Obed Vargas has capped an incredible year after being named in Mexico’s FIFA World Cup 2026™ squad, a transformative period which has included taking part at the FIFA Club World Cup 2025™ with Seattle Sounders before sealing a dream move to La Liga giants Atletico Madrid.
What is all the more remarkable about Vargas’ rapid rise is the fact that the 20-year-old central midfielder grew up in Anchorage, Alaska, which is hardly a hotbed of footballing talent. Indeed, Vargas is poised to become the first player from Alaska to participate in the global showpiece.
Coming from a football-mad family, Vargas began playing from the age of three, where he quickly shone for Cook Inlet Soccer Club, winning four State Cups. As he developed, however, the playmaker knew he had to move to the ‘lower 48 states’ to further his career.
“Growing up, playing soccer in Alaksa is definitely unique as it’s not the same as everywhere else,” Vargas said in an interview with the MLS YouTube channel. “You could tell the level in Alaksa wasn’t as high or as competitive as the ‘lower 48’. I always knew that and when I did things here… I won four State Cups but I took it with a grain of salt because we were the best team in Alaska but once you step out of Alaska I thought we were going to be the worst.
“That always kept me grounded. I knew I was the best player here in Alaska but I didn’t know how far that was going to get me.”
The first step in Vargas’ journey to the top was a move to the Sounders academy aged 14, initially living with host families. Amid a significant injury crisis for the Sounders first team in June 2021, Vargas was given an opportunity to make his mark as he became the third-youngest player in MLS history at the time at 15 years and 351 days old.
From that moment on, Vargas became a fixture in the first-team set-up, helping the club win the Concacaf Champions League in 2022 and the Leagues Cup in 2025. At the inaugural FIFA Club World Cup, Vargas fulfilled a boyhood dream by facing his boyhood club Atletico Madrid and meeting his idol Antoine Griezmann afterwards.
Prior to the Club World Cup, Vargas explained his love for Los Rojiblancos. “Atletico Madrid, they’re underdogs, all the time. And when I lived in Alaska, I started watching them, especially in the 2014 [UEFA] Champions League final,” Vargas told the Seattle Sounders website. “And, I think it correlates with my own story… I identify myself with that, coming from Alaska, of having to fight through moving, and an Academy team, second team, a national team. I think it’s been my mentality all the way through my career.”
In February, Vargas became team-mates with Griezmann after sealing a move to Atletico until 2030, where he has quickly settled in, making 12 appearances and eight starts in La Liga under Diego Simeone.
Next up for Vargas is the World Cup where co-hosts Mexico will face Czechia, Korea Republic and South Africa in Group A. You can bet all of Alaska will be tuning in to see how the Anchorage native gets on.
