Zardes joined Austin FC as a free agent signing in December 2022, on a three-year guaranteed deal through the end of the 2025 season with an option for 2026. One of the most accomplished forwards in MLS history, Zardes has made 267 regular season appearances (as of the start of the 2023 season) during stints with the LA Galaxy, Columbus Crew, and Colorado Rapids, scoring 97 goals and registering 25 assists. His goal tally ranks 13th-most in league history.
Zardes was a key member of two MLS Cup-winning teams, scoring 16 goals in 2014 to help the Galaxy lift the trophy and contributing 12 goals in 2020 as Columbus won the title. He was voted an MLS All-Star in 2015, and the MLS Comeback Player of the Year in 2018 after scoring a single-season career best 19 goals while working with Josh Wolff, who coached Zardes as an assistant with Columbus Crew.
A frequent member of the U.S. Men’s National Team since his debut in 2015, Zardes has 68 senior international appearances with the Stars-and-Stripes to his name. He has scored 14 goals at the international level, with his most recent an 86th-minute game-winner for the USMNT against Qatar at Q2 Stadium in the semifinal of the 2021 Concacaf Gold Cup. Zardes was a member of the USMNT squads that won the Gold Cup in 2017 and 2021.
Born in Hawthorne, California, Zardes played in the LA Galaxy academy system and collegiately at Cal State Bakersfield before beginning his professional career.
