Bryan Ruiz

Alajuelense

Ruiz began his professional career at 18, making his debut for Alajuelense on 30 November 2003 against Pérez Zeledón, in Costa Rica's top division. He formed a trio with two strikers, Rolando Fonseca and Froylán Ledezma, with whom he built a reputation as a goalscorer and a play maker. Ruiz scored his first goal on 23 December 2003 against Ramonense, netting twice against Fernando Patterson. In Alajuelense, he was nicknamed La comadreja (The weasel), for his quick and agile movements on the field. He was a part of the team that won both the 2004 CONCACAF Champions' Cup and the 2005 UNCAF Interclub Cup.

Gent

In the summer of 2006, Ruiz was signed by Gent in a four-year deal along with Alajuelense teammate Roy Myrie, as well as Randall Azofeifa from rivals Saprissa. He scored his first hat-trick playing on 8 December 2007 against Lokeren. In that season in the Belgian League, he was the captain and top scorer for the team.

Twente

On 15 July 2009, the Dutch club FC Twente announced that they had signed Ruiz for a fee of around €5 million, and agreed to receive a percentage of a subsequent transfer. He signed a four-year deal with the Eredivisie side. Ruiz made his debut for the new club by scoring the second goal of the match, with an assist from another newcomer, Miroslav Stoch, in an away defeat of Sparta Rotterdam. His goal against NAC Breda on 12 December 2009 marked the tenth consecutive match in which he had scored. On 27 March…

Ruiz made his debut for Costa Rica against China on 19 June 2005. He has represented the Ticos at the 2005, 2011 and 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cups, captaining the team at the latter tournament. His first international goal came against Honduras in the 2005 tournament. Ruiz scored six times during the 2010 FIFA World Cup qualification campaign, as Costa Rica was knocked out by Uruguay in the intercontinental play-off. In the 2014 qualifiers, he scored three goals to lead the team to the tournament finals in Brazil. In June 2014, Ruiz was named in Costa Rica's squad for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. In the team's opening match, he captained Los Ticos to a 3–1 defeat of Uruguay in Fortaleza. On 20 June, Ruiz scored the only goal as Costa Rica upset four-time champions Italy 1–0 to qualify for the round of 16, while also confirming England's elimination; Ruiz played the entire match as Costa Rica went unbeaten in the group stage after a 0–0 draw with England in their final game. In the round of 16 match against Greece, Ruiz scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw after extra time, before successfully converting his kick as Costa Rica prevailed 5–3 in the penalty shootout. At the quarter-final stage, Ruiz was one of two Costa Ricans to have their kicks saved by Tim Krul in a 4–3 penalty shootout loss to the Netherlands. In May 2018, he was named in Costa Rica's 23-man squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. In the last group-stage match against Switzerland, he scored a last-minute…

Club

International

Scores and results list Costa Rica's goal tally first, score column indicates score after each Ruiz goal.

Alajuelense

CONCACAF Champions' Cup: 2004 Copa Interclubes UNCAF: 2005 Primera División: Apertura 2005, Clausura 2006, Apertura 2020 CONCACAF League: 2020 Twente

Eredivisie: 2009–10 KNVB Cup: 2010–11 Johan Cruyff Shield: 2010, 2011 Sporting CP

Taça da Liga: 2017–18 Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira: 2015 Costa Rica

Copa Centroamericana: 2014 Individual

CONCACAF Men's Player of the Year: 2016 CONCACAF Goal of the Year: 2014 CONCACAF Best XI: 2015, 2016, 2017 Jean-Claude Bouvy Trophy: 2008, 2009 Player of the season at FC Twente: 2010 BBC Goal of the Month: October 2011 IFFHS CONCACAF team of the decade 2011–2020 IFFHS CONCACAF Men's Team of All Time: 2021