Hooligan Soccer
·20 January 2025
Americans in the Champions League
Americans in the Champions League | OneFootball
While the number of Americans playing soccer professionally outside of the United States has been rising in the past 10 years, only a handful populate the rosters of Europe’s clubs. Within those clubs who compete at the highest level, the UEFA Champions League (CL), the numbers dwindle even lower. We’ve broken out every American player by CL club, and provided an evaluation of their impact within the ongoing campaign.
Christian Pulisic
- Position: Attacking midfielder
- Hometown: Hershey, PA
- Performance: Undoubtedly the most prominent and impactful American player in Europe, and the only one to have actually won a Champions League trophy (with Chelsea in 2022/23). This season, he’s recorded five starts with AC Milan, bagging 3 goals (including a much lauded Olimpico against Brugge) and an assist.
- Impact: High. Has the skill and experience to change games.
Gio Reyna
- Position: Attacking midfielder
- Hometown: New York City (but born in Sunderland, England)
- Performance: Gio has only played in a single Champions League match since suffering an injury in September on international duty with the USMNT.
- Impact: Very little.
Cole Campbell
- Position: Winger
- Hometown: Atlanta, GA
- Performance: The 18-year old was subbed on in their 1-0 victory over Sturm Graz in the 77th minute.
- Impact: Very little.
Cameron Carter-Vickers
- Position: Center defender
- Hometown: Southend-on-Sea, England
- Performance: Cameron has four starts in which Celtic went undefeated (3 draws and a win), but he did commit one of most farcical own goals against Brugge. Thankfully he wasn’t on the pitch for their 7-1 shellacking at the hands of Dortmund.
- Impact: Kinda big, but not always in a good way.
Auston Trusty
- Position: Center defender
- Hometown: Media, PA
- Performance: Auston has started five CL matches, including the Dortmund fiasco. He also subbed on for Cameron Carter-Vickers in their 5-1 win over Slovan Bratislava.
- Impact: Big. He and his countryman CCV (see above) anchor the Celtic defense
Weston McKennie
- Position: Midfielder
- Hometown: Dallas, TX
- Performance: McKennie has started 3 games, and walked on for 2 more. His best game came as a sub against Manchester City, where he scored a terrific volley six minutes after entering. He also scored in their opening 3-1 win over PSV.
- Impact: High.
Timothy Weah
- Position: Striker
- Hometown: New York, NY
- Performance: Tim only started once (against Aston Villa), but he regularly substitutes late in games to bring on added pace and an attacking threat. He recorded an assist against Manchester City, and has one yellow card.
- Impact: Medium. But he’s dangerous.
Falorin Balogun
- Position: Striker
- Hometown: New York, NY
- Performance: Balogun hasn’t been getting much playing time, clocking 95 minutes as a substitute over 3 games. He earned 1 yellow card , but his biggest contribution came late in the match against Dinamo Zagreb, where he drew a penalty. The resulting score tied the match.
- Impact: Minor, but potential explosiveness.
Malik Tillman
- Position: Winger; Attacking midfielder
- Hometown: Nüremberg, DE
- Performance: The only American to have started every game so far, Tillman can line-up on the left or right flanks. He had a November to remember, scoring once and providing 2 assists against Girona, then hitting 2 goals in 3 minutes to start a comeback over Shakhtar Donetsk. He also has two yellow cards.
- Impact: Huge.
Ricardo Pepi
- Position: Striker
- Hometown: El Paso, TX
- Performance: He’s trod the pitch four times as a substitute, for a grand total of 75 minutes, but his 96th minute goal against Shakhtar Donetsk capped a crazy come-from-behind victory.
- Impact: Outside of that one game, minimal.
Richard Ledezma
- Position: Midfielder
- Hometown: Phoenix, AZ
- Performance: Ledezma has 1 start and 4 other appearances in the campaign. No goals or assists, though he did get a yellow card against Paris Saint-Germain.
- Impact: Minor.
View publisher imprint
MORE STORIES
- Como
Udinese
Watch - Chennaiyin
Mohun Bagan SG
Watch - Bengaluru
Odisha
Watch - Hyderabad
Jamshedpur
Watch - East Bengal
Kerala Blasters
Watch - Viktoria Köln
Waldhof Mannheim
Watch - Torino
Cagliari
Watch - Energie Cottbus
Dynamo Dresden
Watch - ComoAtalanta
Watch - FC Goa
ChennaiyinWatch - SV Sandhausen
Saarbrücken
Watch - Napoli
Juventus
Watch - Empoli
Bologna
Watch - Milan
Parma
Watch - UdineseRoma
Watch - Mumbai City
Mohammedan
Watch - Lecce
Inter
Watch - Borussia Dortmund II
Arminia Bielefeld
Watch - Lazio
Fiorentina
Watch - Mohun Bagan SGBengaluruWatch
- Venezia
Hellas Verona
Watch
