Jon Bakero

Youth and college

Bakero played college soccer for Wake Forest in the Atlantic Coast Conference, where he was a regular starter all four years. In total, Bakero made 88 appearances for the Demon Deacons, scoring 37 goals across all competitive matches. Bakero made his debut for Wake Forest on 29 August 2014 in a 3–1 loss against UCLA. A month later, he would earn his first points with Wake Forest, notching an assist against Akron on 30 September 2014, in a 2–1 victory. In the following match, on 3 October 2014, Bakero scored his first collegiate goal against Duke in a 4–1 victory. Bakero would score multiple times two weeks later. During his sophomore year, Bakero improved on his freshman campaign and scored eight season goals, and would go on to earn Third Team All-ACC recognition. Between his sophomore and junior years, Bakero played for FC Tucson in the Premier Development League, an off-season amateur league that allows college soccer players to retain their NCAA eligibility while still playing competitively during the offseason. Bakero finished the 2016 PDL season with one goal in eight appearances for Tucson. In his junior year, Bakero played an integral part of the 2016 Wake Forest team that earned their first ACC Men's Soccer Championship since 1989, and their first berth in the NCAA College Cup Final since 2007. Bakero earned All-ACC Tournament XI honors and College Cup Best XI honors. In between his junior and senior years, Bakero returned to the PDL where…

As of 30 October 2021

Bakero is the son of former professional footballer, José Mari Bakero, who played for the Spain national team, Real Sociedad and FC Barcelona. His aunt is Itziar Bakero, a former female professional footballer, and his uncles Santiago and Jon Bakero were also footballers.