Perhaps the best player in the history of American soccer when it comes to headers, Brian McBride showed he could score at MLS, USMNT, and Premier League levels. McBride retired from the USMNT following the 2006 World Cup, but played for two more seasons with Fulham before returning home as a member of the Chicago Fire. He officially retired from soccer following the 2010 MLS season.

A scoring sensation with the Columbus Crew of Major League Soccer, McBride adapted to the international game with relative ease. The 6’1″ striker has scored in nearly one-third of his international matches and accounted for the only US goal at France ’98. McBride will forever be remembered in American soccer history as the first selection in the inaugural MLS Draft in 1996.

The only American to score in two different World Cups, he is also a hero at Preston North End and Everton for his two productive loan spells in England. Joining Fulham in 2004 showed England has learned what US soccer fans have known for years.

After making his third World Cup roster in 2006 and playing in all three of the games in Germany, McBride announced his retirement from international play in July of 2006. He ends his long career with the National Team ranking second on the team’s all-time goal-scoring and points lists, and is one of a select few players to see time in three different World Cups.

McBride returned to Major League Soccer in 2008 where he spent three season with the Chicago Fire before announcing his retirement at the end of 2010. Moving into commentary work, he is part of the studio team for Fox’s soccer broadcasts. He also runs McBride’s Attacking Soccer Academy. McBride won election to the National Soccer Hall of Fame in 2015. In January 2020, McBride became the first general manager of the USMNT, holding that role through December 2023.