Article body analysed
By OLIVER SALT, US ASSISTANT SPORTS EDITOR Published: 02: 10 AEDT, 6 March 2026 | Updated: 02: 30 AEDT, 6 March 2026 5 View comments Ted Lasso star Cristo Fernandez is pursuing a real career in professional soccer after holding an informal tryout with a team in Texas. Fernandez, who plays Dani Rojas in the fictional soccer comedy-drama, played 30 minutes in a preseason match for USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive FC over the weekend and could sign a pro deal in the coming week. The Mexican actor, 35, trained with the club on Tuesday amid his desire to sign on a full-time basis, according to the El Paso Times. Locomotive FC is not the only professional team he has been spending time with of late, nevertheless. MIR97 Media also reported that Fernandez played with MLS Next Pro outfit Chicago Fire II earlier this year and even got on the scoresheet in a friendly match. It is currently unclear if he will return in season four of Ted Lasso, which is dropping this summer. Ted Lasso star Cristo Fernandez is pursuing a real career in pro soccer with a team in Texas Fernandez, who plays Dani Rojas in the fictional soccer comedy-drama, played 30 minutes in a preseason match for USL Championship side El Paso Locomotive FC at the weekend Before taking up acting, Fernandez played youth soccer in Mexico until the age of 15, before a knee injury that ended his career at the time. The Guadalajara native played for Estudiantes Tecos - a now-defunct Liga MX squad - and worked his way through the third and second divisions prior to the injury. He also played in Puerto Rico's top division for Guayama FC, but after damaging his knee he eventually moved to the UK to pursue an acting degree. Fernandez won a 2022 Screen Actors Guild award for 'Outstanding Performance by an Ensemble in a Comedy Series' just two years after joining the cast of Ted Lasso. He was also nominated for the same award in 2024, while earning a nomination for Best Supporting Actor in Television (Comedy) at the 2021 Imagen Awards.
Share what you think
The comments below have not been moderated.
The views expressed in the contents above are those of our users and do not necessarily reflect the views of Mail Online.
By posting your comment you agree to our house rules. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual. Do you want to automatically post your Mail Online comments to your Facebook Timeline? Your comment will be posted to Mail Online as usual We will automatically post your comment and a link to the news story to your Facebook timeline at the same time it is posted on Mail Online. To do this we will link your Mail Online account with your Facebook account. We’ll ask you to confirm this for your first post to Facebook. You can choose on each post whether you would like it to be posted to Facebook. Your details from Facebook will be used to provide you with tailored content, marketing and ads in line with our Privacy Policy.