Zach Zengue’s Family: Girlfriend, Children, Parents and Siblings

Last Updated on September 25, 2026 by Mike

Zachary “Zach” Zengue is an American professional soccer player whose journey to Major League Soccer was shaped by an unusually international childhood. Born on January 30, 2004, in Washington, D.C., Zengue spent parts of his childhood in countries including Nigeria, Haiti and Sri Lanka before his family eventually settled in Minnesota. He later starred at Georgetown University, signed professionally with Columbus Crew and joined St. Louis CITY SC on loan during the 2026 season.

Family has played an important role in that journey. Zach’s parents are Jennifer Brinkerhoff and Felix Zengue, while his brothers include professional footballer Xavier Zengue and Pierre Zengue. His mother’s international-development work contributed directly to the family’s years living overseas, while Xavier’s success in soccer provided Zach with an example to follow when he began taking the sport more seriously. Information about Zach’s romantic life and whether he has children, however, remains private. Here is what is known about Zach Zengue’s family as of now.

Who Is Zach Zengue’s Girlfriend?

Zach Zengue has not publicly confirmed having a girlfriend through a reliable source.

Although Zengue has become increasingly visible through his college career, Columbus Crew and St. Louis CITY SC, established interviews and official player profiles have concentrated almost entirely on soccer and his unusual international upbringing.

No club announcement or reputable sports profile currently identifies a romantic partner, fiancée or wife. There is likewise no dependable public announcement indicating that he is married.

For that reason, personal social-media interactions or photographs should not be interpreted as evidence of a romantic relationship unless Zengue publicly confirms one himself.

As of now, Zach Zengue’s relationship status remains private.

Does Zach Zengue Have Children?

There is no reliable public information confirming that Zach Zengue has children.

Neither St. Louis CITY SC, Columbus Crew nor Georgetown University identifies him as a father, and established interviews discussing his life away from soccer make no reference to a son or daughter.

As of now, no children have therefore been publicly confirmed for Zach Zengue.

Who Are Zach Zengue’s Parents?

Zach Zengue’s parents are Jennifer Brinkerhoff and Felix Zengue. Their identities can be established through the official University of Dayton biography of Zach’s older brother Xavier, which names Jennifer and Felix as Xavier’s parents and lists Zachary and Pierre as his siblings.

The family has a particularly international story. Zach was born in Washington, D.C., but his mother’s work connected to the United States Agency for International Development took the family to several countries while the children were growing up.

St. Louis Magazine reported that Zach lived in Nigeria, Haiti and Sri Lanka during his childhood before the family eventually settled in Minnesota.

Those experiences gave Zengue a childhood very different from that of many American professional athletes. Rather than spending all of his formative years within one local academy structure, he experienced different cultures and communities before becoming seriously involved in elite soccer after returning to the United States.

Zach Zengue’s Mother: Jennifer Brinkerhoff

Zach Zengue’s mother is Jennifer Brinkerhoff. Although she has not been a major public presence in her son’s football coverage, her professional work had a major effect on where the Zengue family lived during Zach’s childhood.

According to St. Louis Magazine, her work with the United States Agency for International Development took the family around the world. Among the countries in which Zach spent time were Nigeria, Haiti and Sri Lanka.

Those years abroad became an important part of Zach’s worldview. In a 2026 interview, he reflected on seeing significant inequality while living overseas and on being exposed to cultures with different relationships to community, spirituality and the natural world.

Zengue said those experiences opened his eyes to the different ways people live and continued to influence how he approached his own life years later.

One particularly significant period came while the family was living in Haiti. Zach remembered seeing the consequences and community response associated with the devastating 2010 earthquake, an experience that remained with him as he grew older.

How Zach Zengue’s Mother Shaped His International Childhood

Zengue’s mother’s career meant that moving between countries became normal during his childhood.

That upbringing required Zach and his brothers to adapt repeatedly to different schools, cultures and social environments. Soccer offered one way to connect with other people, even though Zach and Xavier did not immediately pursue conventional elite club soccer pathways while the family lived overseas.

Years later, Zach described himself as being accustomed to change, something that can be traced directly to the family’s international lifestyle.

That adaptability would prove useful throughout his football career. He eventually moved between Minnesota, Washington, D.C., Vermont, Ohio and Missouri while pursuing college and professional opportunities.

Zach Zengue’s Father: Felix Zengue

Zach Zengue’s father is Felix Zengue. His identity is confirmed through Xavier Zengue’s University of Dayton athletics biography.

Felix has maintained a considerably more private public profile than his sons, and reliable sports sources provide little information about his occupation or individual background.

What can be established is that the Zengue family has Cameroonian heritage. Xavier’s official college biography specifically describes him as being of Cameroonian descent and notes that he speaks French.

Because Zach and Xavier are brothers within the same documented family, that heritage forms part of Zach’s family background as well.

There is not enough authoritative information to describe Felix’s career or to attribute a specific coaching role to him in Zach’s football development. Those details should remain private unless the family discusses them publicly.

Does Zach Zengue Have Siblings?

Yes. Zach Zengue has two publicly documented brothers: Xavier Zengue and Pierre Zengue.

The University of Dayton’s official athletics biography for Xavier identifies Jennifer Brinkerhoff and Felix Zengue as his parents and lists his siblings as Zachary and Pierre.

Of the three brothers, Zach and Xavier are particularly well known publicly because both reached professional soccer.

Xavier Zengue

Xavier Zengue is Zach’s older brother and a professional defender. Born on March 21, 2001, Xavier became an important influence on Zach’s decision to take soccer more seriously.

Like Zach, Xavier spent part of his childhood living abroad with the family before they settled in Minnesota.

Once back in the United States, Xavier played for the St. Paul Blackhawks and Minnesota Thunder Academy before attending the University of Dayton.

He developed into a regular defender for the Dayton Flyers and was eventually selected by Columbus Crew with the 27th overall pick in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft.

Xavier subsequently played with Crew 2 before continuing his professional career. By 2026, he was with Lexington SC in the USL Championship.

His career had a direct influence on his younger brother. A 2023 feature about the two brothers explained that when Zach returned to the United States and began considering his own soccer future, seeing Xavier succeed helped convince him to pursue the sport more seriously.

Zach and Xavier Zengue’s Soccer Relationship

Competition between Zach and Xavier became an important part of both brothers’ development.

Growing up, each could see the progress being made by the other. Xavier reached high-level club soccer first and eventually secured a Division I opportunity at Dayton.

Zach later acknowledged that his older brother’s success played a role in his own decision to commit more fully to the sport.

Their careers eventually produced an unusual coincidence: both brothers were selected by Columbus Crew in consecutive MLS SuperDrafts.

Xavier was drafted in 2022 for the 2023 season, while Columbus selected Zach 58th overall in the second round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft.

Zach initially chose to remain at Georgetown and complete more of his collegiate career rather than immediately turning professional. He eventually signed a first-team contract with Columbus in January 2026.

That meant two brothers from the same internationally traveled family had both been identified by the same MLS organization.

Pierre Zengue

Pierre Zengue is Zach and Xavier’s other brother. His identity is confirmed through Xavier’s official University of Dayton player biography.

Unlike Zach and Xavier, Pierre does not currently have a widely documented professional soccer career in authoritative sports sources.

There is therefore little verified public information concerning his education, occupation or personal life. Because Pierre is a private individual, those details should not be inferred from unrelated online profiles.

What can confidently be stated is that Zach grew up as one of three brothers in the family, alongside Xavier and Pierre.

Zach Zengue’s Family Heritage

The Zengue family combines American and Cameroonian connections with years of international experience.

Zach was born in Washington, D.C., while his brother Xavier’s official biography identifies the family’s Cameroonian heritage. The children then spent important parts of their upbringing abroad because of their mother’s international work.

Those moves exposed Zach to environments across Africa, the Caribbean and Asia before the family made Minnesota its long-term American home.

Rather than viewing that constant change negatively, Zengue has spoken about how it broadened his understanding of different cultures and ways of life.

His eventual soccer career would remain international in another sense, even while taking place largely in the United States, as he developed alongside teammates from many different backgrounds at boarding school, Georgetown, Vermont Green, Columbus and St. Louis.

Zach Zengue’s Childhood in Nigeria, Haiti and Sri Lanka

Zengue was still young when his family began moving internationally. Some of his earliest memories come from Nigeria and Haiti.

St. Louis Magazine reported that neither Zach nor Xavier participated extensively in organized American-style club soccer while the family was overseas.

Instead, those years formed a broader part of their upbringing before the family eventually returned permanently to the United States.

For Zach, living in countries where economic inequality was highly visible had a lasting effect. He later said the experiences exposed him to resilience and different cultural perspectives that continued to influence him as an adult.

The family’s years abroad therefore shaped more than simply where he lived. They became a major component of his identity before elite soccer entered the picture.

The Zengue Family Settles in Minnesota

The family’s return to the United States changed the direction of both Zach and Xavier’s soccer careers.

They settled in Minnesota, with North Oaks eventually becoming the hometown most commonly associated with Zach’s player profiles.

Xavier became involved with the Minnesota Thunder Academy, while Zach eventually joined Shattuck-St. Mary’s, one of the country’s best-known boarding schools for developing elite athletes.

Zach had previously attended Mounds View High School and later spent four years within the Shattuck-St. Mary’s soccer environment.

The move represented the point at which he began understanding what would be required to become a professional athlete.

Zengue later explained that being surrounded by highly ambitious students and athletes taught him the value of working consistently toward a long-term goal.

Zach Zengue’s Journey to Georgetown

Zengue’s performances in Minnesota attracted attention from major NCAA programs, and he ultimately chose Georgetown University.

He joined the Hoyas in 2022 and gradually developed from a young squad player into one of the leading attackers in college soccer.

By the end of his Georgetown career, Zengue had appeared in 81 matches, recording 22 goals and 28 assists.

His senior season in 2025 was particularly impressive. Zengue recorded 14 goals and 14 assists while helping Georgetown reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament.

He earned United Soccer Coaches First-Team All-America recognition, First-Team All-BIG EAST honors and All-East Region recognition.

His achievements represented another milestone for a family in which older brother Xavier had already completed his own successful Division I career.

Zach Zengue’s Extended Family Connection to Georgetown

Zach was not the first member of his extended family to compete athletically at Georgetown.

His official Georgetown biography notes that his cousin Will was a member of the university’s men’s rowing program.

That connection provided another sporting link within the extended family, although Zach ultimately created his own identity through soccer.

Zach Zengue and Vermont Green FC

During his college years, Zengue spent his summers playing for Vermont Green FC in USL League Two.

The experience became an important part of his transition from college soccer toward the professional game.

He returned to Vermont for multiple seasons and eventually served as a co-captain. In 2025, he played a major role as Vermont Green enjoyed a championship-winning campaign.

His performances helped prepare him for the full-time professional environment he entered after completing his Georgetown career.

Following Xavier Into the Columbus Crew Organization

Columbus Crew selected Zach in the second round of the 2024 MLS SuperDraft, one year after the organization had drafted his brother Xavier.

Zach decided not to leave Georgetown immediately. Instead, he returned to college and continued developing before eventually signing with Columbus on January 9, 2026.

His first professional season began with Crew 2 in MLS NEXT Pro, where he quickly became one of the league’s most productive attacking players.

Through his first 16 games of the 2026 season, Zengue scored 10 goals and added three assists.

That form created an opportunity elsewhere in Major League Soccer.

Zach Zengue’s Move to St. Louis CITY SC

St. Louis CITY SC acquired Zengue on loan from Columbus Crew on July 10, 2026.

The agreement runs through the remainder of the 2026 season. St. Louis sent Columbus $50,000 in General Allocation Money and secured an option to acquire Zengue permanently.

Zengue initially received significant minutes with CITY2 before making his St. Louis first-team debut against FC Dallas in August.

By September, he was already making an impact across both levels, including scoring a brace for CITY2 against Sporting Kansas City II.

The move reunited him with sporting director Corey Wray, who had followed Zengue closely during the recruitment process that resulted in Columbus selecting him in the MLS SuperDraft.

How Zach Zengue’s Family Background Helps Him Adapt

Constant change has been part of Zengue’s life since childhood.

Moving between countries with his family meant learning how to adapt to unfamiliar environments long before professional soccer required him to do the same.

That background helps explain why moves from Minnesota to Washington, D.C., then into professional environments in Columbus and St. Louis have not appeared to overwhelm him.

Zengue himself has joked that he is accustomed to change, a trait that can be traced back to his family’s international lifestyle.

His older brother’s professional career has also provided another source of experience. Xavier went through the MLS SuperDraft and the transition from college to professional soccer before Zach did, giving the younger brother a close family example of what that process could look like.

Frequently Asked Questions About Zach Zengue’s Family

Who is Zach Zengue’s girlfriend?

Zach Zengue has not publicly confirmed a girlfriend through a reliable source. His current romantic relationship status remains private.

Is Zach Zengue married?

There is no reliable public information confirming that Zach Zengue is married or engaged.

Does Zach Zengue have children?

No children have been publicly confirmed for Zach Zengue.

Who is Zach Zengue’s mother?

Zach Zengue’s mother is Jennifer Brinkerhoff. Her international-development work took the Zengue family to several countries during Zach’s childhood, including Nigeria, Haiti and Sri Lanka.

Who is Zach Zengue’s father?

Zach Zengue’s father is Felix Zengue. His name is confirmed by the University of Dayton’s official biography of Zach’s brother Xavier. Felix otherwise maintains a private public profile.

Does Zach Zengue have siblings?

Yes. Zach has two publicly documented brothers, Xavier Zengue and Pierre Zengue.

Who is Xavier Zengue?

Xavier Zengue is Zach’s older brother and a professional defender. He played college soccer at Dayton, was selected by Columbus Crew in the 2023 MLS SuperDraft and later continued his professional career with Lexington SC.

Who is Pierre Zengue?

Pierre Zengue is another brother of Zach and Xavier. He maintains a private profile, and little reliable public information is available about his career or personal life.

Are Zach and Xavier Zengue brothers?

Yes. Their relationship is confirmed by Georgetown, Dayton, Columbus Crew and other official football sources. Columbus selected both brothers in consecutive MLS SuperDrafts.

Where was Zach Zengue born?

Zach Zengue was born in Washington, D.C., on January 30, 2004. His family later settled in Minnesota, and North Oaks is listed as his hometown by his professional clubs.

Where did Zach Zengue live as a child?

Because of his mother’s international work, Zengue spent parts of his childhood in Nigeria, Haiti and Sri Lanka before his family settled in Minnesota.

Which club does Zach Zengue play for?

As of now, Zach Zengue plays for St. Louis CITY SC on loan from Columbus Crew through the remainder of the 2026 season. St. Louis holds an option to make the transfer permanent.