Héctor Miguel Herrera López

Few Mexican players have left as deep a mark on FC Porto as Héctor Herrera. Signed from Pachuca for €8 million in June 2013, he started in the club's B team before establishing himself in the senior side, where he eventually took the captain's armband. He scored the goal that decided the 2017–18 Primeira Liga title against Benfica and added the Supertaça Cândido de Oliveira the following season. In December 2015 he became the first Mexican to win Porto's "Dragão de Ouro" award as the club's Player of the Year, and by the time he left he had made more Champions League appearances than any other Mexican footballer, 55 in total.

A free transfer took him to Atlético Madrid in July 2019, where he was part of the squad that won La Liga in 2020–21. He first arrived at the Houston Dynamo in March 2022 as a Designated Player, helping the club lift the 2023 U.S. Open Cup and setting club scoring records along the way. That spell ended in November 2024, when his contract was not renewed after he was sent off for spitting at a referee.

Herrera moved to Toluca in January 2025 and immediately became central to the club's success, winning back-to-back Liga MX titles: the Clausura 2025 final against Club América and the Apertura 2025, settled on penalties against Tigres. He left Toluca in January 2026 to rejoin the Dynamo on a contract through the 2026 MLS season, with a club option for 2027.

With the Mexican national team, Herrera has won more than 100 caps and played at three World Cups, in 2014, 2018 and 2022. He won Olympic gold with the under-23 side at London 2012, was named Best Player of that year's Toulon Tournament, and lifted the 2015 CONCACAF Gold Cup, later being named the competition's Best Player in 2021.