10 Oldest Goal Scorers in MLS History (Ranked)

While it is often said that age is just a number when it comes to players with exceptional precociousness, this assumption is no less true when it comes to their elders. As the years go by and resources evolve, it is increasingly common to see great sportsmen and women bowing out at an age deemed advanced in their field.

Footballers are no exception, as the recent performances of Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi demonstrate. At 37, Messi, who now plays for Inter Miami CF, is a big hit with his team. And yet, for all his qualities and his much-debated status as one of the greatest players of all time, some records still elude him.

Starting with the record for the oldest goalscorer in MLS history — which he will probably never be able to afford. After all, there are many players older than him who have scored in North America. GIVEMESPORT brings you the list of the 10 oldest.

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10 Marco Di Vaio

38 years, 3 months and 10 days

• Club:CF Montreal
• Position: Forward
• Nationality: Italy
• Date of MLS last goal: October 25, 2014

After spending most of his career playing in Serie A, Marco Di Vaio has arrived in MLS. Recruited by the Montreal Impact (now CF Montreal) in the summer of 2012, the Italian international (14 caps, two goals) got off to a rocky start, having to wait eight games before finally finding the back of the net.

It was an electroshock goal for the striker, who went on to prove a formidable performer and help the Canadian club win several titles. Signed on an eighteen-month contract, the Rome-born striker ended his Montreal adventure in October 2014 with a goal in his final match for the Bleu-Blanc-Noir. An idyllic end.

9 Brian McBride

38 years, 4 months and 5 days

• Club:Chicago Fire FC
• Position: Forward
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS last goal: October 24, 2010

Like Di Vaio, Brian McBride has made his way into the rankings with a goal in his final MLS match. In the twilight of a career marked by spells at VfL Wolfsburg, Columbus Crew SC and Fulham, the striker decided to leave Europe and end it on home soil. He joined Chicago Fire FC in 2008, fulfilling his desire to play for his hometown club.

With the Fire, McBride made 72 appearances and scored 21 goals, including what he thought would be the last of his career (he would return in 2012 to help Wembley FC win the FA Cup) against Chivas USA.

8 Didier Drogba

38 years, 6 months and 7 days

• Club:CF Montreal
• Position: Forward
• Nationality: Ivory Coast
• Date of MLS last goal: September 18, 2016

Didier Drogba is undoubtedly one of the most famous players ever to set foot on an MLS pitch. Top scorer for the Ivory Coast national team, the striker signed for CF Montreal in 2015. Scoring 11 times in 11 league appearances in his first season, the former Olympique de Marseille star soon made a name for himself.

And although his second season fell somewhat short of the first (mainly due to a number of physical problems), Drogba still managed to score 10 goals in 22 regular season games and helped the Montreal club reach the Conference East final, which they eventually lost to Toronto FC.

7 Giorgio Chiellini

38 years, 6 months and 18 days

• Club:Los Angeles FC
• Position: Defender
• Nationality: Italy
• Date of MLS last goal: March 4, 2023

Giorgio Chiellini may only have 31 MLS games under his belt, but that is enough to put him in seventh place. Recruited by LAFC in 2022, the legendary Italian defender naturally established himself as a first-choice starter, despite his various absences from the squad.

And it was in March 2023, just a few months after his club had lifted the first MLS Cup in its history, that the European champion scored the first — and only – goal of his career in North America’s top flight. It was a goal that the former Juventus man dedicated to Davide Astori, the Italian footballer who died in his sleep of a heart attack in 2018.

6 Chris Henderson

38 years, 7 months and 8 days

• Club:NY Red Bulls
• Position: Midfielder
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS last goal: July 19, 2009

There are a thousand and one ways for a player to command respect. In the case of Christopher Henderson, it is certainly because of his longevity. Over the course of a career spanning almost 30 years, the midfielder has worn the colors of numerous MLS clubs, as well as some from the Old Continent.

But in 2006, it was the New York Red Bulls that the USA international (79 caps, three goals) chose to wear before finally hanging up his boots. It was a final adventure in which Henderson took part in 32 regular-season matches and scored the last three goals of his career. A well-deserved rest.

5 Chris Wondolowski

38 years, 9 months and 11 days

• Club:San Jose Earthquakes
• Position: Striker
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS first goal: November 8, 2021

There are few MLS rankings in which Chris Wondolowski does not feature. The top scorer in the league’s history and the seventh player with the most appearances, the San Jose Earthquakes serial goalscorer is also one of its oldest scorers.

A mark set at the age of 38 years, nine months and 11 days, on November 8, 2021, in a match against FC Dallas in the final match of his illustrious career. A true legend of the North American soccer championship, the USA international (35 caps, 11 goals) is also considered one of the greatest strikers of all time. A status he richly deserves.

4 Claudio Suarez

38 years, 9 months and 12 days

• Club: Chivas USA
• Position: Full-back
• Nationality: Mexico
• Date of MLS last goal: September 29, 2007

A defender with Chivas USA from 2006 to 2010, Claudio Suarez has a total of nine goals in 64 MLS appearances. Having scored six of them in his first season — a remarkable record for a player operating in his position — the second most capped player in El Tri‘s history (177 appearances, six goals), scored the other three the following season.

Indeed, in September 2007, when Suarez beat Matt Pickens, the Chicago Fire FC goalkeeper, to earn his side a tie, he had no idea that it would be the last time he would see a ball hit the back of the opposing net.

3 Kei Kamara

39 years, 10 months and 3 days

• Club: LAFC
• Position: Striker
• Nationality: Sierra Leone
• Date of MLS last goal: July 5, 2024

If Kei Kamara continues to play in MLS in 2025, every goal he scores from now on will enable him to set a new mark in this ranking. Although he is the only player still active in the game, the Sierra Leone striker does not seem ready to say goodbye to the green rectangle just yet.

Still used 27 times in the last regular season, the LAFC striker was decisive eight more times (three goals, five assists). To top it all off, his latest goal, on July 7, came in the Trafico match against rivals Los Angeles Galaxy. All the more reason to boost his confidence and, why not, look ahead to a more or less short-term future.

2 Carlos Valderrama

41 years and 23 days

• Club:Colorado Rapids
• Position: Midfielder
• Nationality: Colombia
• Date of MLS last goal: September 25, 2002

Considered one of the best South Americain players in MLS history, Carlos Valderrama is remembered not so much for the number of goals he scored during his career, but for all the qualities that made him a fantastic midfielder — including his vision of the game and his ability to find impossible angles for passes.

Many of these qualities he put to good use in a number of MLS teams, where he played for the Miami Fusion, Tampa Bay Mutiny and Colorado Rapids, where he decided to call time on his career. In fact, 27 days after blowing out his 41st birthday candle, the Colombian decided to give himself the final gift of his career, a goal against the LA Galaxy in a match with an incredible scenario.

1 Preki

42 years, 3 months and 21 days

• Club:Sporting Kansas City
• Position: Midfielder
• Nationality: USA
• Date of MLS first goal: October 15, 2005

An absolute legend in the league, Preki is the only player in its history to have been decorated with the MVP award. A member of the Kansas City Wizards squad in the inaugural season in 1996, he spent time with the Miami Fusion before returning to the Wizards to end his career.

And like many of his peers in this ranking, it was in his final MLS appearance that the midfielder scored his 79th and final goal in North American soccer’s elite – in 242 appearances. The Belgrade native was 42 years, three months and 21 days old at the time.

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