Dynamic 26-Year-Old Midfielder Leads RSL in Assists, with Six Thus Far in 2026 MLS Campaign
HERRIMAN, Utah (Sun., May 31, 2026) — First-year Real Salt Lake MF Juan Manuel Sanabria (nicknamed “JuanMa”) was named today to represent his home nation of Uruguay in this summer’s 2026 FIFA World Cup, as La Celeste manager Marco Bielsa named the 26-year-old, left-sided playmaker to the squad. Sanabria continues RSL’s quadrennial World Cup participation tradition, following in the footsteps of Bryan Oviedo (Costa Rica, 2022), Carlos Salcedo (Mexico, 2018), Kyle Beckerman & Nick Rimando (USA, 2014), Robbie Findley (USA, 2010), Eddie Pope (USA, 2006) and Douglas Sequeira (Costa Rica, 2006).
Sanabria – who leads RSL with six assists in 11 games played so far in RSL’s 2026 MLS campaign – departed last Sunday from Minnesota to Uruguay’s training camp in its Montevideo home. Based this summer in Playa del Carmen, Mexico, the 17th-ranked FIFA nation – which won the World Cup in 1930 as host nation and the 1950 tournament in Brazil – is placed in Group H for the 2026 FIFA World Cup North America, competing with Saudi Arabia, Cape Verde and Spain for advancement in the 48-team tournament.
Uruguay will play each of its first two matches in Miami, kicking off against Saudi Arabia on Monday, June 15 (4:00p MT) and then against Cape Verde on Sunday, June 21 (4:00p MT). Sanabria and his side will then complete group play in Guadalajara, Mexico, on Friday, June 26 at 6:00p MT against former World Cup champions Spain.
Arriving at RSL in late January, Sanabria joined the Claret-and-Cobalt via permanent transfer for the 2026 and 2027-28 Major League Soccer seasons from Liga MX upstart Atlético San Luis, with a Club option for the 2028-29 campaign. Sanabria – a dual-national Uruguayan/Spanish citizen – also started and played the full 90 minutes against RSL in last year’s Leagues Cup group stage match at America First Field, won by San Luis via shootout tiebreaker.
Born on March 29, 2000, the dynamic, chance-creating, left-sided Sanabria had appeared in 170 games across all competitions for Liga MX side Atlético San Luis since the summer of 2021, scoring eight goals while playing multiple positions front-to-back on the left side. In the six months prior to his RSL arrival, Sanabria was a perennial starter and often-times Captain for San Luis, scoring two goals and adding five assists in 22 games across multiple competitions, including the August Leagues Cup matches against MLS sides.
The Uruguayan international made his professional move to Mexico in mid-2021, arriving from Spain, where he appeared in 46 games across two years. Sanabria scored once in his 13 matches with Real Zaragoza while on loan from Atlético Madrid, for whom he appeared just once as a 19-year-old, mostly featuring with that club’s youth side, Madrileño (three goals in 32 matches).
The former Uruguay youth international appeared in 88 youth national team games for the CONMEBOL nation’s Olympic-age, U20, U17 and U15 selections, prior to four recent appearances in six invitations to the first team throughout late-stage World Cup Qualifying and the October/November FIFA windows. In June, 2025, Sanabria received his first call-up to Uruguay’s senior national team, making his debut last October in a 1-0 friendly win against the Dominican Republic. Sanabria then scored his first goal three days later, on October 13, 2025, in a 2–1 win over Uzbekistan. This March, Sanabria was on the field as a substitute for Uruguay’s late equalizer in a 1-1 draw at historic Wembley Stadium in London against host England, also coming off the bench late a few days later in Naples, Italy, in a 0-0 draw with Algeria.
During the World Cup break, RSL ranks third overall in the MLS Western Conference, also tied for fifth in the MLS Supporters Shield race, with an 8-4-2 (W-L-T) mark and 26 points through its first 14 games of the 2026 MLS season – RSL’s second-best 14-game start in its 22-year Club history (28 points in 2024).
RSL players, coaches and staff are now on hiatus until June 17, when a summer preseason will resume in its Herriman-based Zions Bank Training Center. RSL is expected to play a trio of preseason matches to be announced on June 27, July 8 and July 15, prior to a return to 2026 MLS reg. season action on Wed., July 22, at Los Angeles Football Club. RSL also travels to Portland on Sat., July 25 and St. Louis on Sat., August 1 in Major League Soccer action prior to a trio of Leagues Cup contests at home.
The fourth-year MLS vs. Liga MX tournament sees RSL host the legendary Tigres UANL on Tues., August 4 at America First Field, kicking off a run that also sees Atlante CF on Sat., August 8 and FC Juarez on Tues., August 11, prior to home MLS contests against Minnesota United on Sat., August 15 and FC Dallas on Wed., August 19. Those five home games in 16 days could be critical to RSL’s 2026 campaigns on various fronts, with Head Coach Pablo Mastroeni’s side boasting seven wins in eight home matches so far in 2026.
Please visit www.RSL.com/tickets for more information on RSL’s MLS and Leagues Cup slates.
