MLS has attracted some of the biggest names in world soccer over the years. Here are the five foreign players who made the biggest impact on American soil.
Major League Soccer has come a long way since its first season in 1996. What started as a modest domestic league struggling to find its identity has grown into one of the most watched soccer leagues in the world, capable of attracting genuine global superstars in the prime or latter stages of their careers. Along the way, a handful of foreign players have not just passed through, they have left a permanent mark on the league and on American soccer culture as a whole.
These are the five best of them all.
5. David Villa – NYCFC (2015 to 2018)
When NYCFC announced they were signing David Villa ahead of their inaugural 2015 season, it felt almost too good to be true. Here was a player who had won the World Cup with Spain in 2010, scored goals at the highest level in Europe for over a decade, and was still very much a quality striker at 33 years old.
Villa did not disappoint. In four seasons with NYCFC, he became the club’s all time leading scorer and one of the most respected players in league history. He brought professionalism, leadership, and a level of technical quality that elevated everyone around him. He won the MLS Golden Boot in 2016 and became the first NYCFC player to truly capture the imagination of New York soccer fans. His decision to take the league seriously rather than treating it as a retirement vacation set a standard that others would follow.
4. Thierry Henry – New York Red Bulls (2010 to 2014)
Few signings in MLS history generated as much excitement as Thierry Henry’s arrival at the New York Red Bulls in the summer of 2010. One of the greatest strikers in the history of the sport, Henry came to New York after a legendary career at Arsenal and Barcelona and immediately became the face of the league.
His time with the Red Bulls was not without controversy, he was famously involved in a handball goal against Ireland in a World Cup qualifier that still stings in Dublin but on the field in MLS, he was brilliant. He formed a devastating partnership with Juan Pablo Angel and Rafa Marquez, bringing a level of star power that the league had rarely seen before. His vision, movement, and finishing were a cut above anything else in MLS at the time, and he remains one of the most iconic figures in the league’s history.
3. Carlos Valderrama – Tampa Bay Mutiny / Miami Fusion (1996 to 2002)
Long before the era of retiring European legends, MLS had Carlos Valderrama. The Colombian playmaker with the most recognizable hair in soccer history was one of the original foreign stars of the league, joining the Tampa Bay Mutiny in 1996 and later playing for the Miami Fusion before retiring in 2002.
Valderrama was already in his mid thirties when he arrived in MLS, but age had done nothing to diminish his extraordinary passing ability. He could thread a ball through the smallest of gaps with either foot, read the game two steps ahead of everyone else, and make his teammates look better simply by being on the same field. He was named to the MLS Best XI three times and remains one of the most technically gifted players to ever grace the league. He also helped establish MLS as a destination that could attract genuine world class talent from outside Europe, paving the way for everything that came after.
2. Zlatan Ibrahimovic – LA Galaxy (2018 to 2019)
Nobody made an entrance quite like Zlatan Ibrahimovic. When the Swedish striker arrived at LA Galaxy in March 2018, he did so with a message that only he could deliver: “I have arrived.” And then, in his very first appearance as a substitute against LAFC, he came off the bench trailing 3 to 2 and scored two stunning goals including a jaw dropping bicycle kick from outside the box to win the match.
It was the most cinematic debut in MLS history, and it set the tone for an unforgettable 18 month spell in Los Angeles. Ibrahimovic was already 36 years old, but he scored 53 goals in 58 appearances and played with the energy and arrogance of someone half his age. He was box office in every sense of the word: entertaining, unpredictable, and genuinely excellent. His time in MLS was brief, but the impact was enormous.
1. Lionel Messi – Inter Miami (2023 to Present)
There was never really any doubt about who would top this list. When Lionel Messi, the greatest soccer player of all time, the 2022 World Cup winner, the eight time Ballon d’Or champion announced he was joining Inter Miami in the summer of 2023, it sent shockwaves through American sports that went far beyond soccer.
The effect was immediate and staggering. Inter Miami’s ticket prices went through the roof. MLS viewership records were shattered. Every road game became a sellout. Apple TV Plus subscriptions surged. Messi scored on his debut in the Leagues Cup, and then kept on scoring. He was not coasting. He was not on a retirement tour. He was still, at 36 years old, one of the best players on the field every single time he stepped onto it.
Beyond the numbers, Messi changed the cultural conversation around soccer in America in a way that no player ever had. He made MLS relevant to people who had never watched a single match in their lives. Whether that impact translates into a lasting legacy for the league remains to be seen, but right now, there is no debate. Messi is the greatest foreign player in MLS history, and it is not particularly close.
Honorable Mentions
The list of quality foreign players to have graced MLS is long. Honorable mentions go to Robbie Keane at LA Galaxy, Andrea Pirlo at NYCFC, and David Beckham whose signing in 2007 changed the trajectory of the entire league even if his on field impact was limited by injuries.
The best may still be yet to come. With MLS growing every year and the 2026 World Cup on American soil just around the corner, the league has never been more attractive to foreign talent. Watch this space.
Who is your favorite foreign player in MLS history? Let us know in the comments.