10 Best Mexico Soccer Players Of All Time

Mexico is not one of the countries tagged as a soccer nation, unlike countries like Germany, Brazil, Spain, England, France, and others.

Moreover, in the past couple of years, Mexico has been able to raise players who have played at the international level, won European trophies with European teams, and play in some local leagues.

Former Mexico players such as Ricardo Peláez, Javier Hernández, Guillermo Sepúlveda, Pavel Pardo, and Luis Roberto Alves broke some records in soccer and are now the source of inspiration for most of the current soccer players in Mexico who are performing at a top level.

Hence, in this article, I will be sharing with you the best soccer players in Mexico. So, without saying too much, let us proceed –

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Best Soccer Players In Mexico (Of All Time)

1. Hugo Sanchez

Hugo Sanchez can be tagged as one of the best Mexican soccer players to ever play in Europe. After having a few seasons in the local league and a year with San Diego Sockers, Hugo joined European teams such as Atletico Madrid and Real Madrid to emerge as the Mexican soccer player with the most goals in Europe.

The Mexican footballer’s career got to a stage of excitement when he joined Atletico Madrid before moving to Real Madrid.

At Real Madrid, he spent 7 years, won the Pichichi award 4 times, won La Liga 5 times, 1 Copa del Rey, and 3 Supercopas de España.

The player held the record for most goals (38) by a Madrid player for 21 years before Cristiano Ronaldo broke it in 2011 with 40 goals.

2. Rafael Márquez

There is no doubt that Rafael Márquez is considered one of the best defenders in Mexican football history.

The player became the first Mexican player to win the UEFA Champions League after he was signed as the first Mexican player in Barcelona football history.

Before moving to Barcelona, he was playing for a Ligue 1 side, Monaco as a courageous defender. After four seasons, Barcelona paid 5 million euros for him. There at the Spanish side, he won 12 trophies under 7 seasons.

Moreover, his football at the club level did not end there as he left Barcelona to play for The New York Red Bulls.

At the International level, Rafael played in the Mexican International team for 13 years, won the 1999 and 2003 Confederations Cup, won the 2011 Gold Cup, and played in three World Cups.

3. Salvador Reyes

There is no doubt that Reyes, a Mexican striker is the top scorer of Chivas de Guadalajara with 122 goals. At Chivas de Guadalajara he was part of the club’s squad known as Campeonísimo and won seven championships with the club.

Reyes represented Mexico in three World Cup tournaments, 1958, 1962, and 1966. He scored 14 times with El Tri, including the qualifying goal for the 1962 tournament.

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4. Antonio Carbajal

4th on our list is Antonio Carbajal, the first-ever soccer player and goalkeeper to appear in five World Cup tournaments, 1950, 1954, 1958, 1962, and 1966. Well, according to IFFHS, Antonio Carbajal is 15th on the list of best goalkeepers of the century.

Antonio Carbajal will always be remembered for the match against Wales in Sweden in 1958. After a draw, he helped Mexico secure their first point in a World Cup.

In his club career, he has only played for two clubs, Real Club España (1948-1950) and León (1950-1966). The goalkeeper left Real Club España in 1950 because the club was dissolved.

In addition, Antonio is the first Mexican soccer player to receive the FIFA Order of Merit.

5. Horacio Casarín

Horacio Casarín will always be tagged as a Mexico utility player who debuted as a defender but moved into the attacking zone.

He made his professional soccer debut at Necaxa when he was 17 years old. In 1938 he was part of the squad that secured the gold medal at the Central American and Caribbean Games held in Panama.

Well, it is so unfortunate that Casarín could not shine at Barcelona when he was signed into the team. In a nutshell, the Mexican International suffered a serious injury that sidelined him and took away his career.

After several trials at Barcelona and nothing seemed to work, Horacio returned to Mexico and played in the 1950 FIFA World Cup and retired as the all-time Mexican scorer, with 256 goals.

For a player like Horacio, it was such a great achievement to be a Mexican all-time scorer while he started his career as a defender.

6. Jorge Campos

Jorge Campos is another Mexico player who debuted in a certain soccer position and earned a role as time revolved. Campos debuted as a striker, scored 14 goals in his first season with UNAM, and later earned the goalkeeper position.

For 7 seasons, Jorge Campos played for Pumas before moving to Atlante. Other clubs that Jorge played for are Los Angeles Galaxy, Cruz Azul, Chicago Fire, Tigres UANL, and Puebla.

At the International level, he appeared in three World Cups, two Confederation Cups, two Gold Cups, and three Copas América.

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7. Luis Hernández

Luis Hernandez is listed as the third scorer in the all-time Mexico top scorers list. In the 1991/1992 season, Hernandez made his official debut for Cruz Azul as a forward. Moreover, Luis Hernandez was never counted on till 1995 when he showed his potential.

Hernandez was also regarded as El Matador and was called to the Mexican first team in 1998 in which he played in his first World Cup tournament. In the 1998 tournament, he scored four times and became Mexico’s best scorer in the World Cup tournament, and also the first to score more than twice in the same edition.

8. Carlos Hermosillo

Carlos Hermosillo is the 8th Mexican player on our list. He is the Mexican soccer player that has scored the most goals in the local tournament and the second all-time scorer for his country.

Hermosillo played for América, Monterrey, Cruz Azul, Necaxa, Atlante, and Guadalajara where he scored 279 goals, while 153 of his goals were scored at Cruz Azul.

At Cruz Azul, he spent his best soccer seasons which resulted in a total of 90 caps for his national team and bagged 35 goals for them.

Moreover, he is also regarded as the third-best scorer of El Tri.

9. Luis García

Luis Garcia was only seen as a Mexican kid who made his debut at the age of 17 with UNAM, but no one saw him scoring 60+ goals for the club which he did.

The Mexican soccer player was born as a natural striker who went to play for Atletico Madrid in 1992. Other than Hugo Sanchez, Luis Garcia was the most successful Mexican player in Spain.

The player bagged goals in and out, and scored 20 goals in his debut year, 1992/1993. Between 1991 and 1999, Luis García made 79 appearances for El Tri and scored 29 sensational goals.

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10. Claudio Suárez

In Mexican soccer history, no player has registered more caps for the Mexican national team than Claudio Suaárez. Claudio Suárez registered 178 caps for his national team and captained the team for many years.

Claudio was not just a Mexican captain but also a defender which was not easy to pass. He was a nightmare for certain strikers as they ran out of knowledge when they faced Claudio Suárez.

Claudio Suárez was strong, skillful, and also fast and all his attributes contributed to his national team’s achievements. Claudio won three Gold Cups and a Confederations Cup. He scored six goals with El Tri and 53 for the clubs he played for.

In Conclusion:

These are the best Mexico soccer players of all time and will be forever remembered when soccer players who carved a niche for themselves in the Mexican jersey are discussed.