Corey Baird

Corey Jacob Baird (born January 30, 1996) is a retired American professional soccer player who played as a winger.

Club career

Early career Baird, from Escondido, California, 20 miles from San Diego, began his youth career with FC Heat, where he played from 2002 to 2004, before moving to San Diego Surf, where he played from 2005 through 2012. Corey played his final year of youth soccer with Real Salt Lake AZ, Real Salt Lake's U.S. Soccer Development Academy (DA) team. Corey played in the DA from 2010 through 2014.

From 2008 through 2014, Baird participated in Cal-South Olympic Development Program or ODP and various age group US soccer youth national teams. In August 2011, Baird was invited and attended the United States men's national under-17 soccer team Residency Program, hosted at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, from 2011 to 2013.

Collegiate On February 6, 2013, Baird signed a National Letter of Intent to play for Stanford University. In his freshman year with the Cardinal, Baird appeared in all 19 matches, making 14 starts in the midfield and helped lead Stanford to its first Pac-12 men's soccer championship since 2001. Baird was twice named Pac-12 Player of the Week during the conference season and was named second team All-Pac-12 that year. He was also named to first team Freshman All-American teams by Soccer America and College Soccer News.

In his sophomore year, Baird started all 23 matches, helping to lead Stanford to both defend its Pac-12 men's soccer championship and win its first NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. Baird was named to the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament team

In his junior year, Baird appeared in all 23 matches, making 22 starts in the midfield and at forward, helping to lead Stanford to win its third consecutive Pac-12 men's soccer championship and defend its NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. Baird was named to both the NCAA College Cup All-Tournament team as well as earning Pac-12 Player of the Week during the conference season.

In his senior year, Baird appeared in 18 matches, making 16 starts at forward, helping to lead Stanford to win its fourth consecutive Pac-12 men's soccer championship and its third consecutive NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship. Baird was named to the United Soccer Coaches All-Far West Region first team, All-Pac 12 first team, and earned Pac-12 Player of the Week while also scoring 16 goals.

Real Salt Lake On January 5, 2018, Baird signed as a Homegrown Player for Real Salt Lake of Major League Soccer. Baird made his RSL debut on March 17 as a 66th-minute substitute during a 1–0 win over the New York Red Bulls. He was then sent to the Real Monarchs, RSL's USL affiliate, where Baird scored in a 3–2 win over the Tulsa Roughnecks in the Monarchs' first match of the season. Baird ended the MLS regular season with 31 appearances, eight goals, and five assists, helping RSL finish sixth in the Western Conference and qualify for the playoffs. His good performances saw him named MLS Rookie of the Year. In the playoffs, Baird started and helped RSL beat LAFC 3–2 in the knockout round. He made 1 substitute over the 2 legs of the conference semi-finals, as Real Salt Lake lost 5–3 to Sporting Kansas City on aggregate. He scored his first goal of the season on May 14, helping Real Salt Lake to a 3–2 win over Rocky Mountain Cup rivals Colorado Rapids. He scored again in their next match, a 3–0 win over Seattle Sounders FC on August 14. Baird picked up an assist to help RSL beat the Portland Timbers 2–1 in the first round of the playoffs. He would start the next match as RSL fell 2–0 to Seattle in the conference semi-finals.

On January 24, 2020, Baird signed a contract extension with Real Salt Lake. After the first two games of the 2020 season, with Baird appearing in both, the MLS season was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic. MLS returned to play in July with the MLS is Back Tournament, with the group stage counting towards the regular season, while the knockout rounds did not. Baird started all 3 group stage games and picked up an assist, helping RSL advance. On August 22, in Real Salt Lake's first match following MLS is Back, Baird scored once and had an assist in a 4–1 win vs the Rapids. In a shortened season due to COVID-19, Baird appeared in 21 of a possible 23 games, scoring twice and recording 4 assists. It was a poor season for Real Salt Lake as a team, finishing 11th in the Western Conference and failing to make the playoffs.

Los Angeles FC On January 11, 2021, Baird was traded to Los Angeles FC in exchange for $500,000 General Allocation Money, a 2021 international roster spot, and future considerations. He made his debut for LAFC on April 14 against Austin FC, scoring the opener in a 2–0 victory. On May 1, he scored to give LAFC a 1–1 draw with the Houston Dynamo. He made his Dynamo debut on July 31, coming off the bench in a 0–0 draw against Real Salt Lake. Baird made seven appearances his first season in Houston; the Dynamo finished last in the Western Conference, missing out on the playoffs.

On May 25, Baird scored his first goal of the season, and of his Dynamo career, in a 2–1 loss to Sporting Kansas City in an Open Cup match. He scored his first MLS goal for Houston on August 27 in a 2–1 loss to Minnesota United FC. Baird ended the season with 23 appearances, 2 goals, and 4 assists in MLS play, plus 2 appearances and a goal in the Open Cup. 2023 proved a career-best season for Baird, who scored in every competition for Houston, including a run to the round of 16 in Leagues Cup, an Open Cup title, a fourth-place finish in the Western Conference, and an appearance in the Conference Finals.

FC Cincinnati On January 11, 2024, FC Cincinnati signed forward Corey Baird to a contract through 2025 with an option for 2026.

San Diego FC On August 6, 2025, FC Cincinnati traded Baird to MLS Expansion side San Diego FC for $100,000 in allocation money.

International career

Youth Baird was a member of the U.S. under-17 squad that competed in the 2013 CONCACAF U-17 Championship in Panama City, starting all four matches. He also represented the U.S. in the United States men's national under-14, under-15, under-18, under-20 and under-23 soccer teams.

Senior On December 20, 2018, Baird was invited to participate in head coach Gregg Berhalter's first United States senior men's national soccer team camp from January 6, 2019, to February 2, 2019, in Chula Vista, CA. He made his debut on January 27, 2019, in a friendly against Panama, as a starter.

Career statistics College

Club + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition

Division!!Apps!!Goals Apps Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals!!Apps!!Goals

2016 PDL

2

2017 PDL

14!!1 2

2

2019 MLS

2

2020 MLS

1

83!!15 5

2022 MLS

2023 MLS

5

64!!10 5

1

2025 MLS 18 0

4 Honors Houston Dynamo U.S. Open Cup: 2023

Individual NSCAA High School All-American: 2013 First team All-Pac-12: 2016, 2017 MLS Rookie of the Year: 2018

Stanford Pac-12 Conference Championship: 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017 NCAA Division I Men's Soccer Championship: 2015, 2016, 2017