The Most Famous

SOCCER PLAYERS from Costa Rica

This page contains a list of the greatest Costa Rican Soccer Players. The pantheon dataset contains 21,273 Soccer Players, 76 of which were born in Costa Rica. This makes Costa Rica the birth place of the 44th most number of Soccer Players behind Iran, and Bulgaria.

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary Costa Rican Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous Costa Rican Soccer Players is sorted by HPI (Historical Popularity Index), a metric that aggregates information on a biography’s online popularity. Visit the rankings page to view the entire list of Costa Rican Soccer Players.

1. Keylor Navas (b. 1986)

With an HPI of 57.08, Keylor Navas is the most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 68 different languages on wikipedia.

Keilor Antonio "Keylor" Navas Gamboa (Spanish: [ˈkej.lor anˈto.njo ˈna.βas ɣamˈbo.a]; born 15 December 1986) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a goalkeeper. and is currently a free agent. He is regarded as one of the best goalkeepers of his generation. Navas started his youth career at Saprissa in his home country, where he won six Liga FPD titles and the CONCACAF Champions League. He subsequently moved to Spanish club Albacete in 2010, and then to Levante in La Liga the following year, where he won the LFP Award for Best Goalkeeper in his final season with the latter club. Navas later joined Real Madrid in 2014 for €10 million, where he won a total of twelve titles, including one La Liga and three consecutive UEFA Champions League titles as the first choice goalkeeper. In 2019, he was signed by French club Paris Saint-Germain, and would play in his fourth Champions League final in his first season with the side. Navas has made over 110 appearances for Costa Rica since debuting in 2008. He has represented the country at two CONCACAF Gold Cups and the 2014, 2018, and 2022 editions of the FIFA World Cup. He was a Costa Rica national team member who reached the semi-finals of the 2009 CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which he was named best goalkeeper. His impressive performances also helped the team reach the quarter-finals of the World Cup for the first time in 2014. Navas was awarded CONCACAF Men's Goalkeeper of the Year for three consecutive years between 2016 and 2018. He was also named the best male CONCACAF Player of the Decade by the IFFHS. His performances in the 2017–18 season earned him the 2017–18 UEFA Club Football Award for best UEFA goalkeeper, and also saw him named in the UEFA Champions League Squad of the Season of 2018.

2. Roberto Gayón (b. 1905)

With an HPI of 47.65, Roberto Gayón is the 2nd most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 20 different languages.

Roberto Gayón Márquez (born 1 January 1905 in San José, Costa Rica, date of death unknown) was a professional footballer who played as a forward who made two appearances for Mexico at the 1930 FIFA World Cup. Born in Costa Rica, he played for the Mexico national team. Gayón is deceased.

3. Paulo Wanchope (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 46.79, Paulo Wanchope is the 3rd most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 51 different languages.

Paulo César Wanchope Watson (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈpawlo wanˈtʃope]; born 31 July 1976), more commonly known as Paulo Wanchope, is a Costa Rican football coach and former professional footballer As a player he was a striker who notably played in the Premier League for Derby County, West Ham United and Manchester City. He also had spells in La Liga and Major League Soccer for Málaga and Chicago Fire as well as Herediano, Al-Gharafa, Rosario Central and FC Tokyo. He was capped 73 times by Costa Rica, scoring 45 goals. Wanchope is the second most prolific goalscorer in the history of the Costa Rica national football team, behind Rolando Fonseca, with 45 goals in 73 international matches. Having scored against Brazil in 2002 and a brace against Germany in 2006, Wanchope is the top goalscorer for Costa Rica in the FIFA World Cup, a record he shares with Rónald Gómez. As he is the former head coach of the Costa Rica national football team with a spell in charge between 2014 and 2015. He has also managed Herediano, Uruguay Coronado, CS Cartaginés and Pérez Zeledón.

4. Bryan Ruiz (b. 1985)

With an HPI of 45.44, Bryan Ruiz is the 4th most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 52 different languages.

Bryan Jafet Ruiz González (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈbɾaʝan ˈrwis]; born 18 August 1985) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer. A left-footed attacking midfielder, he also played as a second striker. Ruiz is the only Central American footballer to have played in the UEFA Champions League, the UEFA Europa League, and the CONMEBOL Copa Libertadores.

5. Hernán Medford (b. 1968)

With an HPI of 42.71, Hernán Medford is the 5th most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 25 different languages.

Hernán Evaristo Medford Bryan ( er-NAHN, Spanish: [eɾˈnam ˈmeðfoɾ(ð)]; born May 23, 1968) is a Costa Rican former football player and current coach of Sporting F.C. Highly regarded as one of the most important figures in the history of Central American football, Medford achieved success as both a player and a coach. As a player, Medford is fondly remembered in Costa Rica for two historic goals, both of which he considers his favorite, while playing for Costa Rica: the winning goal of a group stage match against Sweden to qualify to the knockout stage, and the winning goal of the Aztecazo, Mexico's first defeat in a non-friendly match at the Estadio Azteca. Numerous media outlets regard Medford as the most successful coach in Central America, as he also found massive success across the region, winning championships in Costa Rica, Honduras, and Guatemala. He also coached Saprissa to win the 2005 CONCACAF Champions' Cup, thus qualifying to the 2005 FIFA Club World Championship, finishing on the third place.

6. Luis Gabelo Conejo (b. 1960)

With an HPI of 41.93, Luis Gabelo Conejo is the 6th most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Luis Gabelo Conejo Jiménez (born 1 January 1960) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as a goalkeeper. He played mainly for Ramonense and Albacete, during a 17-year professional career. In 2009, the International Federation of Football History & Statistics named him the 34th best goalkeeper of the world for the period 1987–2008, and the seventh in Latin America. Conejo appeared for Costa Rica at the 1990 World Cup.

7. Rolando Fonseca (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 41.85, Rolando Fonseca is the 7th most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Rolando Fonseca Jiménez (born 6 June 1974) is a Costa Rican former professional footballer who played as a forward. Nicknamed El Principito (The little prince) and El Rolo, Fonseca usually played just off the main striker and was renowned for his ability to create opportunities for his teammates and his fierce long shot. With 47 goals, Fonseca is the Costa Rica national team's all-time top goalscorer.

8. Rónald Gómez (b. 1975)

With an HPI of 41.41, Rónald Gómez is the 8th most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 28 different languages.

Rónald Gómez Gómez (born 24 January 1975) is a retired Costa Rican football forward and manager. He is the current manager for Liga Nacional club Achuapa. An important player on the Costa Rica national football team during the 1990s and 2000s, Gómez is regarded as one of Costa Rica's best forwards, known for his rocket shots and top dribbling. Gómez is, along with Paulo Wanchope, the top scorer for Costa Rica in the FIFA World Cup with three goals.

9. Óscar Ramírez (b. 1964)

With an HPI of 41.27, Óscar Ramírez is the 9th most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Óscar Antonio Ramírez Hernández (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈoskaɾ anˈtonjo raˈmiɾes eɾˈnandes]; born 8 December 1964), is a Costa Rican former footballer who played as a midfielder and was most recently the manager of the Costa Rica national team. During the first half of the 2010s, he managed Alajuelense in two separate stints. Regarded as the most successful manager in the club's history, he won five league titles. Shortly after his second departure, he was appointed as the head coach of the Costa Rica national team. Ramírez is also known for being one of the few coaches to continue using the sweeper position after its waning days in the early 2000s.

10. Joel Campbell (b. 1992)

With an HPI of 40.88, Joel Campbell is the 10th most famous Costa Rican Soccer Player. His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Joel Nathaniel Campbell Samuels (Spanish pronunciation: [ɟʝoˈel ˈkambel]; born 26 June 1992) is a Costa Rican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Atlético Gonianiense on loan from Liga FPD club Alajuelense and the Costa Rica national team. Campbell joined Arsenal in 2011 and was thereafter loaned out to French side Lorient, Spanish club Real Betis and Greek outfit Olympiacos. He made his competitive Arsenal debut as the club won the 2014 FA Community Shield. He was again sent on loan to La Liga team Villarreal before he scored his first Arsenal goal in 2015. Campbell has so far earned over 140 caps for Costa Rica and was a member of the squad which won the 2014 Copa Centroamericana. He was also part of the Costa Rican side which reached the last eight of the 2014 FIFA World Cup, and played in the 2018 and 2022 editions as well. Campbell additionally helped Costa Rica get to the quarter-finals of the 2015, 2019, 2021 and 2023 CONCACAF Gold Cups, as well as the semi-finals of the 2017 Gold Cup.

People

Pantheon has 102 people classified as Costa Rican soccer players born between 1905 and 2004. Of these 102, 98 (96.08%) of them are still alive today. The most famous living Costa Rican soccer players include Keylor Navas, Paulo Wanchope, and Bryan Ruiz. The most famous deceased Costa Rican soccer players include Roberto Gayón, Lester Morgan, and Gabriel Badilla. As of April 2024, 26 new Costa Rican soccer players have been added to Pantheon including Juan Cayasso, Róger Flores, and José Carlos Chaves.