Carlos Ruiz

Early career (1995–2002)

Ruiz, born in Guatemala City, Guatemala, started his footballing career in local club San Carlos. At the age of 12, he joined the youth divisions of Club Social y Deportivo CSD Municipal, and at 16, he made his professional debut. He became a starter for Municipal and a young star in the Guatemalan league until 2000, when he traveled to Europe to play for a short time alongside compatriot Guillermo Ramírez at Greek club PAS Giannina. After a stint with PAS, he returned to Municipal.

LA Galaxy (2002–2005)

In January 2002, Ruiz signed with the Los Angeles Galaxy. He was initially skeptical, telling The New York Times, "I didn't know anything about MLS or soccer in the U.S. Everything we hear about Major League Soccer is not so good ... we hear that all the players come here to finish their careers." However, he found the level to be better than he imagined, saying: "In the beginning, I was not happy to come here. But after a couple of games and when I see the level of soccer here, I was excited to play here." Once in MLS, Ruiz shone immediately. In his debut season in 2002, Ruiz scored 24 goals (winning the MLS Golden Boot), leading the Galaxy to the MLS Cup by scoring the 2nd golden goal in MLS Cup history, a year after Dwayne de Rosario was the first to accomplish the feat in 2001. He was named the MLS Most Valuable Player that year. In the playoffs, he scored eight goals and added two assists, totaling 18 points and setting an MLS…

Overall, Ruiz earned 133 caps and scored 68 goals for his country. He played in World Cup qualification campaigns for the FIFA World Cups of 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014, and 2018. He played his first international match on 11 November 1998, a friendly against Mexico, and scored his first goal against El Salvador at the 1999 UNCAF Nations Cup. Ruiz represented Guatemala at the 1999 Pan American Games. In 2000, as the Guatemala national futsal team had begun its development, Ruiz was selected, along with other 11-a-side football players, as part of the squad that competed at the 2000 Futsal World Championship, hosted by Guatemala. He scored one goal in the tournament. After scoring eight goals in nine matches during the 2002 World Cup qualification campaign and already having a successful career in the MLS, Ruiz was the focal point of the Guatemalan team in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, leading the team in scoring as they reached the final stage of the CONCACAF region. However, they would not qualify for the World Cup. On 14 June 2008, Ruiz broke Juan Carlos Plata's all-time individual goal-scoring record for Guatemala by scoring four goals against Saint Lucia in Guatemala's 2010 World Cup qualification opening match. Ruiz had scored 39 goals, four more than Plata's total. Ruiz also became the first Guatemalan player to score four goals in a World Cup qualification match. On 10 September 2008, Ruiz scored two goals against Cuba in Guatemala's 2010 World Cup qualification…

Club

International

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

Municipal

Liga Nacional de Guatemala: Clausura 2000, Clausura 2002 Los Angeles Galaxy

MLS Cup: 2002 Supporters' Shield: 2002 DC United

U.S. Open Cup: 2013 FC Dallas

Supporters' Shield: 2016 Individual

All-time top goalscorer of FIFA World Cup qualification (39 goals, shared with Cristiano Ronaldo) CONCACAF Gold Cup Top Goalscorer: 2005 MLS Best XI: 2002 MLS Goal of the Year Award: 2002 MLS MVP: 2002 MLS Cup MVP: 2002 MLS Golden Boot (24 goals): 2002 MLS Golden Boot (tie) (15 goals): 2003 MLS All-Star Game MVP: 2003 Ruiz is currently the 11th all-time leading goal scorer in MLS history. He is also the All-Time Leading Goal Scorer in MLS Playoff history with 16 goals in 17 games. He was also a nominee for the 2011 MLS All-Star Game.