The best footballers from North America ever

From Mexico to the Caribbean and beyond, the expansive continent of North America has produced some top footballing talent throughout history.

And here at FourFourTwo, we've been racking our brains to rank the very best of them.

These are the greatest players from North America – ever!

32. Ricardo Gardner (Jamaica)

Capped 111 times by Jamaica, Ricardo Gardner starred for the Reggae Boyz at their debut World Cup in 1998.

The versatile left-sided player spent almost his whole club career with Bolton Wanderers – where he was voted the club’s 2005/06 Player of the Year – making 251 Premier League appearances and also featuring in the UEFA Cup.

31. Shaun Goater (Bermuda)

“Feed the Goat and he will score,” sung the Manchester City fans, among whom Shaun Goater enjoys legendary status to this day.

Having failed to break through as a youngster at Manchester United, the cult-hero Bermudian striker had spells with Rotherham United and Bristol City before joining third-tier Man City in 1998 – and his goals were instrumental in the club’s journey back to the Premier League.

30. Antonio Carbajal (Mexico)

The first player ever to appear at four World Cups – and then five World Cups – Antonio Carbajal was Mexico’s number one goalkeeper from 1950 to 1966.

A two-time Mexican champion with Leon, Carbajal earned 48 caps for his country and also played for them at the 1948 Olympics in London.

29. Carlos Salcido (Mexico)

Former PSV and Fulham defender Carlos Salcido won league titles in the Netherlands and his native Mexico, earning 123 caps during a 10-year international career.

A 2012 Olympic gold medallist, Salcido – who was adaptable enough to play at left-back, centre-back or in midfield – represented his country at three World Cups and three CONCACAF Gold Cups, winning the latter competition in 2011.

28. Shaka Hislop (Trinidad and Tobago)

Born in England, Shaka Hislop wanted to play for the Three Lions (indeed, he did at U21 level) – but he ended up winning 26 caps for Trinidad and Tobago, the nation of his parents’ birth, featuring at their maiden World Cup in 2006.

At club level, the six-foot-six giant of a goalkeeper turned out most notably for Portsmouth, West Ham and Newcastle, reaching FA Cup finals with the latter two.

27. Paulo Wanchope (Costa Rica)

One of Costa Rica’s all-time leading scorers, Paulo Wanchope had Premier League stints with Derby County, West Ham and Manchester City.

A real handful of a centre-forward, Wanchope produced one of the great Premier League goals, completing this extraordinary solo effort against Manchester United at Old Trafford – on his Derby debut, no less.

He later had spells in Spain, Qatar, Argentina, Japan and the USA.

26. Wilson Palacios (Honduras)

Honduras’ greatest ever player, Wilson Palacios made over 100 Premier League appearances across stints with Birmingham City, Wigan Athletic, Stoke City and, most prominently, Tottenham.

Capped 97 times the Central American nation, the tenacious defensive midfielder played a pivotal role as Spurs secured Champions League qualification for the first time in their history during the 2009/10 season.

25. Carlos Vela (Mexico)

Highly versatile Mexican forward Carlos Vela began his professional career with Arsenal – but he enjoyed his best years in Spain, scoring 61 goals in 213 games for Real Sociedad and winning the Basque giants’ Player of the Year award on two occasions.

Vela – who represented Mexico 72 times – headed Stateside in 2018 and immediately set about banging in the goals for LAFC, winning the MLS title, Golden Boot and MVP within four years.

24. Michael Bradley (USA)

A veteran of 151 caps for the USA, Michael Bradley played for numerous clubs around Europe, including Roma and Borussia Monchengladbach (as well as a brief loan spell at Aston Villa).

The robust midfielder helped his country to glory at the 2007 and 2017 Gold Cups, as well as featuring at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

23. Carlos Bocanegra (USA)

Two-time Gold Cup-winning USA centre-back Carlos Bocanegra enjoyed a successful career in Europe, notably playing in the Premier League – where he made over 130 appearances for Fulham – and Ligue 1.

A firm fan favourite at Craven Cottage, Bocanegra – who finished up with Chivas USA in his native California – starred in the same Fulham side as compatriot Brian McBride.

22. Andres Guardado (Mexico)

Mexico’s record appearance maker with some 179 caps, three-time Gold Cup winner Andres Guardado has to go down as one of the Central American giants’ all-time greats, appearing at five World Cups.

Hugely creative, the diminutive midfielder played for clubs in Spain, Germany and the Netherlands, lifting the Copa del Rey with Real Betis and clinching two Eredivisie titles with PSV.

21. Christian Pulisic (USA)

The USA’s most prominent player from the late 2010s onwards, Christian Pulisic earned the nickname ‘Captain America’ thanks to his talismanic performances in an attacking midfield or wing capacity (wearing the armband for his country helped, too…).

Blessed with immense pace, Pulisic marked himself out as a prodigious talent during a three-year stay at Borussia Dortmund, prompting Chelsea to make him the most expensive American in football history at £58m in 2019.

Within two years, he had won the Champions League with the Blues.

20. Tim Howard (USA)

USA goalkeeping great Tim Howard sits second only to fellow shot-stopper Brad Friedel on the all-time appearance list among Americans in the Premier League – where he kept 132 clean sheets.

Signed by Manchester United in 2003, Howard served as the Red Devils’ number one during the 2003/04 campaign and later amassed over 400 appearances for Everton – even scoring with this wind-assisted effort against Bolton in 2012.

A double Gold Cup winner, he was the States’ number one at the 2010 and 2014 World Cups.

19. Horacio Casarin (Mexico)

A prolific forward, Horacio Casarin averaged just shy of a goal a game for Mexico, registering at the 1950 World Cup (hosts Brazil vs Mexico pictured above).

Enormously popular in his homeland, Casarin spent two years with Barcelona and chalked up 174 goals in the Mexican top flight.

When he wasn’t making the net ripple, he even dabbled in acting!

18. Jared Borgetti (Mexico)

Among Mexico’s all-time leading marksmen with 46 goals in 89 caps, Jared Borgetti helped his nation to victory at the 2003 Gold Cup, netting three times along the way.

A two-time Mexican champion with Santos Laguna – for whom he amassed well over 200 goals – Borgetti also had a short spell in the Premier League with Bolton during the 2005/06 campaign.

17. Claudio Reyna (USA)

Capped 112 times by the USA, Claudio Reyna spent almost his whole career in Europe, only returning home to see out his playing days with the New York Red Bulls.

An accomplished midfielder, Reyna turned out for Bayer Leverkusen and Wolfsburg before doing the 1999/2000 Scottish double with Rangers, then making more than 100 Premier League appearances across stints at Sunderland and Manchester City.

He made the 2002 World Cup All-Star Team as the States reached the quarter-finals.

16. Jorge Campos (Mexico)

Eccentric, flamboyant and absolutely unmissable, Jorge Campos lit up the 90s while donning the gloves Mexico – in his garish, custom-designed kits.

One of the top goalkeepers of his era – despite standing just five-foot-six tall – Campos helped his country to glory at the 1993 and 1996 Gold Cups, and won league titles in his homeland and the USA.

15. Luis Hernandez (Mexico)

Gold Cup Golden Boot winner as he helped Mexico retain the trophy in 1998, Luis Hernandez goes down as one of El Tri’s best ever strikers.

A member of their 1998 and 2002 World Cup squads, the blond-maned, hairband-wearing Hernandez was an electric presence on the pitch, scoring 35 goals in 85 caps.

At club level, he won back-to-back Mexican titles with Necaxa in the mid-90s.

14. Cuauhtemoc Blanco (Mexico)

Scorer of 38 goals in 119 games for Mexico – despite not being a true striker – Cuauhtemoc Blanco steadfastly represented El Tri for almost two decades.

Considered one of the best penalty takers of all time (and definitely one of the most distinctive, thanks to his unusually long run-up), Blanco won the 1996 and 1998 Gold Cups, and the 1999 Confederations Cup, as well as featuring at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 World Cups – scoring in all three.

13. Alphonso Davies (Canada)

The youngest player on this list by some distance, Canada superstar Alphonso Davies is very much coming into his prime right now.

Up there with the fastest players on the planet, the scintillating left-sided ‘Roadrunner’ joined Bayern Munich in 2018, soon becoming a regular and winning the Champions League within two years.

Very much the Canadian national team’s main man, Davies scored their first ever World Cup goal at the 2022 tournament.

12. Claudio Suarez (Mexico)

Mexican defensive great Claudio Suarez pulled on the colours of his country a whopping 177 times between 1992 and 2006, starring at the 1994 and 1998 World Cups.

A three-time Gold Cup winner during the 90s, the enduring centre-back also helped Mexico to 1999 Confederations Cup glory – having been a domestic and continental champion with UNAM early on in his career.

11. Magico Gonzalez (El Salvador)

He played in the heaviest defeat in World Cup history – El Salvador’s 10-1 evisceration by Hungary in 1982 – but Jorge ‘Magico’ Gonzalez was regarded as one of the finest players of his era in some quarters.

That was certainly the view of Diego Maradona, who labelled the dazzlingly gifted forward – who made most of his club appearances for Cadiz of Spain – as one of the best he’d ever seen.

10. Brad Friedel (USA)

Among the first Americans to truly establish themselves in the Premier League, goalkeeping great Brad Friedel appeared in the competition for Liverpool, Blackburn Rovers, Aston Villa and Tottenham.

Capped 82 times by the USA, Friedel joins countryman Tim Howard in the exclusive club of ‘keepers to have scored a Premier League goal, doing so for Blackburn against Charlton Athletic in 2004.

In his American-record 450 Prem outings, Friedel – like Howard – kept 132 clean sheets.

9. Keylor Navas (Costa Rica)

Keylor Navas’ heroic performances between the sticks carried Costa Rica to within a penalty shootout of the 2014 World Cup semi-finals.

His displays at that tournament saw his stock rise considerably, and he made the massive move from Levante to Real Madrid the same summer.

A triple Champions League winner with Los Blancos, Navas later reached the final again with PSG – before spending half a season on loan at Premier League Nottingham Forest.

8. Javier Hernandez (Mexico)

The first Mexican player to win the Premier League, Javier Hernandez aka Chicharito got his hands on two winner’s medals during his time at Manchester United – for whom he bagged 59 goals overall.

Further spells in Europe with Real Madrid, Bayer Leverkusen, West Ham and Sevilla followed for the clinical frontman, who found the net 52 times in 109 international caps.

7. Luis de la Fuente (Mexico)

Owing to the outbreak of the Second World War, Luis de la Fuente only won nine caps for Mexico – but the legendary midfielder’s record of seven goals in those caps provides a hint of the international career he ought to have had.

Nicknamed ‘El Pirata’ (‘The Pirate’), De la Fuente is revered at hometown club Veracruz – where he won two league titles – who named their stadium (pictured above) in his honour.

6. Clint Dempsey (USA)

A true legend in the history of Fulham and the USA national team, Clint Dempsey is one of the finest talents his country has ever produced.

Versatile enough to operate as a central or wide attacker, or a number ten, Dempsey was absolutely integral in Fulham’s memorable run to the 2010 Europa League final.

Capped 141 times by the States – scoring 57 goals and winning three Gold Cups – he ended his Premier League career with a season at Tottenham.

5. Walter Bahr (USA)

Long-time captain and a key member of the USA side which (in)famously beat England at the 1950 World Cup, Walter Bahr was the States’ first footballing superstar.

A high school teacher during his playing career (American professional footballers didn’t make much money at the time), Bahr – along with all of his 1950 World Cup teammates – was inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 1976.

4. Landon Donovan (USA)

The USA’s greatest player of all time, Landon Donovan’s exploits for club and country did much to continue raising the profile of football on that side of the pond.

A free-scoring forward for the LA Galaxy for most of his career, he won an impressive six MLS titles (two with the San Jose Earthquakes and four with the Galaxy) in addition to having spells in Europe with Bayer Leverkusen and Everton.

Donovan notched 57 goals in 157 international caps – winning four Gold Cups – and had the MLS MVP Award (which he won in 2009) renamed after him in 2015.

3. Dwight Yorke (Trinidad and Tobago)

Treble winner and Premier League Golden Boot recipient with Manchester United in 1998/99, Trinidad and Tobago icon Dwight Yorke is, by a fair distance, the finest footballer ever to come out of the Caribbean.

Starting out at Aston Villa, Yorke went on to notch 136 English top-flight goals for a total of five clubs and was voted 1998/99 Premier League Player of the Season.

He captained his country as they made their World Cup bow in 2006, playing every minute of every game.

2. Rafa Marquez (Mexico)

It’s rare that a player’s international career lasts as long as their club career – but superstar Mexican centre-back / defensive midfielder Rafa Marquez’s very nearly did: his club career ran from 1996 to 2018 and his international career for all but the first year of that.

A two-time Champions League winner with Barcelona – for whom he made almost 250 appearances – and a two-time Gold Cup winner with Mexico, Marquez was the first player to captain their country at four – or, indeed, five – World Cups.

1. Hugo Sanchez (Mexico)

Simply one of the greatest strikers in the history of the game, Hugo Sanchez was prolific for Mexico, Atletico Madrid and – most notably of all – Real Madrid.

Named by Pele in his 2004 FIFA 100 list of the world’s best living footballers, Sanchez fired Real to five straight La Liga titles between 1986 and 1990, finishing as the Spanish top flight’s leading scorer in all five of those campaigns.

A masterfully adept exponent of the bicycle kick, the man nicknamed ‘Nino del Oro’ (‘Golden Boy’) racked up more than 500 career goals for club and country combined.