Best U.S. Men’s Soccer Players of All Time

There isn't much history to go by when it comes to the best U.S. soccer players, but these players have been shining stars.

The history of soccer in the United States hasn’t gone quite the way we thought it would 30 years ago — when all signs pointed to it becoming one of the most popular American sports in the near future.

While that early promise never panned out, we’ve been left with a group of standouts who have kept American soccer afloat in that time, and more recently, we’ve seen improvements that show a brighter day might be coming.

Here’s a look at the greatest male U.S. soccer players of all time.

30. Eddie Johnson

Elaine Thompson / AP Photo

Born: March 31, 1984 (Bunnell, Florida)

Position: Striker

Career highlights: Two-time MLS Comeback Player of the Year (2007, 2012), FIFA World Youth Championship Golden Boot (2003), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2007, 2013)

Bottom line: Eddie Johnson played a decade for the U.S. Men’s National Team, and his 19 goals in international competition put him in the top 10 all-time for the USMNT at the time of his retirement.

Aside from a three-year stint playing for second-tier Fulham F.C. in London, Johnson spent the majority of his professional career in the MLS, where he was a two-time MLS Comeback Player of the Year in 2007 and 2012.

29. Oguchi Onyewu

Rob Carr / AP Photo

Born: May 13, 1982 (Washington, D.C.)

Position: Defender

Career highlights: U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2006), CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI (2005), three-time Belgian First Division Best Foreign Player (2003-05), two-time Belgian First Division Best XI (2005, 2008), three-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2005, 2007, 2013), Belgian Cup champion (2003), two-time Belgian First Division champion (2008, 2009), Belgian Supercup champion (2008)

Bottom line: Not many defenders in recent memory have been named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year — D.C. native Oguchi Oyewu was the last in 2006, and before that, it was Alexi Lalas in 1995.

Onyewu was a key player for the USMNT in two World Cup appearances in 2006 and 2010 and played professionally for 15 years from 2002 to 2017. If Onyewu always seemed to stand out on the pitch, it’s probably because he’s the size of an NFL wide receiver at 6-foot-4 and 210 pounds.

28. Joe-Max Moore

Michael Caulfield / AP Photo

Born: Feb. 23, 1971 (Tulsa, Oklahoma)

Position: Forward

Career highlights: Two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up (1993, 1998), NCAA National Champion (1989), three-time NCAA All-American (1990-92)

Bottom line: Oklahoma native Joe-Max Moore played for the U.S. in three consecutive World Cups in 1994, 1998 and 2002. He also played for the U.S. in the 1992 Summer Olympics.

Moore was a star at UCLA in the early 1990s and helped lead the team to the NCAA championship as a freshman in 1989 before joining the USMNT for a decade, from 1992 to 2002. Moore earned 100 caps with the USMNT and was inducted into the U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame in 2013.

27. Peter Vermes

Fernando Ricardo / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 21, 1966 (Willingboro, New Jersey)

Position: Defender

Career highlights: U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (1988), MLS Defender of the Year (2000), MLS All-Star (2000), MLS Cup champion (2000), National Soccer Hall of Fame (2013)

Bottom line: New Jersey seemed to produce some of the best soccer players in the U.S. through most of the 1980s — including Willingboro native Peter Vermes. Vermes starred at Delran High, then Rutgers before joining the USMNT in 1988. He earned 66 caps over the course of nine years.

Vermes has been the manager for Sporting Kansas City since 2009 and is the longest-tenured coach in the MLS. It’s the same club he starred for in the early 2000s, winning MLS Defender of the Year honors in 2000.

26. Zack Steffen

Steve Luciano / AP Photo

Born: April 2, 1995 (Coatesville, Pennsylvania)

Position: Goalkeeper

Career highlights: MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (2018), MLS Best XI (2018), MLS All-Star (2018), Premier League champion (2021), EFL Cup champion (2021), UEFA Champions League runner-up (2021), CONCACAF Nations League champion (2020), NCAA Tournament Most Outstanding Defensive Player (2013)

Bottom line: Is Zack Steffen the future in goal for the USMNT? He sure seems like it. Steffen, 6-foot-3, was a star at the University of Maryland and helped lead the Terrapins to the NCAA Championship Game in 2013. He was also named the Most Outstanding Defensive Player of the NCAA Tournament that season.

Steffen left Maryland after two seasons to go pro and has been with the USMNT since 2018. On the professional side, he’s just coming into his prime — he’s signed with Manchester City through 2024 and led the club to an EFL Cup final win in 2021 with a clean sheet against Tottenham Hostpur.

25. Thomas Dooley

John Zich / AP Photo

Born: May 12, 1961 (Bechofen, West Germany)

Position: Defender/midfielder

Career highlights: Two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up (1993, 1998), ADD

Bottom line: Thomas Dooley was born and raised in Germany — his father was an American in the U.S. Army, and his mother was native to Germany. He was a star on the youth and professional level in Germany throughout his 20s and didn’t join the USMNT until he was 31 years old.

He proved to be a difference-maker for the USMNT in his time with the squad. He played every minute of two consecutive World Cups in 1994 and 1998 and was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1993. Dooley finished his 20-year professional career with five seasons in the MLS.

24. Tony Meola

Sara D. Davis / AP Photo

Born: Feb. 21, 1969 (Belleville, New Jersey)

Position: Goalkeeper

Career highlights: MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (2000), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (1991, 2002), MLS Cup champion (2000), National Soccer Hall of Fame (2012), two-time NCAA All-American (1988, 1989)

Bottom line: Tony Meola was a three-sport star in basketball, baseball and soccer at Kearney High School in Belleville and was good enough in baseball that the New York Yankees drafted him out of high school.

Meola played baseball and soccer at the University of Virginia, where he was a two-time All-American and named the nation’s top collegiate player in 1989. Meola left school after two years to turn pro and shot to fame as the goaltender on the USMNT at the 1994 World Cup. Meola played 18 years of pro soccer and even had a lead role in an Off-Broadway play for a time.

23. Hugo Perez

Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 8, 1963 (Morazan, El Salvador)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (1991), Futbol de Primera Player of the Year (1991), five-time MISL champion (1985, 1986, 1988-90), two-time Primera Division de Futbol de El Salvador champion (1995, 1996), CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (1991)

Bottom line: Hugo Perez was born in El Salvador and became a U.S. citizen at 11 years old. He skipped college soccer and embarked on a professional career that would last 14 years and see him play in the U.S., France, Sweden, Saudi Arabia and El Salvador.

Perez was a member of the USMNT from 1984 to 1994 and played in the 1984 U.S. Olympics and 1994 World Cup. Had Perez been born a decade later, we would be looking at his career in a much different light — we have no doubt he would have been one of the biggest stars in MLS, which began play right as his pro career was ending.

22. Weston McKennie

Matt Slocum / AP Photo

Born: Aug. 28, 1998 (Fort Lewis, Washington)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: U.S. Soccer Player of the Year (2020), CONCACAF Nations League Player of the Tournament (2021), CONCACAF Nations League champion (2020), CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up (2019), Coppa Italia champion (2021), Supercoppa Italiana champion (2020)

Bottom line: Weston McKennie didn’t do himself any favors when he was removed from the U.S. Men’s National Team in September 2021 with two matches left in the 2022 World Cup Qualifying, but we can’t look past what he’s accomplished in the last four years.

McKennie has been a top player for the U.S. Men’s National Team since 2017, along with competing among the top clubs in Europe — he has 28 caps for the U.S. already and plays for Juventus in Serie A. With McKennie and Christian Pulisic leading the way, the future could be bright for the U.S.

21. Jozy Altidore

Nam Y. Huh / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 6, 1989 (Livingston, New Jersey)

Position: Striker

Career highlights: CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI (2017), MLS Cup MVP Award (2017), two-time MLS All-Star (2015, 2017), two-time U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2013, 2016), U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year (2006), KNVB Cup champion (2013), Football League Cup runner-up (2014), MLS Cup champion (2017), two-time MLS Cup runner-up (2016, 2019), three-time Canadian Championship champion (2016-18), CONCACAF Champions League runner-up (2018), Campeones Cup runner-up (2018)

Bottom line: Jozy Altidore was a soccer wunderkind — he became the youngest player to start an MLS game and one of the youngest professional athletes in American history when he took the field for the New York Red Bulls in 2006, just two weeks before his 17th birthday.

Altidore joined the USMNT one year later, in 2007, and has remained with them since, scoring 42 goals and earning 115 caps. Altidore broke Clint Dempsey’s scoring record for an American in a club season with 24 goals with AZ in 2013. He’s played in two World Cups and won the MLS Cup with Toronto FC alongside USMNT teammate Michael Bradley in 2017.

20. Bert Patenaude

Twitter / MarksmenHistory

Born: Nov. 4, 1909 (Fall River, Massachusetts)

Died: Nov. 4, 1974, 65 years old (Fall River, Massachusetts)

Position: Forward

Career highlights: FIFA World Cup Bronze Boot (1930), FIFA World Cup All-Star (1930), U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame (1971), three-time American Soccer League champion (1928-30), two-time National Challenge Cup champion (1930, 1931), FIFA World Cup third place (1930)

Bottom line: America’s soccer wasteland didn’t leave much room for players from bygone eras to make this list, but Bert Patenaude stands out for several reasons.

First, Patenaude famously recorded a hat trick in a 3-0 win over Paraguay in the 1930 World Cup. Patenaude still holds the American record with four goals in a single World Cup, and his career record — also four goals — stood until Landon Donovan broke his mark in 2010.

Patenaude had a fascinating life — he played 18 years of professional soccer in the U.S. and died on his 65th birthday in Fall River, Massachusetts … the same city he was born in.

19. Alexi Lalas

Eric Draper / AP Photo

Born: June 1, 1970 (Birmingham, Michigan)

Position: Defender

Career highlights: U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (1995), MLS Best XI (2002), MLS All-Star (1996), CONCACAF Champions Cup champion (2000), Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion (2001), MLS Cup champion (2002), three-time NCAA All-American (1989-91)

Bottom line: Alexi Lalas was the most distinctive and memorable member of the 1994 U.S. World Cup team — thanks to his long red hair, beard and standout play. He also became the first American to play in Italy’s Serie A with Calcio Paldova in 1995.

Lalas was a three-time All-American at Rutgers before turning his attention to the U.S. Men’s National Team, where he earned 98 caps from 1991 to 1998.

18. Rick Davis

Ron Frehm / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 24, 1958 (Denver, Colorado)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: NASL North American Player of the Year (1979), NASL All-Star (1983), three-time NASL champion (1978, 1980, 1982)

Bottom line: Rick Davis owns a unique place in American soccer history — he’s widely considered the best American player from the North American Soccer League era, where he won three championships with the New York Cosmos in 1978, 1980 and 1982.

Davis also played for the USMNT in a wiildly different era — he joined the team in 1977, at 17 years old, and played with them until 1988 but only earned 36 caps, which was the record at the time.

Davis played in the 1984 and 1988 Summer Olympics and would’ve played in 1980 were it not for the U.S. boycott of the games. He tried to recover from a serious injury to play in the 1990 World Cup but wasn’t included on the roster.

17. Earnie Stewart

Evan Vucci / AP Photo

Born: March 28, 1969 (Veghel, Netherlands)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2001), CONCACAF Gold Cup third place (2003), MLS Cup champion (2003)

Bottom line: Earnie Stewart scored one of the most important goals in USMNT history when he connected for the game-winner against Colombia in the 1994 World Cup, giving the U.S. it’s first World Cup win since 1950.

Stewart is the son of a U.S. Air Force airman. Born and raised in the Netherlands, he played two years for Dutch club VVV before joining the USMNT in 1990. Stewart’s 111 professional goals playing for clubs in the Netherlands is the most for any American player in international club play.

16. Marcelo Balboa

Eric Draper / AP Photo

Born: Aug. 8, 1967 (Chicago, Illinois)

Position: Defender

Career highlights: CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (1991), CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up (1998), two-time FIFA Confederations Cup third place (1992, 1999), two-time MLS Best XI (1997, 1998), UEFA Cup championship (1997), two-time NCAA All-American (1988, 1989), MLS All-Time Best XI

Bottom line: Marcelo Balboa grew up in Southern California and was a two-sport star in football and soccer at Cerritos College before he transferred to San Diego State, where he was a two-time All-American in the late 1980s.

Balboa played on the USMNT from 1988 to 2000, earned 127 caps and anchored the USMNT defense in the 1990 and 1994 World Cups. Balboa played 15 years of pro soccer, including the last seven years in the MLS.

15. DaMarcus Beasley

Felipe Dana / AP Photo

Born: May 24, 1982 (Fort Wayne, Indiana)

Position: Wing

Career highlights: MLS Best XI (2003), CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Boot (2005), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup All-Tournament Team (2005, 2007), five-time MLS All-Star (2001-03, 2015, 2017), five-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2002, 2005, 2007, 2013, 2017), two-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion (2000, 2003), two-time Eredivisie champion (2000, 2003), KNVB Cup champion (2005), two-time Scottish Premier League champion (2009, 2010), two-time Scottish Cup champion (2008, 2009), two-time Scottish League Cup champion (2008, 2010)

Bottom line: DaMarcus Beasley is the only USMNT player to play in four World Cups and also played on four CONCACAF Gold Cup championship teams for the U.S. The Fort Wayne native played on the USMNT for a staggering 16 years, from 2001 to 2017.

Beasley jumped on the radar as a star on the U17 national team alongside Landon Donovan and turned pro in 1999. He became a star for the Chicago Fire before hopping to Dutch club PSV Eindhoven and spending a decade playing overseas.

14. Eddie Pope

Michael Sohn / AP Photo

Born: Dec. 24, 1973 (Greensboro, North Carolina)

Position: Defender

Career highlights: Four-time MLS Best XI (1997, 1998, 2003, 2004), MLS Defender of the Year (1997), three-time MLS Cup champion (1996, 1997, 1999), U.S. Open Cup champion (1996), CONCACAF Champions League champion (1998), Copa Interamericana champion (1998), CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2005)

Bottom line: Eddie Pope’s professional career was an anomaly, even for his era. Pope chose to play the entirety of his pro career in the United States, taking advantage of the nascent MLS, where he played all 11 seasons for three clubs and won three championships.

Pope was a key player for the USMNT from 1996 to 2006, where he earned 82 caps and started every game he ever played in. Pope played in three World Cups for the U.S., in 1998, 2002 and 2006, when he earned a red card and was forced to miss the team’s final match against Ghana.

13. Tab Ramos

Mark Lenniban / AP Photo

Born: Sept. 21, 1966 (Montevideo, Uruguay)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: Three-time CONCACAF Championship/Gold Cup runner-up (1989, 1993, 1998)

Bottom line: One of the most recognizable American soccer players of the 1990s, Tab Ramos immigrated with his family to the United States from Uruguay when he was 11 years old and became an American citizen in 1982.

He was the Parade Magazine National High School Player of the Year in 1983 and a three-time All-American at North Carolina State before he joined the USMNT in 1988.

Ramos played in three World Cups for the U.S. in 1990, 1994 and 1998. He played 18 years of professional soccer and was the first player to sign with the MLS, playing his final seven seasons with the MetroStars — the franchise that became known as the New York Red Bulls.

12. Cobi Jones

Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo

Born: June 16, 1970 (Detroit, Michigan)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: MLS 25 Greatest Players, CONCACAF Champions Cup champion (2000), two-time MLS Cup champion (2002, 2005), two-time Supporters Shield winner (1998, 2002), two-time U.S. Open Cup champion (2001, 2005), U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (1998)

Bottom line: Few players in U.S. soccer history have done as much to push the sport forward as Cobi Jones — he’s the career leader for USMNT caps with 164 and left a lucrative career overseas to join the MLS when it started up in 1996. Jones played in the World Cup three times for the U.S., in 1994, 1998 and 2002.

To that end, Jones played his entire MLS career with the Los Angeles Galaxy, where he was a two-time MLS Cup champion and was named U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 1998 when he finished second in the MLS in points.

11. Brad Friedel

Tony Gutierrez / AP Photo

Born: May 18, 1971 (Lakewood, Ohio)

Position: Goalkeeper

Career highlights: U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2002), MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (1997), IFHS Best Goalkeepers of the 20th Century, Turkish Cup champion (1996), Football League Cup champion (2002), FIFA Confederations Cup third place (1999), ADD

Bottom line: Brad Friedel was a soccer, tennis and basketball star at Bay High in Lakewood and was good enough in hoops that he was offered to walk-on at UCLA. But his future was on the pitch — he led UCLA to a national championship as a freshman in 1990 and ended his college career as a three-time All-American.

Friedel played 13 years and earned 82 caps for the USMNT, with his shining moment coming at the 2002 World Cup, when he led the U.S. on a surprising run to the quarterfinals. Friedel also played 20 years professionally, with most of that coming overseas.

10. Eric Wynalda

Lennox McLendon / AP Photo

Born: June 9, 1969 (Fullerton, California)

Position: Forward

Career highlights: CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (1991), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up (1993, 1998), U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (1996), CONCACAF All-Decade Team 1990s

Bottom line: Eric Wynalda was a Southern California soccer sensation as a teenager in the mid-1980s, starred at San Diego State and then joined the USMNT in 1990. Wynalda played 10 years for the USMNT and earned 106 caps. He played in three World Cups, in 1990, 1994 and 1998, and left the national team as the career leader with 34 goals.

Wynalda played 18 seasons of professional soccer and was the first American to play for a top-level club in Germany when he joined FC Saarbrucken in 1992.

9. Brian McBride

Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP Photo

Born: June 19, 1972 (Arlington Heights, Illinois)

Position: Striker

Career highlights: CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP (2002), CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Shoe (2002), MLS Fair Play Award (2003), two-time Fulham Player of the Year (2005, 2006), U.S. Soccer Hall of Fame (2014), U.S. Open Cup champion (2002), CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2002)

Bottom line: Brian McBride was a Parade Magazine High School All-American in Illinois before becoming a two-time All-American at Saint Louis University — when he signed his first contract with Nike as a professional, part of his deal included new uniforms for the varsity team at his high school.

McBride earned 95 caps playing for the USMNT from 1993 to 2006 and played in three World Cups in 1998, 2002 and 2006. McBride was the first American player to score in two different World Cups and also played 18 years as a pro, including a memorable stretch with Fulham from 2004 to 2008.

8. Kasey Keller

Natacha Pisarenko / AP Photo

Born: Nov. 23, 1969 (Olympia, Washington)

Position: Goalkeeper

Career highlights: Three-time U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (1997, 1999, 2005), MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (2011), CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI (2005), National Soccer Hall of Fame (2011), four-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (1991, 2002, 2005, 2007), Football League Cup champion (1997), three-time Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion (2009-11)

Bottom line: We would love a 30 for 30 on the decade-long battle between Kasey Keller and Brad Friedel to be the top goalkeeper for the USMNT — two of the greatest American goalies of all time seemingly one-upping each other at every turn.

Behind Tim Howard, Keller has the most caps of any USMNT goaltender with 102 and still owns the record for most clean sheets with 47. The three-time U.S. Soccer Player of the Year famously shut out Brazil in 1998, turning in what some think is one of the greatest single-game performances of all time.

Keller also played 20 years as a pro, with most of that coming overseas and the last three years with the Seattle Sounders in MLS.

7. Carlos Bocanegra

Nam Y Huh / AP Photo

Born: May 25, 1979 (Alta Loma, California)

Position: Defender

Career highlights: Two-time MLS Defender of the Year (2002, 2003), MLS Rookie of the Year (2000), two-time U.S. Open Cup champion (2000, 2003), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2002, 2007)

Bottom line: Carlos Bocanegra was the captain for the U.S. Men’s National Team for six years and is one of just a handful of players to earn over 100 caps for the national team.

Bocanegra was a star at UCLA before heading to the MLS, where he was the MLS Rookie of the Year in 2000 and became the first two-time MLS Defender of the Year. After playing the first part of his pro career with the Chicago Fire, Bocanegra played professionally with some of the top clubs in Europe for over a decade.

6. Michael Bradley

Ted S. Warren / AP Photo

Born: July 31, 1987 (Princeton, New Jersey)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: CONCACAF Gold Cup Golden Ball (2017), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI (2017, 2019), three-time MLS All-Star (2014, 2015, 2017), U.S Soccer Athlete of the Year (2015), Futbol de Primera Player of the Year (2015), two-time CONCACAF Men’s Best XI (2015, 2018), CONCACAF Team of the Decade 2010s, Coppa Italia runner-up (2013), MLS Cup champion (2017), two-time MLS Cup runner-up (2016, 2019), CONCACAF Champions League runner-up (2018), three-time Canadian Championship champion (2016-18), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2007, 2017), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up (2011, 2019), FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up (2009),

Bottom line: Michael Bradley wasn’t just one of the most versatile American players of all time — he’s also one of the greatest leaders to play the game on the American side. Bradley, the U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year in 2015, played in two World Cups in 2010 and 2014, playing for his father, Bob Bradley, in 2010.

Bradley has been on the USMNT and earned a staggering 151 caps so far. He’s also played professionally since 2004 and played for Toronto FC since 2014.

5. Tim Howard

David Zalubowski / AP Photo

Born: March 6, 1979 (North Brunswick, New Jersey)

Position: Goalkeeper

Career highlights: Two-time U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2008, 2014), MLS Goalkeeper of the Year (2001), three-time MLS All-Star (2001, 2002, 2017), MLS All-Star Game MVP (2009), FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Glove (2009), three-time CONCACAF Goalkeeper of the Year (2013-15), Futbol de Primera Player of the Year (2014), CONCACAF Best XI (2015), two-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2007, 2017), FA Cup champion (2004), two-time FA Cup runner-up (2005, 2009), Football League Cup champion (2006)

Bottom line: If you were to be given the task of picking just one of Tim Howard’s accomplishments in his 24-year professional career to encapsulate all he meant to soccer, there is one that may fit the bill.

When Howard started at goalkeeper for Manchester United in the 2004 FA Cup Final and won, he became the first American to collect a winner’s medal in the FA Cup since Julian Sturgis … 131 years earlier in 1873.

Howard finished his USMNT career with 122 caps and was on the roster for the 2006, 2010 and 2014 World Cup teams — in 2014 he set the World Cup record with 15 saves in a match against Belgium.

4. Claudio Reyna

Michael Sohn / AP Photo

Born: July 20, 1973 (Livingston, New Jersey)

Position: Midfielder

Career highlights: Futbol de Primera Player of the Year (2000), FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2002), Soccer America College Team of the Century, Scottish Premier League champion (2000), Scottish Cup champion (2000), three-time NCAA national champion (1991-93)

Bottom line: As a high schooler, Claudio Reyna went 65-0 in three seasons at Saint Benedict’s Prep and became the first and only two-time Parade Magazine National Player of the Year, along with earning Gatorade National Player of the Year as a senior.

He played for future USMNT head coach Bruce Arena at the University of Virginia for three seasons and won three consecutive national championships from 1991 to 1993 before he left school early to turn professional.

Reyna played 15 years of pro soccer and spent 12 years on the USMNT with 111 caps. He missed the World Cup because of injury in 1994 but then played in the next three. He also played in two Summer Olympics, in 1992 and 1996.

3. Christian Pulisic

John Raoux / AP Photo

Born: Sept. 18, 1998 (Hershey, Pennsylvania)

Position: Midfielder/wing

Career highlights: Two-time U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2017, 2019), UEFA Champions League Breakthrough XI (2016), CONCACAF Best XI (2017), CONCACAF Best Young Player Award (2019), CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI (2019), CONCACAF Nations League Finals Best XI (2021), CONCACAF Nations League champion (2020), CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up (2019), UEFA Champions League campion (2021), UEFA Super Cup champion (2021), two-time FA Cup runner-up (2020, 2021), DFB-Pokal champion (2017), DFB-Pokal runner-up (2016)

Bottom line: It’s not hyperbole when we say the hopes and dreams of American soccer fans now rest on the shoulders of 23-year-old Pennsylvania native Christian Pulisic.

Pulisic is the youngest player to ever captain the U.S. Men’s National Team, and if the U.S. is going to have success in the World Cup in the next decade, it’s going to likely be with Pulisic leading the way.

On the professional side, Pulisic was playing for German club Borussia Dormand’s top team by the time he was 18, and his $73 million transfer to Chelsea in 2019 is the record for a North American player.

2. Landon Donovan

Mark J. Terrill / AP Photo

Born: March 4, 1982 (Ontario, California)

Position: Wing/forward

Career highlights: Four-time U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2003, 2004, 2009, 2010), FIFA World Cup All-Star Team (2002), CONCACAF Gold Cup MVP (2013), five-time CONCACAF Gold Cup Best XI (2002, 2003, 2005, 2007, 2013), MLS Greatest Player of All Time, 13-time MLS All-Star (2001-05, 2007-14), two-time MLS Cup MVP (2003, 2011), two-time MLS All-Star Game MVP (2001, 2014), MLS Golden Boot (2008), MLS All-Time Best XI, six-time MLS Cup champion (2001, 2003, 2005, 2011, 2012, 2014), Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup champion (2005), CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2002, 2005, 2007, 2013), FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up (2009)

Bottom line: One of the greatest U.S. men’s soccer players of all time, Landon Donovan also has had the most World Cup success of any USMNT player in the last 30 years — he was named the World Cup’s Best Young Player in 2002.

Donovan won a record six MLS Cup championships in his career and is the MLS career leader with 136 assists — he was also named the greatest MLS player of all time.

No American soccer player has scored more goals in World Cup play than Donovan, who earned a staggering 157 caps playing for the USMNT. Most lists would put Donovan at No. 1 among American players, but his epic choke job at the 2006 World Cup remains burned in our memories.

1. Clint Dempsey

Reed Hoffmann / AP Photo

Born: March 9, 1983 (Nacogdoches, Texas)

Position: Forward/midfielder

Career highlights: Three-time U.S. Soccer Athlete of the Year (2007, 2011, 2012), four-time MLS All-Star (2005, 2014-16), MLS Rookie of the Year (2004), MLS Comeback Player of the Year (2017), CONCACAF Team of the Decade 2010s, Confederations Cup Bronze Ball (2009), MLS Cup champion (2016), three-time MLS Cup runner-up (2005, 2006, 2017), U.S. Open Cup champion (2014), UEFA Europa League runner-up (2010), three-time CONCACAF Gold Cup champion (2005, 2007, 2017) FIFA Confederations Cup runner-up (2009)

Bottom line: No player in American history has busted through as many doors on the international stage as Clint Dempsey, who was once brilliantly written about by Matt Pentz of The Guardian after witnessing Dempsey score a goal for Fulham.

“His wonder goal for Fulham in the 2010 Europa League against Juventus, an audacious chip from the very edge of the penalty box, was a counterpoint to the narrative of American soccer players as brutish, hustling grunts,” Pentz wrote. “His game was as creative and as instinctual as an American’s of this or any other generation.”

Dempsey earned 141 caps for the USMNT and played in three World Cups — his 57 goals are tied with Landon Donovan for the career lead for USMNT players. More importantly than that, Dempsey could play almost any position on the field.