near-complete package for a teenager, there are also spots where there are noticeable gaps in his game. He lacks size, so he needs to make up for that with physicality, but where there is a real noticeable gap is in the passing department.
Through 15 MLS matches this season, Vargas has an 88 percent passing completion percentage for short passes – across all of MLS, he's near the top of the list. Across 1,314 minutes, he's completed 693 of 784 attempts, averaging nearly a completed pass per minute on the pitch. Of those 693 completed, not one single one has been a successful cross, per MLS.
It's not a crucial part of a defensive midfielder's game, but transitional long balls and switching fields successfully will often create more possession and/or attacking chances as you drive further up the pitch.
As he grows and develops into a more mature player – whether that's in MLS or abroad – he'll learn to expand his game, and that will likely include a larger understanding of how to play the long game, rather than just the short.
