Marcelo Flores

Marcelo Flores Dorrell (born 1 October 2003) is a Canadian professional soccer player who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Liga MX club Tigres UANL and the Canada national team.

Early life Flores was born in Canada to a Canadian mother of English descent and Mexican former footballer, Rubén Flores. He was raised in Georgetown, Ontario. As his father was the manager of the Cayman Islands women's national football team, Flores spent some time on the islands, where he was invited to a training camp by Ipswich Town youth development coach Steve Foley. He impressed during the week long camp, and joined the Ipswich Town academy.

In 2019, Flores joined the Arsenal academy on a free transfer.

Club career Arsenal After training with the first team, he signed his first professional contract in October 2020. Shortly after, he was included in The Guardian's "Next Generation 2020", highlighting the best young players in the world. He was called up to the Arsenal first team for the first time on 4 April 2022, making the bench for their match against Crystal Palace, although he did not appear in the match as a substitute.

Loan to Real Oviedo On 20 July 2022, Flores joined Segunda División club Real Oviedo on a season-long loan. On 15 August, he made his professional debut in a league match against FC Andorra in a 1–0 loss, coming on as a substitute.

Tigres UANL On 10 September 2023, Mexican club Tigres UANL reached an agreement with Arsenal to sign Flores. Seven days later, Flores made his debut with the club in a 2–0 away victory against Atlas. On 20 April 2024, Flores scored a hat-trick, all within 10 minutes, against Necaxa in a 5–2 home victory.

International career Mexico youth and senior Flores was eligible to play for either Canada, England or Mexico. He was first called up to the England under-16 side in 2019, but decided to join up with the Mexico under-16 team that same year, playing every game at the Montaigu Tournament.

In December 2020, Flores accepted a call up to a Canada camp that would take place in January 2021, but later pulled out to remain with Arsenal. On 18 June 2021, Flores was named to Canada's provisional 60-man squad for the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.

In September 2021, Flores featured for Mexico's under-20 side in a double-header against Spain. In November, Flores was called up by Luis Ernesto Pérez to participate at the 2021 Revelations Cup, scoring two goals in three appearances, where Mexico won the competition. Later that month, senior national team manager Gerardo Martino expressed the possibility of calling up Flores for the friendly match against Chile on 8 December. On 29 November, Arsenal confirmed that Flores had received his first senior call up.

Flores eventually made his senior national team debut in a friendly match against Chile, making his debut as an 83rd-minute substitute in the 2–2 draw. In May 2022, Flores committed to representing Mexico internationally, as he was still eligible to switch to representing Canada or England, having only participated in friendlies. On 11 June, he appeared in a 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League match against Suriname. However, he was still eligible to file a one-time switch in June 2025 as he met the requirement of no more than 3 caps which were earned before the age of 21.

In 2024, he was named to Mexico's final 26-man squad for the 2024 Copa América. However, then Mexico manager Jaime Lozano did not give Flores any playing minutes which would have cap-tied him permanently.

Canada In November 2025, Flores was called up to a camp with Canada as a training player, during a pair of international friendlies. In January 2026, he was named to the Canada senior team for a training camp and friendly against Guatemala, but ultimately he chose to not attend the camp and remained at his club.

On 11 February 2026, Flores' request to switch international allegiance to Canada was approved by FIFA. On 28 March 2026, Flores made his debut for Canada, coming on as a substitute in a friendly against Iceland. On 29 May 2026, he was one of the 26 players called up to play for Canada's squad at the 2026 FIFA World Cup. However, the next day, he injured his ACL while playing for this club team during the 2026 CONCACAF Champions Cup final, forcing him out of the World Cup squad.

Personal life Flores is the son of former Mexican player and coach Rubén Flores and also has two sisters, Silvana and Tatiana, who are also professional soccer players.

Career statistics Club

International

Honours Tigres UANL Campeones Cup: 2023 Mexico U20 Revelations Cup: 2021 Mexico

CONCACAF Nations League third place: 2022–23

Individual Revelations Cup Best Player: 2021