Carlos Humberto Ruiz Gutiérrez (born 15 September 1979), initially nicknamed ''El Pescadito'' or "The Little Fish" but later became ''El Pescado'' or "The Fish" (even by Spanish-speakers), is a Guatemalan former professional

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugb ...

. A product of CSD Municipal's youth academy, Ruiz has played for five MLS clubs (

Los Angeles Galaxy LA Galaxy, also known as the Los Angeles Galaxy, are an American professional soccer club based in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. The Galaxy competes in Major League Soccer (MLS), as a member of the Western Conference. The club began pla ...

FC Dallas FC Dallas is an American professional soccer club based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in Major League Soccer (MLS). The franchise began play in 1996 as a charter club of the le ...

Toronto FC Toronto Football Club (commonly known as Toronto FC or TFC) is a Canadian professional soccer club based in Toronto. The club competes in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The team plays its home matches at BM ...

Philadelphia Union The Philadelphia Union are an American professional soccer club based in Chester, Pennsylvania. The Union compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. Founded on February 28, 2008, the club began playing in 2010 ...

, and D.C. United), scoring 88 goals in 182 MLS regular-season matches and 16 goals in the post-season, which is the second most post-season goals in MLS history. In 2002, he was named the MLS's

Most Valuable Player In team sports, a most valuable player award, abbreviated 'MVP award', is an honor typically bestowed upon an individual (or individuals, in the instance of a tie) whose individual performance is the greatest in an entire league, for a partic ...

of the season. He was a member of the Guatemalan national team from 1998 to 2016. He is regarded to be the greatest Guatemalan footballer of all time. He served as captain, is the player with the most caps and is the all-time top scorer of the Guatemala national team. He played in five

World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are he ...

phases and in September 2016, he became the all-time top scorer in World Cup qualification with 39 goals, although his country never qualified for the tournament. In 2019, Ruiz worked for a television channel in

Miami Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at ...

Club career

Early career (1995–2002)

Ruiz, born in

Guatemala City Guatemala City ( es, Ciudad de Guatemala), known locally as Guatemala or Guate, is the capital and largest city of Guatemala, and the most populous urban area in Central America. The city is located in the south-central part of the country, ne ...

Guatemala Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by Hon ...

, started his footballing career in local club San Carlos. At the age of 12, he joined the youth divisions of Club Social y Deportivo

CSD Municipal Club Social y Deportivo Municipal, also known as Municipal or ''Los Rojos'' (the Reds), is a Guatemalan football club based in Guatemala City. They compete in the Liga Nacional, the top tier of Guatemalan football, and play their home matches a ...

, and at 16, he made his professional debut. He became a starter for Municipal and a young star in the Guatemalan league until 2000, when he traveled to

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

to play for a short time alongside compatriot Guillermo Ramírez at

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

club

PAS Giannina PAS Giannina Football Club ( el, ΠΑΕ ΠΑΣ Γιάννινα 1966), or with its full name Panepirotikos Athlitikos Syllogos Giannina ( el, Πανηπειρωτικός Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Γιάννινα, ''Panepirotic Athleti ...

. After a stint with PAS, he returned to Municipal.

LA Galaxy (2002–2005)

In January 2002, Ruiz signed with the

. He was initially skeptical, telling ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'', "I didn't know anything about MLS or soccer in the U.S. Everything we hear about Major League Soccer is not so good ... we hear that all the players come here to finish their careers." However, he found the level to be better than he imagined, saying: "In the beginning, I was not happy to come here. But after a couple of games and when I see the level of soccer here, I was excited to play here." Once in MLS, Ruiz shone immediately. In his debut season in 2002, Ruiz scored 24 goals (winning the

MLS Golden Boot The MLS Golden Boot (currently commercially termed "Audi Golden Boot") has been awarded since the 2005 season to Major League Soccer's regular–season leading scorer. The award replaced the MLS Scoring Champion Award that was awarded since the le ...

), leading the Galaxy to the

MLS Cup The MLS Cup is the annual championship game of Major League Soccer (MLS) and the culmination of the MLS Cup Playoffs. The game is held in November and pits the winner of the Eastern Conference Final against the winner of the Western Conferen ...

by scoring the 2nd

golden goal The golden goal or golden point is a rule used in association football, lacrosse, field hockey, and ice hockey to decide the winner of a match (typically a knock-out match) in which scores are equal at the end of normal time. It is a type of sud ...

in MLS Cup history, a year after

Dwayne de Rosario Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt (born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. De Rosario last played for the Mississauga MetroStars of the Major Arena Soccer League ...

was the first to accomplish the feat in 2001. He was named the MLS Most Valuable Player that year. In the playoffs, he scored eight goals and added two assists, totaling 18 points and setting an MLS record for goals and points in a single postseason. Ruiz' overtime goal in extra time of

MLS Cup 2002 MLS Cup 2002 was the seventh edition of the MLS Cup, the championship match of Major League Soccer (MLS), which took place on October 20, 2002. It was hosted at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, and contested by the New England Re ...

gave Galaxy the title. In his second season, Ruiz cooled off significantly, but the forward still finished the season tied with

Taylor Twellman Taylor Timothy Twellman (born February 29, 1980) is an American former soccer player who played professionally from 1999 to 2010. He now works in the media as a soccer television commentator. Twellman is best known for his play with the New Eng ...

for the league lead in goals with 15. He continued to statistically drop in 2004, scoring 11 goals. Ruiz had trials at English side

Wolverhampton Wanderers Wolverhampton Wanderers Football Club (), commonly known as Wolves, is a professional football club based in Wolverhampton, England, which compete in the . The club has played at Molineux Stadium since moving from Dudley Road in 1889. The club' ...

in the 2003–04 season.

FC Dallas (2005–2007)

In 2005, when

Landon Donovan Landon Timothy Donovan (born March 4, 1982) is an American former professional soccer player. Donovan is also the co-founder and vice-president of soccer operations for USL Championship side San Diego Loyal SC, and serves as strategic advisor f ...

expressed his desire to return to MLS, the Galaxy traded Ruiz to

for the #1 allocation in the MLS pecking order, so that they could acquire Donovan. Ruiz finished his first year in Dallas with 11 goals and two assists. During the postseason in the conference semifinals, Ruiz scored two goals in the second leg match against the

Colorado Rapids The Colorado Rapids are an American professional soccer club based in the Denver metropolitan area. The Rapids compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Founded in 1995, as part of the Anschutz Corporation, lat ...

, but FC Dallas were eliminated on

penalty kicks A penalty shot or penalty kick is a play used in several sports whereby a goal is attempted during untimed play. Depending on the sport, when a player commits certain types of penalties, the opposition is awarded a penalty shot or kick attempt. ...

. In February 2006, MLS fully bought Ruiz's contract rights from his former club,

Municipal A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the ...

, and FC Dallas was able to negotiate a multi-year deal. In March 2006, a

bicycle kick In association football, a bicycle kick, also known as an overhead kick, scissors kick, is an acrobatic strike where a player kicks an airborne ball rearward in midair. It is achieved by throwing the body backward up into the air and, before d ...

goal he scored against D.C. United was selected as the "Goal of the Decade" in MLS through online voting. During a 2007 game against the

Houston Dynamo Houston Dynamo FC (formerly officially, but still commonly, called the Houston Dynamo) is an American professional soccer club based in Houston. The Dynamo compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Western Conference. Establish ...

, Ruiz was involved in a controversial incident with Houston midfielder

Ricardo Clark Ricardo Anthony Clark (born February 10, 1983) is an American retired soccer player who played as a midfielder. He appeared for MetroStars, San Jose Earthquakes, Houston Dynamo and Columbus Crew SC in the United States, Eintracht Frankfurt in ...

. Following a corner kick in which the two players became entangled, Clark violently kicked Ruiz in the upper body as he lay on the pitch hoping to draw a foul. Ruiz then hit Clark's back with his knee during the subsequent play, and both players were sent off, with Clark also receiving the longest suspension in league history. Following the conclusion of the 2007 season, Ruiz appeared to be unwilling to return to Dallas and to be holding out for a move back to the Galaxy. Earlier attempts to produce a trade faltered due to Ruiz being a

grandfathered A grandfather clause, also known as grandfather policy, grandfathering, or grandfathered in, is a provision in which an old rule continues to apply to some existing situations while a new rule will apply to all future cases. Those exempt from t ...

Designated Player The Designated Player Rule, nicknamed the Beckham Rule, allows Major League Soccer franchises to sign up to three players that would be considered outside their salary cap (either by offering the player higher wages or by paying a transfer fee ...

, with the Galaxy already having other players in the same situation (

and

David Beckham David Robert Joseph Beckham (; born 2 May 1975) is an English former professional footballer, the current president and co-owner of Inter Miami CF and co-owner of Salford City. Known for his range of passing, crossing ability and bending ...

). In January 2008, FC Dallas traded Ruiz to the Galaxy for an undisclosed cash allocation and the Galaxy's natural second-round pick in the following year's MLS SuperDraft. At his departure, he said, "I did everything I could to win a championship with Dallas. Unfortunately, it did not happen."

Return to LA Galaxy and trade to Toronto FC (2008)

He spoke about the Galaxy to

ESPN ESPN (originally an initialism for Entertainment and Sports Programming Network) is an American international basic cable sports channel owned by ESPN Inc., owned jointly by The Walt Disney Company (80%) and Hearst Communications (20%). The ...

analyst Andrea Canales: "I still think the Galaxy is the best team in the U.S. They're the best organization. The Galaxy have always had famous players. They continue to be a team that people always follow," and added his personal relief to be on the Galaxy team, "I'm so glad I came to the Galaxy and not another team, because I would have felt like I was starting over." In the season opener, however, Ruiz suffered a knee injury and was unable to play for over a month. While Ruiz was injured, the Galaxy found unexpected striking potential in

Edson Buddle Edson Michael Buddle (born May 21, 1981) is an American retired Footballer who is currently the head coach of USL League Two side Westchester Flames. He is one of only 11 players to have scored 100 goals in Major League Soccer history. Buddle ...

, and even after coming back from the injury, Ruiz was notably still left off the travel roster for a high-profile game against D.C. United. He scored his first goal of the 2008 season on 19 July in a game against

New York Red Bulls The New York Red Bulls are an American professional soccer club based in the New York metropolitan area. The Red Bulls compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member of the Eastern Conference. The club was established in October 1994 and be ...

. Ruiz was traded on 19 August 2008 to

who in-turn released

Laurent Robert Pierre Laurent Robert (born 21 May 1975) is a French former professional footballer. He played as a left winger, and represented the France national team. Robert began his professional career in his native France before making a move to English ...

to make room for Ruiz. He was expected to help solve TFC's goal scoring woes as he had scored 82 goals in MLS at that point in his career, but he managed only five first team games in Toronto, during which he scored no goals. He was released by Toronto in early 2009 after they signed

Dwayne De Rosario Dwayne Anthony De Rosario OOnt (born May 15, 1978) is a Canadian former professional soccer player, who played as a forward or as an attacking midfielder. De Rosario last played for the Mississauga MetroStars of the Major Arena Soccer League ...

Olimpia (2009)

On 31 January 2009, Ruiz signed a contract with

Paraguay Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to t ...

an club

Olimpia Asunción Club Olimpia is a Paraguayan sports club based in the city of Asunción. The club promotes the practice of various sports with most importance given to the football, rugby and basketball sides, the former being the highest priority and most su ...

under the request of then-coach Ever Hugo Almeida. Ruiz and his compatriot Carlos Figueroa joined the club together. Both of the players were coached by Ever Hugo Almeida at CSD Municipal between 2001 and 2003. Ruiz joined Olimpia Asunción on a non-contract, but on the promise of signing a contract. Amongst Ruiz' most remembered goals, came in a 2–0 victory in the

Paraguayan superclasico Paraguay (; ), officially the Republic of Paraguay ( es, República del Paraguay, links=no; gn, Tavakuairetã Paraguái, links=si), is a landlocked country in South America. It is bordered by Argentina to the south and southwest, Brazil to th ...

against

Cerro Porteño Club Cerro Porteño is a professional Paraguayan football club, based in the neighbourhood of Obrero in Asunción. Founded in 1912, Cerro has won 34 Primera División titles and is one of the most popular football clubs in Paraguay. Its presi ...

and a free kick against

3 de Febrero 3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many soci ...

. He also scored a

hat trick A hat is a head covering which is worn for various reasons, including protection against weather conditions, ceremonial reasons such as university graduation, religious reasons, safety, or as a fashion accessory. Hats which incorporate mecha ...

against Rubio Ñu in a 5–3 victory for Olimpia. In total, Ruiz scored 10 goals in 18 appearances, becoming the team's leading goal scorer and the third leading goal scorer in the 2009 Torneo Apertura. Ruiz finished with Olimpia Asunción in June 2009. Ruiz departed the club before the 2009 Torneo Apertura finished. The decision of leaving Olimpia was because of the circumstances and was not his, as the club experienced it's worse administrative moment. Since departing Olimpia, Ruiz became friends with Denis Caniza, Mario Jara and Juan Lucero and remained in contact with them.

Puebla (2009–2010)

Ruiz signed with

Puebla Puebla ( en, colony, settlement), officially Free and Sovereign State of Puebla ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Puebla), is one of the 32 states which comprise the Federal Entities of Mexico. It is divided into 217 municipalities and its cap ...

on 30 June 2009 under head coach José Luis Sánchez Solá. On 25 July 2009, in a game against Tigres, he scored his first goal for Puebla on a penalty kick. He wore number 20, which is the same number he previously wore for LA Galaxy, FC Dallas, and the Guatemala national team.

Aris FC (2010)

Ruiz agreed to join Aris FC on 12 July 2010. He made his debut on 18 August 2010 in the playoff round of the Europa League against

Austria Wien Fußballklub Austria Wien AG (; known in English as Austria Vienna, and usually shortened to Austria (German: Österreich) in German-speaking countries, is an Austrian association football club from the capital city of Vienna. It has won the mos ...

, becoming the first Guatemalan footballer ever to appear in a

UEFA Union of European Football Associations (UEFA ; french: Union des associations européennes de football; german: Union der europäischen Fußballverbände) is one of six continental bodies of governance in association football. It governs fo ...

competition match. The first leg was played in

Thessaloniki Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its metropolitan area, and the capital of the geographic region of ...

with Ruiz netting on his debut to give Aris a 1–0 victory. In the second leg played in Vienna, Ruiz scored again in a 1–1 draw, giving Aris a 2–1 aggregate victory and sending them through to the

group stage A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses: # One or more competitions held at a single venue and concen ...

, where he scored one more goal against Rosenborg.

Philadelphia Union (2011)

After trialling with the club during the 2011 MLS pre-season, Ruiz signed with the

on 22 February 2011. On 26 March he scored Philadelphia's winning goal in the home opener of the

2011 MLS season Eleven or 11 may refer to: *11 (number), the natural number following 10 and preceding 12 * one of the years 11 BC, AD 11, 1911, 2011, or any year ending in 11 Literature * ''Eleven'' (novel), a 2006 novel by British author David Llewellyn *''El ...

against the

Vancouver Whitecaps FC Vancouver Whitecaps Football Club is a Canadian professional soccer team based in Vancouver. They compete in Major League Soccer (MLS) as a member club of the league's Western Conference. The MLS iteration of the club was established on March ...

. Ruiz also scored the "MLS Goal of the Week" in Week 10 of the season with a game-winning 35 yard strike against the Chicago Fire.

Veracruz (2011)

On 3 August 2011, Ruíz was transferred to Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. He scored his first goal for the club against Correcaminos during the 4th week of the 2011 Apertura tournament and finished the year with six goals in five matches. Ruiz remained a part of the club until 2013, though he was inactive for nearly a year.

D.C. United (2013)

On 31 January 2013,

announced that Ruiz would be rejoining the club. However, this move was cancelled after

Veracruz Veracruz (), formally Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave (), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Veracruz de Ignacio de la Llave), is one of the 31 states which, along with Me ...

refused to terminate Ruiz's contract. On 20 February 2013, DC United announced that the club had signed Ruiz via the MLS allocation process to a one-year deal. On 30 October 2013, DC United announced that they had declined the contract option on Ruiz.

Return to Guatemala (2014)

On 8 February 2014,

announced that Ruiz would be rejoining the club. He signed an 18-month contract that made him the highest paid footballer ever in

Central America Central America ( es, América Central or ) is a subregion of the Americas. Its boundaries are defined as bordering the United States to the north, Colombia to the south, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. ...

Return to FC Dallas (2016)

On 15 September 2016,

announced that they had signed Ruiz for a second stint with the club.

International career

Overall, Ruiz has earned 133 caps and has scored 68 goals for his country. He has played in

campaigns for the

FIFA World Cup The FIFA World Cup, often simply called the World Cup, is an international association football competition contested by the senior men's national teams of the members of the ' ( FIFA), the sport's global governing body. The tournament has ...

s of

2002 File:2002 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The 2002 Winter Olympics are held in Salt Lake City; Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother and her daughter Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowdon die; East Timor gains East Timor independence, indepe ...

2006 File:2006 Events Collage V1.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2006 Winter Olympics open in Turin; Twitter is founded and launched by Jack Dorsey; The Nintendo Wii is released; Montenegro votes to declare independence from Serbia; The 2006 ...

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

2014 File:2014 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Stocking up supplies and personal protective equipment (PPE) for the Western African Ebola virus epidemic; Citizens examining the ruins after the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapping; Bundles of wa ...

, and

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. He played his first international match on 11 November 1998, a friendly against

Mexico Mexico (Spanish language, Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a List of sovereign states, country in the southern portion of North America. It is borders of Mexico, bordered to the north by the United States; to the so ...

, and scored his first goal against

El Salvador El Salvador (; , meaning " The Saviour"), officially the Republic of El Salvador ( es, República de El Salvador), is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south ...

at the 1999 UNCAF Nations Cup. Ruiz represented Guatemala at the

1999 Pan American Games The 1999 Pan American Games, officially the XIII Pan American Games or the 13th Pan American Games, was a major international multi-sport event that was held from July 23 to August 8, 1999, in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada and surrounding towns and ...

. In 2000, as the

Guatemala national futsal team The Guatemala national futsal team represents Guatemala in international futsal competitions, such as the World Cup and the CONCACAF Championships, and is governed by the Federación Nacional de Fútbol. In March 2015, the Futsal league, as we ...

had begun its development, Ruiz was selected, along with other 11-a-side football players, as part of the squad that competed at the 2000 Futsal World Championship, hosted by Guatemala. He scored one goal in the tournament. After scoring eight goals in nine matches during the 2002 World Cup qualification campaign and already having a successful career in the MLS, Ruiz was the focal point of the Guatemalan team in qualifying for the 2006 FIFA World Cup, leading the team in scoring as they reached the final stage of the

CONCACAF The Confederation of North, Central America and Caribbean Association Football,, ; french: Confédération de football d'Amérique du Nord, d'Amérique centrale et des Caraïbes, . Dutch uses the English name. abbreviated as CONCACAF ( ; types ...

region. However, they would not qualify for the World Cup. On 14 June 2008, Ruiz broke

Juan Carlos Plata Juan Carlos Plata (born 1 January 1971) is a Guatemalan soccer coach and retired football striker. He is the highest-scoring player in the history of Guatemala's top division. As of January 2010, Plata has, except for Marc Lloyd-Williams, been ...

's all-time individual goal-scoring record for Guatemala by scoring four goals against

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia ( acf, Sent Lisi, french: Sainte-Lucie) is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. The island was previously called Iouanalao and later Hewanorra, names given by the native Arawaks and Caribs, two Ameri ...

in Guatemala's

2010 World Cup qualification Qualifying for the 2010 FIFA World Cup was a series of tournaments organised by the six FIFA confederations. Each confederation — the AFC (Asia), CAF (Africa), CONCACAF (North, Central America and Caribbean), CONMEBOL (South America), OFC (Ocea ...

opening match. Ruiz had scored 39 goals, four more than Plata's total. Ruiz also became the first Guatemalan player to score four goals in a World Cup qualification match. On 10 September 2008, Ruiz scored two goals against

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribb ...

in Guatemala's

in the 3rd match of the 3rd round of qualification of the

region. Those two goals extended his all-time individual scoring record for Guatemala to 41 goals, six more than Plata's total. On 9 February 2009, Ruiz announced his retirement from international football. However, on 4 January 2011, he stated that he was returning to international football, making the UNCAF 2011 championship to be held in Panama his first international tournament in two years. He then participated in the

2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup The 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup was the 11th edition of the CONCACAF Gold Cup competition, and the 21st CONCACAF regional championship overall in CONCACAF's 50 years of existence. The United States was the host nation. The competition started on June ...

, scoring one goal against

Grenada Grenada ( ; Grenadian Creole French: ) is an island country in the West Indies in the Caribbean Sea at the southern end of the Grenadines island chain. Grenada consists of the island of Grenada itself, two smaller islands, Carriacou and Pet ...

in the first round and another one against

in the quarterfinals in a 2–1 defeat. On 16 October 2012, Ruiz again announced his retirement from international competition after a 3–1 loss to the United States at

Livestrong Sporting Park Children's Mercy Park is a soccer-specific stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, and is the home of Sporting Kansas City. The stadium is located near Kansas Speedway, on the far west side of Wyandotte County, Kansas. It opened during th ...

, which eliminated Guatemala from 2014 World Cup qualification. However, he would return to play for Guatemala again and became the second Guatemalan player to appear in five World Cup qualification processes (

Juan Manuel Funes Juan Manuel Funes Fernández (born May 16, 1966), popularly known as ''Memín'' Funes is a Guatemalan football coach and former midfielder who played professionally for the three most successful clubs in Guatemala – Aurora F.C., Municipal, ...

being the first) when he started in the second round of the 2018 World Cup qualification in their opening match against

Bermuda ) , anthem = "God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , es ...

. On September 6, 2016, Ruiz scored 5 goals against

Saint Vincent and the Grenadines Saint Vincent and the Grenadines () is an island country in the Caribbean. It is located in the southeast Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, which lie in the West Indies at the southern end of the eastern border of the Caribbean Se ...

in his final farewell match for Guatemala. This gave him a total of 39 goals in 47 qualifying games and made him the highest goalscorer of all-time, from any country, in

FIFA World Cup qualification The FIFA World Cup qualification is a competitive match that a national association football team takes in order to qualify for one of the available berths at the final tournament of the (men's) FIFA World Cup. Qualifying tournaments are hel ...

history. Those 39 goals came against 14 different countries. They include five against each of Costa Rica, Antigua and Barbuda, and Saint Vincent and the Grenadines.

International goals

Ruiz is the most prolific goal-scorer in the history of the Guatemalan national team with 68 goals in 133 matches.
''Correct as of 7 October 2016''

Career statistics

Honours

;Municipal *

Liga Nacional de Guatemala Liga or LIGA may refer to: People * Līga (name), a Latvian female given name * Luciano Ligabue, more commonly known as Ligabue or ''Liga'', Italian rock singer-songwriter Sports * Liga ACB, men's professional basketball league in Spain * Liga ...

: Clausura 2000, Clausura 2002 ;Los Angeles Galaxy *

Supporters' Shield The Supporters' Shield is an annual award given to the Major League Soccer team with the best regular season record, as determined by the MLS points system. The Supporters' Shield has been annually awarded at the MLS Supporters' Summit since ...

(1):

;DC United * U.S. Open Cup:

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fa ...

;FC Dallas *

2016 File:2016 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Bombed-out buildings in Ankara following the 2016 Turkish coup d'état attempt; the Impeachment of Dilma Rousseff, impeachment trial of Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff; Damaged houses duri ...

Individual * All-time top goalscorer of FIFA World Cup qualification (39 goals) *

CONCACAF Gold Cup The CONCACAF Gold Cup ( es, Copa de Oro de la CONCACAF, french: Coupe D'or CONCACAF) is the main association football competition of the men's national football teams governed by CONCACAF, determining the continental champion of North Ameri ...

Top Goalscorer:

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; " Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discover ...

* MLS MVP: 2002 * MLS Cup MVP: 2002 * MLS Golden Boot (24 goals): 2002 * MLS Golden Boot (tie) (15 goals): 2003 * MLS All-Star Game MVP: 2003

Other MLS achievements

Ruiz is currently the 11th all-time leading goal scorer in MLS history. He is also th
All-Time Leading
Goal Scorer in MLS Playoff history with 16 goals in 17 games. He was also a nominee for the

2011 MLS All-Star Game The 2011 Major League Soccer All-Star Game, held on July 27, 2011, was the 16th annual Major League Soccer All-Star Game, a soccer match involving all-stars from Major League Soccer. The MLS All-Stars faced Manchester United of the English Premie ...

References

External links

* *
Detail of international appearances and goals
– www.rsssf.com – by Luis Fernando Passo Alpuin,

RSSSF The Rec.Sport.Soccer Statistics Foundation (RSSSF) is an international organization dedicated to collecting statistics about association football. The foundation aims to build an exhaustive archive of football-related information from around the ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruiz, Carlos 1979 births Living people Sportspeople from Guatemala City Guatemalan footballers Association football forwards C.S.D. Municipal players PAS Giannina F.C. players LA Galaxy players FC Dallas players Toronto FC players Club Olimpia footballers Club Puebla players Aris Thessaloniki F.C. players Philadelphia Union players C.D. Veracruz footballers D.C. United players Super League Greece players Major League Soccer players Major League Soccer All-Stars Paraguayan Primera División players Liga MX players Footballers at the 1999 Pan American Games Pan American Games competitors for Guatemala Guatemala international footballers 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2003 UNCAF Nations Cup players 2003 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2005 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2007 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2011 Copa Centroamericana players 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup players 2014 Copa Centroamericana players 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup players FIFA Century Club Guatemalan expatriate footballers Guatemalan expatriate sportspeople in Greece Guatemalan expatriate sportspeople in the United States Guatemalan expatriate sportspeople in Canada Guatemalan expatriate sportspeople in Paraguay Guatemalan expatriate sportspeople in Mexico Expatriate footballers in Greece Expatriate soccer players in the United States Expatriate soccer players in Canada Expatriate footballers in Paraguay Expatriate footballers in Mexico Expatriate footballers in France