Henry Roldán
JefeBet is celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month 2022 and that’s why we bring you a very special list of the best Latino athletes in the history of the sport. Of course it was a tough choice and some names were left out, but we hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Top Best Latino Athletes in History So Far
Lionel Messi
The Argentinean is considered by many to be the best player in history and his career on the pitch speaks for itself.
In addition to winning a Copa America with the Argentina national team, Lionel Messi is the top scorer in the history of the Spanish League while playing with FC Barcelona and no one has won more “Balón de Oro” awards than him, having won seven during his successful career.
Diego Armando Maradona
While for some Messi is number one, for others Diego Armando Maradona is the best soccer player to ever touch a ball and one of the best Latin athletes on our list.
“El Pelusa” marked an era in Argentinean soccer by leading his country to a second World Cup in 1986, scoring the mythical “La Mano de Dios” goal and shining with his dribbling and magic in the uniforms of Boca Juniors, FC Barcelona and Napoli.
Pelé
Another one who enters the distinction of the best soccer players in history is Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as “O Rei Pelé”. The Brazilian striker won three World Cups and is one of the five players who have been in the final three times, as well as being the youngest to win it at the age of 17 years and 249 days.
Until recently, his 775 official goals were the highest number in history and his 643 with Santos of Brazil is the club’s number one.
Juan Manuel Fangio
Of the eleven Formula 1 titles won by Latin American drivers, five belong to the “Master of Speed”, the Argentinean Juan Manuel Fangio, who also won two runner-up titles in the competition.
For many years he held the record for most races won (25) and titles won, while remaining the driver with the best average number of victories, the only driver to win Formula 1 championships with four different teams and the longest champion driver in history at the age of 46 years and 41 days.
Marta
At 36 years of age, Marta Vieira da Silva is considered by many to be the best soccer player in history. In her successful career, she has won the FIFA World Player award six times, five of them consecutively between 2006 and 2010.
She also added The Best FIFA award in 2018, is the top scorer for the Brazilian National Football Team and no one has scored more goals than her in Women’s World Cups by registering 17 goals.
Mariano Rivera
The best closer in baseball history and the only player to be unanimously inducted into the Major League Baseball Hall of Fame is Latino and his name is Mariano Rivera. A native of Panamá, Rivera played 19 seasons with the New York Yankees where he collected 652 saves and five World Series titles.
In 2019, in recognition of his successful and neat career on the diamond, he was inducted into baseball’s Hall of Fame with 100 % of the votes.
Yulimar Rojas
At just 26 years of age, Venezuelan Yulimar Rojas is considered one of the best athletes in history, having revolutionized the world of the triple jump. In addition to winning the Gold Medal at the Tokyo 2021 Olympic Games with a world record of 15.67 meters, Rojas accumulates three outdoor world championships and three indoor world championships, implementing a new mark for the latter category by jumping 15.74 meters in 2022.
The Venezuelan was also recognized as the best female athlete of the year by Wolrd Athletics in 2020.
Emanuel ”Manu” Ginóbili
The recent NBA Hall of Fame inductee is considered the best Latino player to ever play in the NBA. After a great performance in Italy, where he won the MVP twice, Emanuel Ginóbilli made the leap in quality with the San Antonio Spurs, a team with which he won four finals and played a key role in their success.
He played in the All-Star Game twice, won the league’s Best Sixth Man award, is one of two players to win the Euroleague, NBA championship and Olympic Gold Medal, and no one has more steals in San Antonio history than him.
Julio César Chávez
Julio César Chávez, “the great Mexican champion,” is considered one of the best pound-for-pound fighters in boxing history, winning world titles in three different weight divisions: super featherweight, lightweight and super lightweight.
In total, one of the best Latin athletes in history, he was five times world champion and left a record of 107 victories, two very controversial draws and only six defeats. In fact, Chávez won his first 87 fights in the ring and in 2011 was inducted into the Latin American Boxing Hall of Fame.
Guillermo Vilas
The historic Argentinean tennis player ends our list of best Latin athletes thanks to an excellent career on the ATP Tour that kept him 83 consecutive weeks as number 2 in the world and could have climbed to number 1 had it not been for controversy with the publication of the ranking.
Guillermo Vilas won 62 ATP tournaments including four Grand Slams.He holds the record for most wins in a single season with 130 matches won in 1977, that same year set the record for most titles won (16) in a single season, holds the record for most consecutive matches won (45) and is the only player to win ATP tournaments on four continents (Europe, America, Africa, and Asia) in a single year.
