Lynden Gooch

Gooch was born in Santa Cruz, California on December 24, 1995, son of an English father (born in Colchester) and an Irish mother (born in Dublin). His father is a professional soccer coach. At an early age, he joined the U.S. Soccer Development Academy club Santa Cruz County Breakers Academy. Gooch's talent attracted the attention of several European outfits, earning him a trial and eventual spot with Sunderland's youth academy. From the age of 10 Gooch traveled to Sunderland regularly during school holidays to train before moving to England and joining full-time at the age of 16, signing a two-year scholarship. Since joining the Sunderland U-16 side, Gooch worked his way through the U-18 and U-21 sides. In November 2014, he signed a contract with the club, lasting until 2017.

Sunderland

On February 27, 2015, Gooch went on loan to Conference side Gateshead, on a 28-day youth loan. Gooch made his professional debut soon after, playing the whole game, in a 1–0 home loss against Bristol Rovers. Gooch made seven appearances and scored one goal, putting the Tynesiders ahead in a 3–1 home win against Wrexham and causing an own goal by opponent Steve Tomassen. Gooch made his professional debut for Sunderland on August 26, 2015, in a League Cup second round match against Exeter City as a substitute for Adam Matthews in the 58th minute of a 6–3 win at the Stadium of Light. On January 21, 2016, Gooch was loaned for a month to Doncaster Rovers of League One. He made his debut for them two days later, playing the full 90 minutes of a goalless draw at Fleetwood Town and his performance was praised by the Sheffield Star. After a handful of appearances for the club, on February 24 his loan was extended till then end of the season. He returned to Sunderland on March 19, due to ankle injury that he sustained against Fleetwood Town, but continued to play through the pain for eight matches. On April 21, 2016, Gooch signed a three-year contract with Sunderland, keeping him until 2019. On August 13, he made his Premier League debut, starting away against Manchester City in Sunderland's first match of the season, a 2–1 defeat. After making his debut, the Sunderland Echo commented on his performance, describing him as "Energy, fearlessness and endeavour". Gooch…

Gooch was eligible to play for England (due to his English father), the Republic of Ireland (due to Irish mother), or the United States (due to birthright citizenship). After appearing once for the Republic of Ireland U18 side, Gooch switched allegiance to United States after being called up for United States U20, Gooch made his United States U20 debut on November 15, 2014, in a 1–0 win over Republic of Ireland U21. Gooch represented the United States under-20 team at the 2015 CONCACAF Championship in Jamaica, playing four games as they achieved qualification for the year's World Cup in that category. On October 2, 2016, Gooch was called up to the senior team for a pair of friendlies against Cuba and New Zealand. Nine days later, he made his debut against New Zealand, replacing Kellyn Acosta for the final 31 minutes of a 1–1 draw at the RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C.

Gooch's brother, Anthony, played college soccer for the San Diego State Aztecs men's soccer team. Gooch has another brother, Darshan, who is a professional surfer.