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Tue 05 January 2021 | 12:30

Best North American soccer players of 2020

There are a lot of great players from North America continent, who play at the highest level of world football.

Although North American football has not excited fans like the European one, but during the past years it has seen a remarkable breakthrough and started to grab football fans' attention, based on the effort of managers and footballers especially the best North American soccer players of 2020.

The continent is going to host the most important world's football event in 2026, the 2026 FIFA World Cup, as USA, Canada, and Mexico won the race from Morocco. In order to get ready for such a great project, the progressive trend of players will play a significant role.

Who are the best North American footballers of 2020?

Time to go through the list of the Best North American soccer players of 2020. Stay tuned. 

John Brooks

The first player on the list of

greatest North American soccer players of 2020

is John Anthony Brooks, Jr., commonly known as John Brooks. This guy was born in Berlin and is a German-American professional football player. John Brooks features as a defender for VFL Wolfsburg club in German Bundesliga. Brooks was born on January 28, 1993 and he is 27 years old now. He started his career at the hometown club, Hertha BSC.

He rose to the senior level and remained at Hertha BSC, in spite of Bayern Munich interests. Brooks spent an overall of six seasons at Hertha BSC first and second teams. He made 130 appearances for the first team of the club and moved afterwards to VFL Wolfsburg, his current club. Since 2017, Brooks has played 88 matches for The Wolves. Holding both German and American citizenship, John Brooks chose to represent the U.S. national team. He made his senior international debut in a friendly against Bosnia in 2013.

Brooks has played 39 international matches in the USA shirt and has scored 3 goals, including a historic one against Ghana at the 2014 FIFA World Cup. That goal made John Brooks the first American to score as a substitute at the World Cup.

Hirving Lozano

The next man on the list of

Best North American soccer players of 2020

is Hirving Rodrigo Lozano Bahena, commonly known as Hirving Lozano. This Mexican player is one of the most well-known soccer players of his nation. The current 25 years-old Napoli player started his youth career at C.F. Pachuca in 2009, and made his senior debut at the same club five years later. The debut became memorable to him, since he scored the winning goal against Club América at the Estadio Azteca stadium just five minutes after substitution.

Over a period of three years, Lozano scored 44 goals in his 152 appearances for C.F. Pachuca. He also won the 2016 Clausura and the 2016–17 CONCACAF Champions League with the club. Then, he moved to Europe and joined PSV Eindhoven in Netherlands. Three seasons at PSV saw him score 40 times in 79 appearances. Having won the Eredivisie in his first season, Hirving Lozano left PSV and joined

Napoli

in 2019.

His transfer broke three then records; Napoli's most expensive signing, the highest transfer fee paid for a Mexican player, and the largest fee received by PSV Eindhoven for a player. He is serving at Napoli and has scored 13 goals in his 54 matches so far. As one of the Best North American soccer players in the world right now, Lozano has earned 41 international caps for Mexico and has scored eleven goals. His winning goal against Germany at the 2018 FIFA World Cup is the one, by which Lozano is known to many football fans.

Raul Jimenez

One of the current greatest North American soccer players is the Mexican striker of Wolverhampton wanderers. Raúl Alonso Jiménez Rodríguez was born on May 5, 1991 in Tepeji, Hidalgo. He began his career at Club América's youth team in 2008 and debuted at the senior team in 2011. Scoring 38 goals in 100 matches besides winning the 2013 Clausura were the most notable points of his stint at Club America.

Then, he moved to Atletico Madrid and spent a disappointing season in Spain, scoring only one goal in 27 matches. Next, Raul Jimenez signed for Benfica. In three seasons, he won six domestic titles with the Lisbon’s red side, including two Primeira Liga trophies. Jimenez scored a total of 31 goals in 120 appearances there. The next chapter of his club career started in 2018 and still is going on. At the English Premier League and the

Wolverhampton wanderers

club, Jimenez has had a key role, while some of his compatriots play alongside him.

Raul Jimenez has made 110 appearances for Wolves and has managed to score 48 goals so far. At international level, Jimenez is considered to be an experienced and successful player. His 27 goals in 86 caps for Mexico indicates the fact. Jimenez collected the 2012 Summer Olympics gold medal and also won the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup, respectively with his under 23 and senior national team. This colorful career has placed Raul Jimenez among the best North American footballers of 2020.

Hector Herrera

Again, we have a Mexican on the list of Best North American soccer players of 2020. The forth name on our list is Héctor Miguel Herrera López. Commonly known as Hector Herrera, he was born on April 19, 1990 in Tijuana, Baja California. He played for several teams at the youth level and started his senior career at Pachuca in 2011. After two years, Herrera moved to Porto, where he spent the most time of his club career. He made 245 appearances at

Porto

and scored 35 goals.

His dynamism as a box-to-box midfielder convinced Diego Simeone to sign him. He has made 42 appearances for Atletico Madrid. Hector Herrera is spending his second season at Wanda Metropolitano. Herrera has been member of the Mexico senior national team since 2012. During the period, he has made 76 international caps and scored six goals. This 2014-15 FC Porto Player of the Year won the Primeira Liga with the club in the 2017-18 season. Herrera also was member of the 2012 Olympic gold medalist Mexico U 23 and the 2012 CONCACAF Gold Cup, as well as the 2015 CONCACAF Cup.

Weston McKennie

Now it is time to return to American players on the list of the

Best North American soccer players in the world right now

. Weston James Earl McKennie, commonly known as Weston McKennie is the current member of

Juventus

, the reigning champions of Serie A. He was born on August 28, 1998 in Little Elm, Texas. The American moved to Schalke 04 youth team in 2016 and started his senior career there, one year later. Before joining Juventus on a loan move, McKennie made 90 appearances for Schalke 04 in three seasons, and also scored five times.

In the 2020-21 season, Mckennie has made 15 appearances in Juventus shirt in all competitions. He has scored two goals for the Bianconeri so far, one of them a volley kick against Barcelona at Camp Nou. At international level, Weston made his debut for United States on November 14, 2017 against Portugal, where he also scored his first national goal. He has earned 21 international caps and has scored six times. McKennie was member of the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup runner-up team.

Another point that has secured his place on the list of

Best North American soccer players of 2020

is his recent valuable honor as being named the U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year in 2020.

Serginio Dest

In this part of Best North American soccer players of 2020 article, we have another player who was not born in North America. Sergiño Gianni Dest, the current right back of

FC Barcelona

, was born in Netherlands to a Dutch mother and American father. Having previously played for United States under-17s and under-20s, Dest chose to represent U.S. senior national team in 2019. After spending six years at Ajax youth teams, Sergiño Dest earned his senior debut at Ajax first team in July 2019.

He made 38 appearances for Ajax and moved to Barcelona ahead of the 2020-21 season. Scoring in a 4–0 win over Dynamo Kyiv in the UEFA Champions League, Dest became the first American to score a professional goal for the Spanish giants. At international level, Dest has earned 6 caps in United States shirt. The youngster won notable awards two years in a row: U.S. Soccer Young Male Athlete of the Year in 2019, and Ajax Talent of the Year in 2020.

Christian Pulisic

The seventh man on the list of

current greatest North American soccer players

is the American Chelsea star. Christian Mate Pulisic, was born on September 18, 1998 in Hershey, Pennsylvania. He moved to Borussia Dortmund at the age of 17, and made his senior debut for the club’s first team in January 2016. The four season Dortmund spell saw Pulisic play 127 competitive matches and score 19 goals for the club. Ahead of the 2019-20 season, Pulisic moved to

Chelsea

for a 58 million pounds transfer fee.

This transfer made him the most expensive American player and Borussia Dortmund's second most expensive sale in the history. For Chelsea, he has made 47 appearances and has scored 13 goals so far. At international level, in spite of having the permission to play for Croatia, Christian Pulisic chose to represent U.S. national team. He has made 34 international caps and has scored 14 goals for his nation.

The 2016-17 DFB Pokal is somehow strange to be Pulisic’s only major trophy as a player. However, he has a collection of individual awards, like two U.S. Soccer Male Athlete of the Year awards in 2017 and 2019, and CONCACAF Gold Cup Best Young Player Award in 2019.

Giovanni Reyna

We are now at a special part of the Best North American soccer players of 2020 article. There is a teenager among the bests of North America in 2020, whose parents have been professional players and featured in the national team. The son of Claudio Reyna and Danielle Egan, Giovanni Alejandro Reyna. He was born on November 13, 2002 in Sunderland, England. Giovanni started playing football at 13, where he played for New York City Academy team. In 2019, he joined Borussia Dortmund's academy.

It took him a short time to play for the first team of the club in Bundesliga. He was named the youngest American, aged ever to appear in the Bundesliga, breaking an earlier record of his compatriot, Christian Pulisic. The attacking midfielder has now 41 appearances and 5 goals for

Borussia Dortmund

in his resume. Giovanni’s journey at international level started earlier in 2020.

On November 12, 2020, a day before his eighteenth birthday, he made his senior national team debut against Wales. In the next game against Panama, Reyna also started and scored his first international goal through a free kick. This member of the 2019 CONCACAF U-17 Championship runner-up team has been selected as the latest winner of U.S. Soccer's Young Male Player of the Year award in 2020. His talent and the bright future in front has secured Giovanni Reyna’s place among the

best North American footballers of 2020

.

Keylor Navas

Now, it is Costa Rica’s turn to pride the country’s representative among the Greatest North American soccer players of 2020. Keilor Antonio Navas Gamboa, commonly known as Keylor Navas is arguably the most successful player in the history of Costa Rica. Born in 1986, Navas started his career at Saprissa in his country and spent an overall period of eleven years at the club, both in youth and senior teams.

In 2010, he moved to Spain and after serving for Albacete and Levante, Navas experienced a breakthrough by joinig

Real Madrid

. The sole goalkeeper of the Best North American soccer players of 2020 list made 162 appearances for Los Blancos and won plenty of trophies with the club, including three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles. Navas joined

Paris Saint-Germain

in 2019 and has appeared with the Parisians 53 times so far.

He has been member of Costa Rica national team since 2008. The mostly remembered moments of Keylor Navas in his national team’s shirt belongs to 2014 FIFA World Cup. He ended the tournament with three clean sheets from five matches, and he was also named man of the match three times during the Costa Rica’s historic World Cup. Navas has a total of 92 international caps for Los Ticos.

Alphonso Davies

The last name to see on the list of the Best North American soccer players of 2020 is Alphonso Davies. The Canadian star was born to Liberian parents in a refugee camp in Ghana. When Alphonso was five, his family moved to Canada, and he received Canadian citizenship in June 2017. His senior career started at Vancouver Whitecaps FC and made 81 appearances for the club’s first and second teams combined.

Then he joined

Bayern Munich

and made his Bundesliga debut in January 2019. Since then, he has played 61 matches in Bayern shirt and is considered to be the first Canadian international to score for the club. Being eligible to play for three countries, Alphonso Davies eventually chose to represent Canada national team. He has 17 international caps and has scored 5 goals.

Alongside two Bundesliga titles and the 2019-20 UEFA Champions League trophy, Davies has achieved several individual awards, including Canadian Men's Player of the Year in 2018 and 2020, and Bundesliga Rookie of the Season in 2019-20. He was also selected for the FIFA FIFPro World11 in 2020, becoming the first North American player ever to do so.

So that's it for the

best North American soccer players of 2020

. Hope you enjoyed the article and learned something new about North American football and footballers. If you want to add any points related to this article, write in the comments section.


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