FC Cincinnati have signed FC Cincinnati 2 defender Andrei Chirila as a Homegrown Player on a contract through the 2028-29 Major League Soccer season, with an option through the 2029-30 season, the club announced today.
Chirila, 17, becomes the third player in club history – following his brother Stefan Chirila and Ademar Chávez – to follow the player pathway from the FC Cincinnati Academy to an MLS NEXT Pro contract with FC Cincinnati 2 to then sign a first-team MLS contract.
Chirila becomes the tenth former FC Cincinnati Academy product to sign a first-team contract with the club (Sunderland, Ordoñez, Robledo, Jimenez, Pinto, Walters, Valenzuela, S. Chirila, Chávez), the ninth as a Homegrown Player.
The 6-foot-3-inch center back has earned four short-term call-ups early in the 2026 season. He has already made three appearances with the first team, starting and going the full 90 minutes in each of his outings. The 17-year-old became the youngest player in club history to start an MLS match in his most recent first-team appearance on Sunday, March 15 at New England Revolution.
Chirila has already been named to two U.S. U18 Youth National Team rosters in 2026. Most recently he made two appearances for the USYNT U18s in the March FIFA International Window, starting in a 2-1 win over Iceland and a 1-1 draw at Portugal.
Last summer, Chirila was selected to the 2025 MLS NEXT All-Star Game. He has made 28 appearances for FC Cincinnati 2 in MLS NEXT Pro play over parts of the past two seasons.
TRANSACTION: On April 2, 2026, FC Cincinnati sign Andrei Chirila as a Homegrown Player through the 2028-29 Major League Soccer season, with an option through the 2029-30 season
#88 ANDREI CHIRILA
Pronunciation: ON-dray chur-ILL-uh
Position: Defender
Height: 6’ 3”
Birthdate: August 15, 2008 (17)
Birthplace: Allentown, Penn., USA
Chirila and FC Cincinnati return to action Saturday, April 4 at Red Bull New York. Kickoff from Sports Illustrated Stadium in Harrison, New Jersey is set for 7:30 p.m. and the match airs globally on Apple TV with radio to be carried on iHeart Media ESPN 1530 in English and in Spanish locally on La Mega 101.5 FM.
The Orange and Blue are back at TQL Stadium on Saturday, April 18 to host Chicago Fire FC. Kickoff is slated for 7:30 p.m. ET and tickets are available at FCCincinnati.com/Tickets or by calling 513-977-KICK.