A goalkeeper who starred in both the U.S. national team and the English Premier League for nearly two decades.
Howard played 121 full internationals for the United States between 2002 and 2017, including 39 World Cup qualifiers in nine different years, and eight games at the World Cup in 2010 and 2014. His most famous game came in a losing effort against Belgium in the second round of the 2014 World Cup, when he set a World Cup record with 15 saves. Perhaps his most famous play was the long throw to Landon Donovan in midfield that started the counterattack on which the United States scored the stoppage-time goal against Algeria that gained it a place in the knockout rounds of the 2010 World Cup. He played all of the United States’ games in those two World Cups, as well as all five of the United States games in its run to the final of the 2009 Confederations Cup and seven of its 12 games en route to winning the 2007 and 2017 CONCACAF Gold Cups. He also was a member of the United States teams at the 2000 Olympic Games, the 2003 Confederations Cup, the 2006 World Cup and the 2016 Copa America.
Howard played 13 seasons in the English Premier League between 2003 and 2016, the first three of those for Manchester United and then 10 for Everton, where he became established as one of the leading stars in English soccer. During those seasons, he played a total of 399 league games, plus numerous games in various cup competitions. His long English career was sandwiched between two stints in MLS, for the MetroStars from 1998 to 2003 and the Colorado Rapids from 2016 to 2019. He played 185 regular-season games and five playoff games during his 10 MLS seasons. He also played in the 2020 USL season for Memphis 901.
His individual awards included being named to the MLS Best XI in 2001 and 2002, MLS Goalkeeper of the Year in 2001, the USSF men’s athlete of the year in 2008 and 2014 and the Futbol de Primera player of the year in 2014.
Inducted in 2024.
