Mexico have had their fair share of superstar strikers representing them on the global stage.
We all know Javier Hernandez and Raul Jimenez, but what about the legendary Hugo Sanchez, the third highest goal-scoring foreigner in La Liga history after Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo?
Or Luis Roberto Alves, top goalscorer at the 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup that Mexico won!
There's also Cuauhtemoc Blanco, considered to be one of the greatest Mexican footballers of all time!
But who is Mexico's most lethal attacker ever?
Let's take a look!
The greatest goalscorer for Mexico with 52 goals in 109 games, Javier Hernandez was an integral part of the national team setup for a decade.
'Chicharito' as he was famously called, made his debut for Mexico in September 2009 in a friendly game against Colombia, providing an assist for his team's only goal in a 2-1 loss.
He represented his nation at three World Cups in 2010, 2014 and 2018, respectively.
Chicharito was also part of Mexico's 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup, 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup, 2015 CONCACAF Cup and the Copa America Centenario.
The former Manchester United striker's most lethal performance for Mexico came at the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup when he scored a hat-trick against El Salvador.
One of the cult heroes of modern-day Mexican football, Jared Borgetti scored in every major international tournament he featured for his country.
His best performance at a tournament came at the 2005 FIFA Confederations Cup, when he scored three goals.
Borgetti scored 46 goals in 89 games for Mexico, with the majority of his goals coming in helping Mexico qualify for two World Cups.
The former Bolton Wanderers striker scored his first goal for Mexico on his debut against Ecuador in 1997, after which he was not selected in the national team for more than three years.
On his return, Borgetti scored his second international goal against Ecuador in 2000, before consistently being selected for Mexico and becoming a major threat up top.
One of the greatest Mexican footballers of all time, Cuauhtemoc Blanco revolutionised the deep-lying forward position in the early 2000s.
One of the best penalty takers of all time, Blanco scored 38 goals for his country.
He is also the first Mexican to score at three World Cup tournaments when he netted at the 1998, 2002 and 2010 editions. This record was later matched by Rafael Marquez and Chicharito.
Blanco is also the joint top goalscorer in Confederations Cup history with nine goals, alongside the legendary Ronaldinho.
An interesting fact about his Mexico career is that he had announced his retirement from international football after his 100th game in 2008.
However, Blanco came out of retirement in 2009 to help Mexico clinch their spot at the 2010 World Cup.
Joint fourth on the list of Mexico's all-time top goal scorers with 35 goals in 84 games is Luis Hernandez, who is also the joint-highest goalscorer in World Cups for Mexico, tied with Javier Hernandez.
The former LA Galaxy star's best performance for Mexico came at the 1997 Copa America, when he scored six goals to becoming the highest goal scorer at the tournament.
Hernandez, who was nicknamed 'El Matador', then finished among the top scorers at the 1998 World Cup, becoming the first Mexican player to score more than two goals in World Cup history.
His first and only hat-trick for the national team came against Estonia in 1998.
Carlos Hermosillo was once Mexico's all-time top goal scorer with 35 goals in 90 international games.
The striker was part of Mexico's World Cup squads in 1986 and 1994, but only got playing time in the latter edition, assisting two goals against Ireland and Italy respectively.
Hermosillo's best performance for Mexico came in their World Cup qualification game against St. Vincent in December 1992 when he scored four goals in a 11-0 win.
At club level, Hermosillo featured for eight different teams in his career including Club America, LA Galaxy and Guadalajara.
The sixth-highest international goal scorer in Mexico's history, Enrique Borja scored 31 goals in 65 games for El Tri.
He was part of two World Cup campaigns with his country in 1966 and 1970 respectively, in which he scored one goal, against France in 1966.
The Club America legend's best performance for his national team came in October 1972 when he scored a hat-trick against Costa Rica.
Joint-seventh on the list of Mexico's all time top goal-scorers in history, Luis Roberto Alves was the top scorer for Mexico at the Copa America 1993, where they finished as runners-up.
He helped Mexico win the 1993 CONCACAF Gold Cup, again topping the goalscoring chart with 11 goals.
With 30 goals in 84 games, Alves played alongside the legendary Hugo Sanchez as his strike partner for Mexico.
His physical strength and pace along with Sanchez's technical ability made them one of the most lethal attacking pairs in international football in the early 90s.
One of Mexico's great modern-day strikers, Raul Jimenez is the joint-seventh highest goal scorer for his country.
Jimenez has featured in 97 games for El Tri, scoring 30 goals since making his debut as a second-half substitute on January 30, 2013 against Denmark.
Arguably his best moment in a Mexico jersey came when he scored a bicycle kick goal against Panama in 2013 to help them qualify for the 2014 World Cup.
Jimenez's first and only international trophy win with the national team was the CONCACAF Gold Cup in 2019 ,where he was awarded the Golden Ball.
The Wolves striker has featured in Mexico's two World Cup campaigns in 2014 and 2018 respectively.
Only the second player in history to play three alternate World Cups, in 1978-1986-1994, Hugo Sanchez led Mexico to the quarter-final of the 1986 edition.
Out of his 29 goals for Mexico in 58 caps, the only World Cup goal of his career came in 1986 in a 2-1 win over Belgium.
After Mexico were suspended for the 1990 World Cup in Italy, Sanchez appeared in his final tournament in the USA in 1994, where Mexico suffered a round of 16 elimination.
One of the rare footballers to have scored four goals on their international debut, Luis Flores achieved that feat against Martinique in November 1983.
The striker, who made just one appearance at the World Cup in the 1986 edition, scored 29 goals in 78 games for Mexico.
It was Flores who played a crucial role in helping Mexico achieve qualification for the 1994 World Cup in the USA.
Tied with Hugo Sanchez and Luis Flores, Luis Garcia has scored 29 goals for Mexico, taking 78 games to achieve the feat.
His first goal and assist for the national team came in December 1991 in a 3-0 win against Hungary in an international friendly.
The versatile forward, who also featured heavily on the wings during his career, was known for his pace and trickery, as was witnessed at the 1994 World Cup when he scored both of his team's goals in their first round win against Ireland.
Position | Player | Games | Goals | Mexico career |
|---|---|---|---|---|
1. | Javier Hernandez | 109 | 52 | 2009 - present |
2. | Jared Borgetti | 89 | 46 | 1997 - 2008 |
3. | Cuauhtemoc Blanco | 120 | 38 | 1995 - 2014 |
4. | Carlos Hermosillo | 85 | 35 | 1984 - 1997 |
5. | Luis Hernandez | 90 | 35 | 1995 - 2002 |
6. | Enrique Borja | 65 | 31 | 1966 - 1975 |
7. | Luis Roberto Alves | 84 | 30 | 1988 - 2002 |
8. | Raul Jimenez | 97 | 30 | 2013 - present |
9. | Hugo Sanchez | 58 | 29 | 1977 - 1998 |
10. | Luis Flores | 62 | 29 | 1983 - 1993 |
11. | Luis Garcia | 78 | 29 | 1991-1999 |
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