Julian de Guzman

Europe

De Guzman was discovered by representatives of Olympique Marseille while playing for the North Scarborough youth soccer club in Toronto. After playing with Marseille's reserve side, de Guzman became a first-team player with 1. FC Saarbrücken in the 2. Bundesliga in the 2000–01 season, where he made two appearances, and in the 2001–02 season, where he made 19 appearances. In 21 appearances he never scored. In 2002, he joined newly promoted Hannover 96, becoming only the third Canadian to play in the Bundesliga. He made 20 appearances during 2002–03 season and 32 appearances in both 2003–04 and 2004–05 seasons. De Guzman's contract with Hannover expired in 2005 allowing him to move to any team with no transfer fee. He was heavily linked with a move to Tottenham where he would have joined Canadian captain Paul Stalteri. He decided against the move to London due to the depth in the centre of mid-field, and instead chose to join Deportivo La Coruña in Spain becoming the first Canadian to play in La Liga. After playing a starring role in the club's remarkable turnaround in the 2007–2008 season to avoid relegation and gain a spot in the UEFA Cup, de Guzman was named the team's player of the season. In 95 appearances he scored one goal. His only goal with Deportivo came in 2005 against the Spanish giants Real Madrid. His contract with Deportivo expired in the summer of 2009.

Toronto FC

In September 2009 an agreement was reached with Toronto FC for de Guzman…

De Guzman played at the 2001 FIFA World Youth Championship in Argentina, alongside Atiba Hutchinson and Mike Klukowski among others. He made his senior debut for Canada in a January 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup match against Martinique. By July 2015, he earned a total of 82 caps, scoring 4 goals. He has represented Canada in 22 FIFA World Cup qualification matches. In Canada's opening match of the 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup, de Guzman scored twice to help defeat Costa Rica 2–1. After the conclusion of the competition, de Guzman was named tournament MVP. De Guzman was also chosen in the 23-man roster for the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, Canada won group A with seven points before being knocked out by Honduras in the quarter finals. He was later chosen in the all-tournament team along with fellow Canadian Michael Klukowski, this was the second time in a row he has been selected for this competition. On June 1, 2011, in a friendly against Ecuador in the last minutes of play Canada was down 2–1 when de Guzman played a clever yet controversial quick free kick just outside the 18 yard box to Tosaint Ricketts who put in the net for his first ever international goal leading the Canadian team to a well earned draw. De Guzman earned his fiftieth cap for Canada's senior men's team on October 7, 2011, in a dominating 7–0 victory over Saint Lucia in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualification match at Beausejour Stadium. On November 17, 2015, de Guzman started for Canada against El Salvador in a 2018 World Cup…

On January 30, 2017, de Guzman announced his retirement from soccer and his transition to an assistant coaching position with the Ottawa Fury. On August 15, 2017, de Guzman was named interim head coach until the end of the 2017 season after the resignation of head coach Paul Dalglish. On December 21, 2017, de Guzman was appointed general manager of the Ottawa Fury, alongside new head coach Nikola Popovic. He held the role until the Fury ceased operations at the end of 2019, following not receiving sanctioning to play in the US-based USL Championship.

In 2020, it was announced that he was joining the newly formed club 1812 FC Barrie, where he will serve as president and co-owner. However, in January 2021, a major shift occurred with De Guzman departing the club, along with Peter Raco and the Barrie SC, to form a new club named Simcoe County Rovers. Serving as co-owner and Technical Director of the club, Simcoe County won the 2023 League1 Ontario title. In February 2024, he was named Sporting Director of the New York Red Bulls in Major League Soccer. On October 27, 2025 he was announced as the Head of Sport of the New York Red Bulls as part of a succession plan, succeeding Jochen Schneider.

De Guzman is of Filipino and Jamaican descent. Before his career, he attended Cardinal Newman Catholic High School from 1994 to 1997. His younger brother Jonathan de Guzmán also plays professional soccer for Dutch club Sparta Rotterdam and previously at Villarreal CF, Napoli, and Swansea FC, Eintracht Frankfurt and plays internationally for the Netherlands. His nephew Jaden de Guzmán is also a professional footballer.