Yutaro Tsukada

is a Japanese professional footballer who plays as a winger for USL Championship club Rhode Island FC, on loan from Major League Soccer club Orlando City.

Early life Tsukada was born in Tokyo, Japan. He played youth football with FC Tokyo.

College career In 2020, Tsukada began attending Daytona State College. On 11 September 2021, he scored a hat-trick in a 4–2 victory over the Georgia Military College Bulldogs. At the end of his sophomore season, he was named to the USC First Team All-America, the NJCAA DI All-American Team, Junior College Division I Men All-East Region, and the Region 8 All-Region Team and the Region 8 Player of the Year. He departed the school holding 6 school records - most goals in a season (20), most goals in 2 seasons (26), most hat tricks (4), fastest goal in school history (32 seconds), most free kicks scored (4), and most points (63).

In 2022, he transferred to West Virginia University to play for the men's soccer team in NCAA Division I. He made his debut on August 25 against the Robert Morris Colonials. On October 11, 2022, he scored his first goal in a victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks. In October 2023, he was named the WVU Student-Athlete of the Week and the Sun Belt Conference Offensive Player of the Week, and earned WVU Student-Athlete of the Week honors a second time in November. At the end of his senior season, he was named to the All-Sun Belt First Team, Sun Belt All-Tournament Team, All-Southeast Region First Team, Scholar All-South Region First Team, TopDrawerSoccer Best XI Second Team, All-America Third Team, and the College Soccer News All-America Second Team.

Club career Semi-professional In 2022, Tsukada joined New Mexico United U23, the development team of USL Championship team New Mexico United, in USL League Two. On 26 May, Tsukada made his debut for the club and scored his first goal in a 2–2 draw against the Colorado International Soccer Academy. Tsukada made four appearances for the team and scored three goals.

In 2023, he joined Capital FC in their inaugural season in USL League Two after the team had severed ties with the Portland Timbers. On 28 May, Tsukada his first goal for the club, the equalizing goal of a 3–1 win at PDX FC. Tsukada would score five goals for the club.

Orlando City At the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, Tsukada was selected in the first round (25th overall) by Orlando City. In March 2024, he signed a one-year contract with the reserve affiliate, Orlando City B, in MLS Next Pro. On 16 March, he made his professional debut, scoring a free kick in a 3–2 victory over Atlanta United 2. Tsukada would score seven goals and assist in seven more, totaling 14 goal contributions, the second most for the team behind Alex Freeman. In May, Tsukada signed two short-term loans with the first team. He made his Major League Soccer debut on 15 May in a substitute appearance against Inter Miami. On 15 August, Tsukada signed a contract with the first team through 2025, with club options in 2026 and 2027.

On 8 February 2025, during a pre-season friendly against CF Montréal, Tsukada suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament. On 25 February, it was announced by the club that Tsukada had undergone a successful surgery to reconstruct the ligament and that he was placed onto the season ending injury list. On 17 November, despite Tsukada being unable to make a competitive appearance for Orlando City due to injury throughout the 2025 season, Orlando City exercised their 2026 contract option for Tsukada.

On 30 July 2026, Orlando City loaned Tsukada to USL Championship club Rhode Island FC for the remainder of their 2026 seasons. Three days later, Tsukada made his debut as a second-half substitute in a 1–0 loss to Birmingham Legion, and in the following match on 8 August, Tsukada scored to help Rhode Island FC to a 2–0 win over the Colorado Springs Switchbacks.

Personal life On 10 January 2026, Tsukada announced that he had married his partner Mio, a college volleyball player who played for the New Mexico Military Institute, the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns, and the Florida State Seminoles. Later that year on 12 June, the couple announced they were having their first child.

Career statistics

Honours Individual

Daytona State Falcons Spotlight Player of the Year: 2021