Efrain Alvarez

Efraín Álvarez was fifteen when he signed with LA Galaxy II in August 2017, becoming the youngest player in USL history to put pen to paper on a professional contract. Two years of goals at that level — thirteen in twenty appearances — earned him the USL Championship's Young Player of the Year award and a Homegrown deal with LA Galaxy in March 2018, where he spent four seasons in the first team. He left for Club Tijuana in September 2023, and from there Chivas paid a reported $8 million to sign him in May 2025 on a four-year contract, taking the number 10 shirt at Guadalajara.

Born in East Los Angeles, Álvarez chose to represent Mexico rather than the United States. That decision paid off through a run of continental honours: he was part of the Mexico side that finished runner-up at the 2019 FIFA U-17 World Cup and won the CONCACAF U-17 Championship the same year, before stepping up to senior international football. He has since won the CONCACAF Nations League with Mexico in 2024–25 and lifted the Gold Cup in 2025, having also reached the final of that tournament in 2021. His senior international scoring account opened against Bolivia in May 2024.

The attacking midfielder, left-footed, has continued to draw individual recognition beyond the trophies, including a Liga MX Goal of the Year award in the 2025–26 season with Chivas.