The Most Famous Chilean Soccer Players of All Time

In this post, we will provide you with a list of

best Chilean soccer players of all time

or let’s say the most famous Chilean football players ever. The list contains 11 footballers in different positions on the pitch including the top goalkeeper, Claudio Bravo.

The list also contains names like Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez who are both currently in the business and playing for the top European club, Inter Milan. But that’s not all, the list also contains other top names in the Chilean football who are retired or legendary.

The List of Best Chilean Soccer Players of All Time

Let’s see who all the footballers we talked about above are and which other footballers are on the list of best Chilean soccer players of all time. Stay with us.

Claudio Bravo

The only goalkeeper on our list of most famous Chilean soccer players of all time, Claudio Bravo, though almost at the end of his career, is still in the business - just like Arturo Vidal and Alexis Sanchez - and currently plays for the Spanish club,

. Other than the Spanish club, he has also served Manchester City, Barcelona, and Real Sociedad during his career with the last one getting the highest share of Bravo’s years of service; actually 8 years between 2006 and 2014 during which he made 237 appearances and even scored a goal for the La Liga club.

The interesting fact about Claudio Bravo is that although he has served Real Sociedad at least 4 times more than the other clubs mentioned above, he actually won one club trophy - actually one La Liga 2 title - with the club. It is as he has won 8 club trophies with Barcelona and 5 with Manchester City including two La Liga titles, one Premier League title, and one UEFA Champions League title despite the fact that he has served both these clubs only for two years.

With a total of 126 appearances for the Chilean national team,

is the third most capped Chilean footballer ever after his fellowmen, Alexis Sanchez and Gary Medel. Known as a sweeper goalkeeper, Bravo is also a playmaking goalkeeper who can start attacks from goal kicks. He also possesses a mental strength by which he can lead his team just like he led his country’s national team as the team’s captain in winning two Copa America trophies in 2015 and 2016.

Francisco Valdes

The first passed footballer on our list of

most famous Chilean soccer players of all time

, Francisco Valdes served only Chilean clubs during his 20-year career which lasted from 1961 to 1981. He served the top Chilean club, Colo Colo, in three time periods which add up to around 11 years. It is as he played for the other clubs he served during his career for a year or two.

Valdes played as an attacking midfielder during his playtime and scored 217 goals at league level which has made him the all-time top scorer in the Chilean first division league history. He is also Colo Colo’s all-time top scorer with the 180 goals he scored in the 353 appearances that he made for them and the highest goals scorer ever in the history of Copa Libertadores with the 20 goals he scored in the 44 appearances that he made in different editions of the competition; almost one goal in every two appearances.

Despite all the honors mentioned above, Valdes won only three club trophies during his career including two Chilean Premier Division titles in 1963 and 1972 and one Chilean Cup in 1974, as you might have guessed, with the Chilean club,

. Valdes also served the Chilean national team between 1962 and 1975 making 52 appearances and scoring 9 goals for them in the process.

Carlos Reinoso

The second midfielder on our list of most famous Chilean soccer players of all time, Carlos Reinoso is a 76-year-old retired footballer who served only three clubs during his career: Two Mexican clubs, namely América and Deportivo Neza, and the Chilean club,

, whom he served as a youth player too.

Among the clubs Reinoso served during his career, América is not only the club he served the most but also the club he won all his club trophies with as a player. He actually served the Mexican club for 9 years between 1970 and 1979 making 297 appearances and scoring 88 goals for them in the process - actually more than the other two clubs mentioned above both in terms of the number of appearances and the number of goals. He also won six club trophies with the Mexican club including two Mexican Premier Division titles in 1970-71 and 1975-76 seasons and one Mexican Cup in 1973-74 season.

Reinoso is the only footballer on the list of

most famous Chilean football players ever

who has managed more than 10 club teams all of them actually from Mexico including the club he served the most as a player, América. He also served the Chilean national team between 1966 and 1977 making 34 appearances and scoring 7 goals for them in the process.

Carlos Caszely

The first forward on our list of most famous Chilean soccer players of all time and also one of those prolific goalscorers of his time, Carlos Caszely is a 70-year-old retired footballer who is a product of the Chilean club, Colo Colo, and also served the same club for the majority of his career; actually for 13 years and in two time periods, once from 1967 to 1973 and another time from 1978 to 1985.

Caszely scored a total of 210 goals in the 371 league appearances that he made; that actually translates to a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.12) in every two league appearances that he made. He also scored 29 goals in the 48 appearances that he made for his country’s national team between 1969 and 1985 which translates to even more goals than his club average: a little more than 1.2 goals in every two appearances.

Caszely also became the Chilean Premier Division top scorer for three consecutive years; actually from 1979 to 1981. And one interesting fact about Caszely is that he’s the first footballer ever in the history of football to have been sent off by a direct red card; actually in 1974 World Cup and in a match against West Germany.

Leonel Sanchez

Another forward on our list of most famous Chilean soccer players of all time, Leonel Sanchez is an 85-year-old retired footballer who served only Chilean clubs during his playtime, however, he was not as prolific a goalscorer as his fellowman, Carlos Caszely. He actually served four Chilean clubs, namely Universidad de Chile, Colo Colo,

, and Ferroviarios from 1953 to 1973 and during this time scored 186 goals in 469 league appearances that he made for them.

186 goals in 469 appearances; that actually gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of almost 0.4 which means he scored almost 2 goals in every 5 appearances or 0.8 goal - vs 1.12 goals of Carlos Caszely - in every two appearances. He also served the Chilean national team between 1955 and 1968 making 85 appearances and scoring 24 goals for them in the process.

Although a forward, Leonel Sanchez could also play as a winger. In fact, he’s considered as one of the best left forwards Chile has ever produced. And despite not being a prolific goalscorer, Sanchez is considered as one of the best South American footballers in 20th century and also one of the top forwards in the history of World Cup. He was actually part of the

who finished third in 1962 World Cup; he also won the Golden Boot and Bronze Ball of the same competition.

Raul Toro Julio

Another passed footballer on our list of most famous Chilean soccer players of all time, Raul Toro Julio belongs to the first generation of Chilean football whose career was actually before World War II. We have not much information at hand about how many clubs Toro Julio served, but at least we know that he served two Chilean clubs, namely Santiago Morning and Santiago Wanderers, from 1936 to 1942.

And again we don’t know how many appearances Julio made or goals he scored for the two clubs mentioned above, however, fortunately we know about his international stats. Julio served the Chilean national team from 1936 to 1941. Playing as a forward, he actually scored 12 goals in the 13 appearances that he made for his country’s national team - almost one goal in each appearance. He also became the top scorer of 1937 South American Championship and at the time of his retirement - sometime between 1941 and 1942 - he was Chile’s top scorer, too, with the 12 goals he had scored for the Chilean national team.

Marcelo Salas

Again one of those prolific goalscorers on our list of

most famous Chilean soccer players of all time

, Marcelo Salas is a 46-year-old retired footballer who played as a striker during his career and for the top Italian clubs, Juventus and Lazio, the top Argentinian club, River Plate, and the Chilean club - actually the only Chilean club,

. He actually made a total of 453 appearances and scored 248 goals for the clubs mentioned above which means he scored a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.08) in every two appearances he made for them.

Salas also served the Chilean national team between 1994 and 2007 making 70 appearances and scoring 37 goals for them in the process - again a little bit more than one goal in every two appearances. He’s actually Chile’s third top scorer after Alexis Sánchez with 43 goals and Eduardo Vargas with 38 goals.

And on our list of most famous Chilean footballers in history Salas is among those with most individual honors to their names. In fact, among the retired footballers on the list he and Elias Figueroa are the ones with most individual honors and also most club trophies with the difference that Figueroa never served an European club, and among the ones who are still in the business like Claudio Bravo, Arturo Vidal, and Alexis Sanchez, his trophies and individual honors either equal or are not by far less than the footballers mentioned above. Quite an achievement for a footballer who is retired if you ask us.

Salas actually won at least one trophy with every club he served during his career with Lazio being the club he won the most number of his club trophies with; actually 6 trophies including one

title and one Italian Cup. The top Chilean footballer was considered as one of the greatest forwards in the world in the second half of 1990s; he was actually named the third best forward in the world after the top Argentinian and Brazilian footballers, Gabriel Batistuta and Ronaldo.

Ivan Zamorano

The only footballer on the list of most famous Chilean soccer players of all time who served the top La Liga club, Real Madrid, during his career, Ivan Zamorano is a 54-year-old retired footballer and again one of those prolific goalscorers who managed to score a total of 348 goals in the 612 club appearances that he made which gets him a goal-to-appearance ratio of 0.56 and means that he scored a little bit more than one goal (exactly 1.12) in every two club appearances he made.

Zamorano also served the top European clubs, Inter Milan and Sevilla, and also Chilean clubs,

and Colo-Colo during his career. With Real Madrid, Zamorano won 3 club trophies - actually more than the trophies he won with other clubs, including a La Liga title in 1994-95 season. He was named not only La Liga’s top scorer but also La Liga best foreign player in the same season.

Zamorano also served the Chilean national team between 1987 and 2001 making 69 appearances and scoring 34 goals for them in the process which translates to almost one goal in every two appearances. Along with Elias Figueroa, Zamorano is the only footballer on the list of most famous Chilean football players ever who has been named on FIFA 100 list - a list of the greatest living footballers in 20th century - by the Brazilian legend, Pele.

Arturo Vidal

Another top footballer on our list of

most famous Chilean soccer players of all time

who belongs to the new generation of Chilean football, Arturo Vidal is a 33-year-old Chilean midfielder who’s been serving the top Serie A club, Inter Milan, since 2020. He has also served other top European clubs, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, Bayer Leverkusen, and Juventus, and also the top Chilean club, Colo Colo, during his career.

is one of the footballers one the list with the most number of individual honors to his name some of which are Juventus Player of the Year in 2012-13 season, Best Chilean Player Abroad in 2011, and Chilean Footballer of the Year in 2016. He has also won a number of club trophies the most prominent of which are four consecutive Serie A titles with Juventus from 2011 to 2015. Vidal has also made 119 appearances for the Chilean national team and is actually the fourth most capped Chilean footballer to this date - he might actually improve his record since he’s still in the business.

Nicknamed “The Warrior” and “King Arthur” by fans, Vidal is a hardworking and versatile player who has played in different roles to this date including defensive midfielder, central defender, full back, wing back, and even second striker and forward - the two latter ones for the Chilean national team. The top Chilean midfielder was also a regular at Juventus during his service to the club alongside other top footballers like Claudio Marchisio,

and Andrea Pirlo to the two latter of whom he owes his development at Juventus as once mentioned by himself.

Alexis Sanchez

Just like his fellowman, Arturo Vidal, Alexis Sanchez is another top footballer on our list of

most famous Chilean footballers in history

who belongs to the new generation of Chilean football and still is in the business. Sanchez is 32 years old by now and has been serving Inter Milan since 2019 - just like Vidal again but a year earlier. He has also served other top clubs such as Manchester United, Arsenal and Barcelona.

And in terms of individual honors and club trophies won,

is once again almost like Vidal! We mean he has won more or less the same number of trophies as Vidal and concerning the number of individual honors these two are somehow identical, however, Sanchez is in one respect ahead of Vidal: He is the holder of two Chile records, too; he’s the most capped Chilean footballer ever with 136 appearances for the Chilean national team and also Chile’s all-time top scorer with 45 goals.

Being a forward in nature, Sanchez can play anywhere on the attack line including the wings or as an attacking midfielder. He’s a gifted and yet a hardworking player who is also good with set pieces. Based on the number of trophies he has won, we can say that Sanchez’s bright days was first with Barcelona with whom he won 6 club trophies and then with

with whom he won 3 trophies and was named the club’s Player of the Season in 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons.

Elias Figueroa

The last but not least on our list of most famous Chilean football players ever, Elias Figueroa is a 74-year-old retired footballer who, on the contrary to Vidal and Sanchez, belongs to the old generation of Chilean football and maybe that’s why despite he was a top defender he never played for a European club during his career. He actually played for seven South American clubs during his 18-year career and made a total of 791 appearances for them only at league level.

Although Figueroa played as a defender throughout his career, he was the type of defender who took part in attacks either by supporting his teammates from the back or by his powerful shots on goal. His playstyle was most alike that of the German legend, Franz Beckenbauer, however, he was in one respect different from Beckenbauer: While Beckenbauer preferred long shots from the back to start attacks, Figueroa did it with short passes encouraging his teammates to push forward.

And as we already mentioned, Figueroa along with Marcelo Salas, are actually among the top retired Chilean footballers with the most number of club trophies and individual honors to their names. Not only on Pele’s FIFA 100 list, Figueroa was named South American Footballer of the Year for three consecutive years from 1974 to 1976, Chilean Footballer of the Year in 1966 and 1981, and Chilean best Player of the Century by IFFHS in 1999-2000 season.

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