SOCCER PLAYERS from New Zealand

Top 10

The following people are considered by Pantheon to be the top 10 most legendary New Zealander Soccer Players of all time. This list of famous New Zealander 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 New Zealander Soccer Players.

1. Chris Wood (b. 1991)

With an HPI of 60.17, Chris Wood is the most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 39 different languages on wikipedia.

Christopher Grant Wood (born 7 December 1991) is a New Zealand professional footballer who plays as a forward for Premier League club Nottingham Forest and captains the New Zealand national team. Wood started his senior career with Cambridge, Waikato and Hamilton Wanderers before moving to England to play for Premier League club West Bromwich Albion. He spent his time on loan to six different clubs before joining Leicester City in 2013. After a loan spell with Ipswich Town in 2015, he signed for Championship club Leeds United where he became the top scorer in the 2016–17 season, with 27 goals. Wood then joined Burnley for a club record fee, and became a consistent goalscorer for them in the Premier League, notching up 49 goals in 144 matches over four and a half seasons. In January 2022 he joined Newcastle United for £25 million (€29 million), making him the most expensive Oceania player of all time. Wood has been capped 82 times for the New Zealand national team and scored 44 goals, making him the all-time leading goalscorer for his country, and second overall (Men and Women) after Amber Hearn. He played for the team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, and was part of the squad that won the 2016 OFC Nations Cup.

2. Wynton Rufer (b. 1962)

With an HPI of 59.04, Wynton Rufer is the 2nd most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 49 different languages.

Wynton Alan Whai Rufer (born 29 December 1962) is a New Zealand retired professional footballer who played as a striker. He spent more than a decade of his professional career in Switzerland and Germany, achieving his greatest success at Werder Bremen, where he won a total of four major titles and finished the top scorer in the 1993–94 UEFA Champions League. He was also a member of the New Zealand national team in its first FIFA World Cup appearance in 1982. He was named the Oceania Footballer of the Century by the Oceania Football Confederation.

3. Winston Reid (b. 1988)

With an HPI of 54.84, Winston Reid is the 3rd most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 44 different languages.

Winston Wiremu Reid (born 3 July 1988) is a New Zealand former footballer. He is most known for his time as a defender with Premier League club West Ham United and captaining the New Zealand national team. He has also played for Midtjylland with loan periods at Sporting Kansas City and Brentford.

4. Ricki Herbert (b. 1961)

With an HPI of 48.87, Ricki Herbert is the 4th most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 26 different languages.

Ricki Lloyd Herbert (born 10 April 1961) is a New Zealand former footballer and manager. He is the current director of football at Hamilton Wanderers AFC. Herbert was formerly head coach of the New Zealand national team, stepping down after the side failed to qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. Herbert represented his country at the 1982 FIFA World Cup in Spain and coached the New Zealand national team at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, famously leading them through the tournament unbeaten. His most recent role in international football was as the head coach of the Maldives national football team.

5. Ivan Vicelich (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 47.71, Ivan Vicelich is the 5th most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 30 different languages.

Ivan Robert Vicelich (Croatian: Vicelić, Croatian pronunciation: [vitselitɕ]; VISS-ə-litch; born 3 September 1976) is a New Zealand former professional footballer who played as a centre-back or defensive midfielder. He is his country's and Oceania's most-capped international of all time with 88 caps between 1995 and 2013, and featured at the 2010 FIFA World Cup.

6. Archie Thompson (b. 1978)

With an HPI of 47.69, Archie Thompson is the 6th most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 31 different languages.

Archie Gerald Thompson (born 23 October 1978) is an Australian former professional footballer who played as a forward. He is also currently serving as a club ambassador for Melbourne Victory FC. Born in New Zealand, Thompson played youth football at the New South Wales Institute of Sport before going on to play numerous seasons in the National Soccer League and A-League. After eleven seasons with Melbourne Victory, he moved on to play for Heidelberg United in 2016. Thompson also played overseas, for Belgian Pro League side Lierse and for Dutch Eredivisie side PSV Eindhoven. Thompson has played over 50 times for the Australian national team, scoring 28 goals. He was in the squad for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the 2001 and 2005 FIFA Confederations Cups, the 2007 AFC Asian Cup, the 2008 Summer Olympics and the successful 2004 OFC Nations Cup. He holds the all time goal scoring record for a single international match, where he scored 13 goals in a 31–0 victory against American Samoa in 2001. In that same qualification campaign, Thompson scored 16 goals, which made him the top scorer. As of November 2024, Thompson is Melbourne Victory's all time top goalscorer, with 97 goals in all competitions, and is Melbourne Victory's most capped forward of all time, with 262 appearances in all competitions.

7. Andrew Barron (b. 1980)

With an HPI of 47.38, Andrew Barron is the 7th most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 21 different languages.

Andrew Barron (born 24 December 1980 in Invercargill) is a retired New Zealand association football player. Barron, naturally a central midfielder, combines full-time employment as an investment counselor and banker with semi-professional football. He last played for Kiwi FC in Samoa and was also an All White who played at the 2010 FIFA World Cup, making him one of the very few amateur All Whites in recent years.

8. Mark Paston (b. 1976)

With an HPI of 44.09, Mark Paston is the 8th most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 29 different languages.

Mark Nelson Paston (born 13 December 1976) is a New Zealand former professional football goalkeeper. He played for the Wellington Phoenix in the A-League from 2007 to 2013 before he retired from professional football. Paston represented New Zealand at Under-23 level and made his full All Whites debut against Indonesia in 1997, but did not feature in another full international until 2003. Paston was named in the New Zealand 2009 Confederations Cup squad to travel to South Africa, In 2009, he played in the World Cup Qualification playoff against Bahrain, saving a penalty and helping to secure New Zealand's qualification for the World Cup for only the second time in its history and he went all to play goalkeeper for the team in all of New Zealand's matches, including against Slovakia, Italy, and Paraguay.

9. Michael McGlinchey (b. 1987)

With an HPI of 43.39, Michael McGlinchey is the 9th most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 47 different languages.

Michael Ryan McGlinchey (born 7 January 1987) is a New Zealand former footballer who played as a midfielder. McGlinchey played youth football with Scottish club Celtic, where he made his professional debut. After spending time on loan to Dunfermline Athletic, he joined Central Coast Mariners in the A-League, where he made over 100 appearances. In his time at the club he spent periods on loan at Motherwell in 2010 and with Vegalta Sendai in 2014. He joined Wellington Phoenix in 2014 after securing a release from the Mariners. He returned to the Mariners in 2018, before returning to Scotland with Queen's Park and then Clyde in 2020. He then returned to Australia in 2022, to play for Weston Bears in the National Premier Leagues. McGlinchey represented Scotland at under-20 and under-21 level, but changed allegiance to New Zealand, his country of birth, at senior level. He was a member of the New Zealand national team at the 2010 World Cup and was one of New Zealand's over-age players at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He made over fifty appearances for New Zealand, scoring five goals.

10. Simon Elliott (b. 1974)

With an HPI of 42.03, Simon Elliott is the 10th most famous New Zealander Soccer Player.  His biography has been translated into 24 different languages.

Simon John Elliott (born 10 June 1974) is a New Zealand football manager and former player who most recently served as head coach of USL Championship side Sacramento Republic FC. A defensive midfielder, he spent his professional career in the |A-League, the |MLS and the Premier League. At international level, he made 69 appearances for the New Zealand national team, scoring 6 goals.