Brian McBride

A forward who starred in three World Cups and became one of the most acclaimed Americans ever in European club soccer.

McBride played 95 full internationals for the United States between 1993 and 2006, and finished his national-team career with 30 goals, at the time second in national-team history only to Eric Wynalda. Those 95 caps included 25 World Cup qualifiers in 1996, 1997, 2000, 2001, 2004 and 2005, and nine World Cup games in 1998, 2002 and 2006. McBride scored goals in three of those World Cup games, against Iran in 1998, against Portugal in 2002 and against Mexico in 2002. He became one of the most photographed players of the U.S. national team, particularly for his celebration after scoring against Portugal in 2002 and for walking off the field with blood streaming down his face after being elbowed by an Italian player in 2006.

McBride played seven seasons with three different English clubs, but two of those were short-term loan stints. During his five seasons with Fulham in the English Premier League, he scored 41 goals in 154 games, becoming a favorite of the London team’s fans and captain of the squad in his final season there. Sandwiched around his time in England, he played 11 seasons in MLS, from 1996 to 2003 with Columbus and from 2008 to 2010 with Chicago. He played 248 games in his MLS seasons, scoring 90 goals, and won a U.S. Open Cup title in 2002 with Columbus. Before joining Fulham in early 2004, he had played briefly for Wolfsburg in Germany and for Preston North and and Everton in England.

In addition to his World Cup efforts, McBride played for the United States in the 1999 Confederations Cup, the 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup and the 2008 Olympic Games. He played all five of the United States’ games in the 1999 Confederations Cup, when it made a run to the semifinals, and scored two goals in those games.

Inducted in 2014.