Carlos Vela: The Legacy of the Best Mexican Player to Ever Play in MLS | OneFootball

Carlos Vela announced his retirement from professional soccer on May 27. His career in MLS will be viewed as one of the best by a Mexican international. For many, both on the national team and in public perception, Vela represents Mexico’s unfulfilled soccer potential.

And one night, he said “goodbye.” Carlos Vela hung up his boots at the age of 36. The Mexican international had played for Chivas, Arsenal, Salamanca, Osasuna, West Bromwich Albion, Real Sociedad, and LAFC. Like Gio Reyna of the United States men’s national team today, Vela was seen by Mexican pundits as a player with world-class potential. Despite his unquestionable ability, he didn’t find a true home until landing at Real Sociedad.

By the time Vela arrived in MLS with LAFC — a club he helped launch by becoming the face of the franchise — he had already been written out of the Mexican national team, more due to his own personal choice than his on field form.

Whatever the circumstances surrounding Vela as a player and national team star, at the MLS level, he was nothing short of fantastic. He was exactly the kind of player the league needed to succeed and shift the narrative surrounding previous Mexican stars in MLS.

Vela: The Best Mexican Player to Play in MLS

On paper, Vela’s numbers are unmatched when it comes to Mexican players in MLS, or Designated Players in general. He was an MLS Cup winner, a two-time Supporters’ Shield winner, and a U.S. Open Cup winner with LAFC.

Individually, he was named to three MLS Best XI teams, won the MLS MVP in 2019, and also took home the Golden Boot that year. He was a four-time All-Star and a two-time CONCACAF Champions League Best XI selection.

He also holds the record for most goals scored in a single MLS season (34 in 2019), and he was the fastest player in MLS history to reach 75 goals and 50 assists.

Off the field, Vela gave LAFC a strong connection to the Mexican fanbase looking for an alternative to the LA Galaxy. LAFC aimed to capture the hearts of Los Angeles’ urban community, and Vela was the face of that effort. He was also surrounded by young talent, including Diego Rossi and Eduard Atuesta.

Vela became the first player to score in the El Tráfico derby against the LA Galaxy, netting the first two goals in a game remembered for Zlatan Ibrahimović’s incredible debut. Vela finished his debut season with 15 goals.

In 2019, Vela had the best season of his MLS career, and one of the best in league history, scoring 38 goals in 36 games across all competitions. That season included his first MLS hat trick, which came in a 5–0 win over the San Jose Earthquakes.

Vela is the all-time leading scorer in El Tráfico with 12 goals and delivered countless jaw-dropping moments. One of his most memorable goals came against San Jose in August 2019, when he weaved through multiple defenders and slipped past the goalkeeper before calmly slotting the ball home.

In total, Vela scored 93 goals in 187 matches for LAFC, playing injured in two of those seasons. When compared to other big-name Mexican stars, only Cuauhtémoc Blanco and Jorge Campos — each for different reasons — come close in terms of delivering on all fronts in MLS, both in performance and in drawing crowds.

The league has seen its share of high-priced Mexican disappointments, including Rafa Márquez, Luis Hernández, Carlos Hermosillo, and more recently Giovani dos Santos and Chicharito Hernández.

A Passion for the Game

To many Mexican pundits, Vela’s Achilles’ heel was his “lack of passion” for the game. It’s one of the reasons often cited for why he never reached an even higher level. Vela himself admitted he never had the burning obsession for soccer that drives players like Lionel Messi or Cristiano Ronaldo. For him, soccer was a job, not a lifelong passion. That mindset shaped his career.

He showed moments of brilliance — perhaps most notably in the 2013-14 season with Real Sociedad, where he had 28 goal contributions, the fifth-most in La Liga — but lacked the relentless drive to dominate year after year in Europe. And in the brutal world of elite sports, that missing edge can make all the difference.

At 29, still at the peak of his powers and capable of competing in top European leagues, Vela chose a different path — one of balance, lifestyle, and personal happiness. To many in Mexico, choosing MLS was a fatal mistake and a growing trend among the country’s top talents: a reluctance to truly test themselves at the highest levels.

Carlos Vela and the Mexican National Team: The Big “What If”

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Vela was once seen as the future of Mexican soccer: A gifted forward with European pedigree and rare creativity. But after a fallout with the Mexican Football Federation in 2010, his relationship with the national team grew distant. Vela began skipping call-ups, citing personal reasons and mental fatigue.

What followed was a series of high-profile absences: the 2011 Gold Cup, the 2013 Confederations Cup, and, most notably, the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. In each case, the decision to stay away was his — not due to injury or exclusion.

Those years marked a golden window for Mexico, and Vela’s absence was always felt. Under Miguel Herrera, the team played bold, attacking soccer, but lacked a player with Vela’s vision and calmness in the final third. His skill set might have made the difference in matches that slipped away, like the heartbreaking loss to the Netherlands in 2014. Fans could only imagine what a Vela-Chicharito partnership might have accomplished on the world’s biggest stage.

When Vela finally returned for the 2018 World Cup, he delivered, scoring in Mexico’s group stage win against Korea. But by then, the narrative had shifted. He was no longer seen as the face of a generation, but rather as a gifted outsider who had passed on too many chances to lead.

Vela’s story with Mexico isn’t one of failure, it’s one of detachment. In choosing distance over devotion, Vela gave up the opportunity to become a national icon. Instead, he remains one of the sport’s most fascinating “what ifs.”

Maybe MLS and LAFC saw the very best version of Carlos Vela. And while some may criticize him for spending prime years in MLS, Vela was a star for a segment of fans that the league had long tried to attract.

Say what you will about him, but in the halls of MLS and LAFC, Vela is one of the best to ever do it. When Vela was happy, he delivered. And in LA, he was at peace.