Chris Wondolowski Elected to National Soccer Hall of Fame

Chris Wondolowski always was a later bloomer.

It took him two years before he started filling the net for Chico State University. The same can be said about his early years in Major League Soccer — before he learned how to make life miserable for opposing defenders and goalkeepers as an elite goalscorer.

“One of the great things about Chico is it allowed me to be a late bloomer,” Wondolowski told NCAA.com in 2019. “Just like my MLS career, I developed later. I started off early and learned a lot, but I’m a late bloomer more than anything.”

In 2021, Wondolowski finished his 17-year MLS career as the league’s all-time leading scorer, bagging 171 goals in 413 regular-season matches. He was recognized for his scoring prowess on countless occasions, including being named the league MVP and securing two Golden Boots, three MLS Best XI selections and appearances at five MLS All-Star Games.

And “Wondo” will receive the most prestigious honor of his career when he is inducted into the National Soccer Hall of Fame in Frisco, Texas, on May 1, 2026. He was elected from the Player Ballot.

The 6-foot, 165-pound striker played the game at a furious pace, no matter the competition.

“Watching this guy show up on a Sunday morning for a Reserve League game and he’d play like it’s a World Cup final,” former San Jose Earthquakes teammate Jason Hernandez told The New York Times in 2020. “It was one of the most infuriating things you could imagine. You’re trying to get some competitive games in, you’re upset a little bit that you weren’t picked the night before for the first-team game, and this guy is literally chasing down every ball in the channel, every ball in the corner, does not stop moving.

“And in your mind, you’re thinking, ‘I want to kill this kid. I can’t deal with this right now.’ ”

Another ex-Quakes teammate, Steven Lenhart, put it this way: “First impression of Wondo: The guy’s an anxious talker. He’s engaging, curious. And then on the field, complete psychopath. Nothing makes sense with Wondo.”

Growing up, Wondolowski played just about every sport imaginable.

“Chris had a football in his crib,” his father, John, told MLSSocer.com in 2019. “He shot at an indoor basketball hoop as soon as he could stand on his two feet. And he could hit my wiffle ball pitches before he was 2 years old. His two brothers were similarly wired … We started a very long tradition of Turkey Bowls: 2v2 football games on Thanksgiving. That evolved into 2v2 basketball games at Christmas.

“And in recent years, we’ve even added a healthy dose of golf since we can’t tackle Chris anymore for obvious reasons.”

Starring for De La Salle High, he earned All-Bay Valley Athletic League and All-East Bay first-team all-star selections in 2000 and 2001. He also was named Contra Costa Times East Bay player of the year in his senior season as he led the school to the sectional final. Wondo played club ball in the Diablo Valley Soccer League and Danville Mustang Soccer Association.

He also ran the mile in 4:15, qualifying for the California state championships. After turning down a track scholarship from UCLA, Wondolowski decided to attend Chico State to play his favorite sport: “Soccer is my first love,” he said.

In college, he scored 39 times in 84 matches from 2001 to 2004.

“He’s our thoroughbred,” Chico State coach Mike O’Malley told the Enterprise-Record in 2003. “I knew he’d be a special player, but I didn’t think he’d be this good.”

The Earthquakes chose Wondolowski as the 41st overall pick of the 2005 MLS Supplemental Draft. Including the MLS SuperDraft, that meant he was 89th out of 96 players selected. He signed for $11,000.

Despite tallying a team-high eight goals in 12 reserve matches, Wondolowski saw little action as a rookie. After the Quakes moved to Texas to become the Houston Dynamo in 2006, he found the net four times over 37 appearances in the next 3 ½ seasons.

He played the majority of his games with the reserve squad, striking for a team-best 13 goals in 11 contests.

On Aug. 23, 2006, Wondo got an opportunity to start in Houston’s 3-0 home victory over FC Dallas in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup quarterfinals, slotting home the third goal, off a rebound from a Dwayne De Rosario free kick in the 61st minute. Seven days later, Wondolowski tallied his first professional goal in the 42nd minute of a 2-2 draw at the Chicago Fire in Bridgeview, Ill., tapping home Alejandro Moreno’s feed past goalkeeper Zach Thornton.

Still, there was little indication that those moments would be the start of something big.

The turning point came on June 10, 2009, when he was traded from Houston back to San Jose for forward Cam Weaver and a conditional draft choice.

It wasn’t until the 2010 season that MLS and the world learned how lethal Wondolowski could be. He struck for 18 goals in 26 games, winning the league’s Golden Boot and pacing the Earthquakes to the MLS Cup Playoffs.

Former Quakes midfielder Khari Stephenson said much changed during that campaign when coach Frank Yallop experimented with the lineup.

“They put him out left wide, and he scored two goals,” Stephenson told the Mercury News in 2015. “They moved him to the right side, and he scored. He has the ability to score goals from any position.”

Wondolowski scored double-digit goals for a league-record 10 consecutive seasons, from 2010 to 2019. That included 27 during a dream season in 2012, tying a league record set by Tampa Bay’s Roy Lassiter in 1996, while winning league MVP and Golden Boot honors as the Earthquakes claimed the Supporters’ Shield. (That 27-goal mark has been surpassed three times since, with LAFC’s Carlos Vela holding the new record of 34 goals in 2019.)

En route to No. 171, Wondolowski reached several milestones.

On May 24, 2015, he became the ninth player in MLS history to score 100 goals in the Quakes’ 1-1 draw against Orlando City SC.

Typical Wondo: He was more concerned about the result than his accomplishment after beating goalkeeper Tally Hall on a 68th-minute penalty kick. He pumped his fist enthusiastically and raced back to the center spot with the ball. He did not celebrate with his teammates, focused on trying to get a game-winner.

He scored No. 100 in 210 appearances, becoming the second-fastest player behind Taylor Twellman (174) to reach the century mark and tying Edson Buddle for eighth place on the MLS goal list.

“I grew up a fan of this club, so to be able do it for my hometown team in front of my friends and family is pretty cool,” Wondolowski told MLSSoccer.com. “I got to give my dad a hug after, and he had tears in his eyes. He was my first coach and has helped me along the way. That’s what makes it special.”

Quakes head coach Dominic Kinnear applauded Wondo’s accomplishment.

“It’s an incredible achievement, couldn’t happen to a nicer guy,” he told MLSSoccer.com. “It’s not the end of his story, but it’s a great accomplishment for a person who has overcome a lot and done a lot of it on his own.

“The guy takes the practice field every day and wants to do one thing: He wants to play and score. His improvement over the years has been a great progression.”

On May 18, 2019, Wondolowski entered the game against the Chicago Fire one goal shy of Landon Donovan’s MLS record (145). He smashed the mark with a flourish, connecting four times in a 4-1 triumph to increase his total to 148.

He tallied the record-tying goal in the 21st minute before setting the new standard three minutes into the second half. An innocuous cross from Nick Lima floated into the box, but when goalkeeper David Ousted fumbled the ball, Wondolowski was in the right place at the right time to knock it home. He added goals in the 74th and 76th minutes.

“I always wanted to do it and be done with it,” he told the Mercury News. “I didn’t picture a day like this.”

Wondolowski envisioned his record goal would have come via a 30-yard blast.

“I probably crashed in on every shot like that 1,000 times,” he added. “And 999 times, he catches it and holds it and I have to run back.”

Added teammate Shea Salinas: “It’s a perfect way to break the record. He’s so vigilant around the box. The ball falls, and he’s right where he needs to be and he pokes it in.”

He also scored 11 goals in 35 appearances with the U.S. Men’s National Team, from 2011 to 2016. In a 6-1 win over Belize in the 2013 Concacaf Gold Cup, he recorded a hat trick while wearing a shirt that misspelled his name as Wondowlowski.

Late in what turned into a 2-1 extra-time elimination loss to Belgium in the Round of 16 of the 2014 World Cup, he missed an opportunity that would have given the U.S. a 1-0 lead.

“I’m gutted to have let down everyone but especially my teammates,” Wondolowski told the Mercury News.

Wondolowski planned to retire after the 2020 season but decided to return for another year. He scored five times in 32 games (nine starts). Fittingly, the 38-year-old tallied his 171st goal in his final appearance, a 1-1 draw with FC Dallas on Nov. 7, 2021.

After the game, he addressed the fans at PayPal Park.

“I wanted to do this in front of fans instead of in front of a bunch of cameras,” Wondolowski said. “I wanted to do this in front of you because you guys have been there from day one. This is the last run. I told myself I would cry, and I knew that tears would be coming, but thank you guys. It’s been an amazing ride. I can’t thank you guys enough. …

“The cool thing is that I get to do this with my hometown team. Thank you, guys for this wonderful ride.”

Wondo hasn’t ventured too far from the Quakes. He currently serves as the club’s U-23 Individual Development Programming Head, focusing on the individual development of first-team players, while working with The Town FC, the club’s MLS NEXT Pro team, and Quakes Academy.