Keyrol Figueroa: The Liverpool starlet with the world at his feet (2024)

Keyrol Figueroa only turned 17 at the end of August but he is used to the spotlight.

Already in his nascent career, Figueroa has coped with the pressure of being the son of a famous footballing father and uprooting his life in the United States following a move to Liverpool. By contrast, his current mission of helping the U.S. progress in the Under-17 World Cup — which continues with a last-16 game against Germany tomorrow — probably seems simple.

Figueroa has always been the subject of scrutiny. In 2017, as part of the FC Dallas under-12 squad, the striker took part in the Prospects Cup in Florida alongside teams such as Real Madrid, Manchester City and Borussia Dortmund.

The tournament was hosted by Univision, a Spanish-speaking media outlet in the U.S. and South America. As the son of former Premier League defender and Honduras international Maynor Figueroa, he got plenty of attention.

“He took it all in his stride. He was getting a lot of interviews, but he was never saying, ‘This is all about me’,” says former FC Dallas under-12s manager John Gall. “He was always talking about his team-mates, his club, the situation that he was in. But he scored some incredible goals in that tournament. He had something a little bit different.”

Born in Honduras but raised in England — he qualifies to represent those countries as well as the U.S. — Figueroa has no shortage of admirers. One of the more renowned ones is France international and Atletico Madrid striker Antoine Griezmann, who has offered words of encouragement via WhatsApp messages and Instagram

Before he arrived at Liverpool in 2018, Figueroa was part of the FC Dallas Academy, joining after his father signed for the senior team in January 2016. It was an odd scenario as he was not a player on the FC Dallas academy radar, or someone they had been scouting. His talent, though, was quickly evident.

He began in the shadow squad to develop his game understanding and learn standards and expectations, but he made it impossible for Gall to ignore him.

“It was clear from day one, he was a super competitive kid,” says Gall. “I remember many times when my under-12 team would play friendlies against the team he was on and he was always the kid that you didn’t want to play against. He was always dangerous.

“He was always trying to push and to be the best that he could be so he was constantly knocking on the door. We moved him up and he blossomed into the group I was working with and it was a pretty quick transition.”

Nicknamed ‘Young Figgy’, Figueroa was a big personality but Gall insists he was polite, hard-working and humble — albeit ferociously competitive.

“He wanted to be the best player that he could be and he wasn’t afraid to voice opinions,” says Gall. “There were times when we lost games and his shirt was over his head, upset and frustrated. Losing wasn’t in his repertoire.”

There was no ego because his father was in the first team. Maynor was a regular watcher of Keyrol’s training sessions and matches and offered advice to his son on areas to improve such as composure, beating players one-on-one and shot placement.

“Maynor was absolutely fantastic, always supportive,” says Gall. “His dad had an incredible technique for striking the ball — Figgy inherited the same power, same quality. There are not many kids that strike the ball like that.”

Blessed with natural speed, Figueroa scored every type of goal, and did so with regularity. He arrived as an individual player, trying to prove he deserved to be there, but learned to be his team’s focal point, holding up the ball, linking play and making good decisions in possession.

He featured in an under-13s tournament at St George’s Park against teams including Birmingham City, Nottingham Forest and Derby County. He continued to stand out in friendlies against Manchester United and Aston Villa.

“You could tell that was his element, he wanted to be in professional environments,” says Gall. “He didn’t care who he was playing, his mentality was the same.”

Liverpool’s attention was alerted and they moved quickly to bring him to Merseyside as an under-14 player and he excelled. In an interview with Honduran newspaper La Prensa, his mother Sandra Norales said he had scored 90 goals in his first season.

He earned his first appearance with the under-18s aged just 15, coming off the bench in a 4-0 mini Merseyside derby against Everton in October 2021.

There were three brief appearances during the 2021-22 season before he stepped up to become a more prominent figure in Marc Bridge-Wilkinson’s under-18s setup as a first-year scholar last season.

His breakout came not at the academy, but at this February’s CONCACAF Under-17 Championship. Figueroa scored seven goals in seven games as he spearheaded the U.S.’ run to the final, where they lost 3-1 to Mexico.

He returned to Liverpool with confidence high and began to earn himself a place in the starting XI, operating as a striker or right-winger. It was from the latter position where he netted a 13-minute hat-trick for the under-18s against Wolverhampton Wanderers in April.

Gall remains in contact with Figueroa and his family, exchanging the occasional text message and has been watching him in the World Cup, where he is Liverpool’s only representative.

“It’s great. You always want to see your former players do well,” says Gall. “We’re just delighted he’s doing well and hopefully it continues and we will be watching in the Premier League one day.”

That may still be a distant dream for Figueroa, but for now, his focus is simply on the Under-17 World Cup in Indonesia and tomorrow’s meeting with Germany.

The U.S. progressed comfortably out of their group, winning their opening two games, with Figueroa scoring the first goal in the second game — a 2-1 victory over Burkina Faso — but Germany will pose a stronger test

Whenever he arrives back in Merseyside, he’ll be aiming to make himself impossible to ignore again.

(Top photo: Alex Caparros – FIFA/FIFA via Getty Images)

Andrew Jones is a Staff Writer for The Athletic covering Burnley FC and Liverpool FC. Having graduated from the University of Central Lancashire with a First Class Honours Degree in Sports Journalism, Andrew has had written work published for the Liverpool Echo, Chelsea FC and Preston North End. Follow Andy on Twitter @adjones_journo