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Alan Pulido Izaguirre (born 8 March 1991) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a striker for Liga MX club Guadalajara.
Pulido began his career at Tigres UANL, having his professional debut in 2009. Contractual disagreements with the club led to his absence from the 2014 Apertura tournament. In February 2015, Pulido moved abroad to join Greek club Levadiakos, before signing for Olympiacos in the summer of that year. The following season, he won the Greek Super League. In August 2016, he joined Guadalajara for what was then a club-record fee of US$7.15 million. Winning the league Double, the 2018 CONCACAF Champions League, and various individual accolades, in December 2019, Pulido transferred to Sporting Kansas City, a move which set a new transfer record for the club.
Pulido represented the under-20, under-23, and senior Mexico national teams. He was called up to participate in the 2011 Copa América, the 2014 FIFA World Cup and the 2021 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
On 27 February 2010, Pulido made his Liga MX debut coming on as a substitute after the half-time break in the 0–3 defeat to Monarcas Morelia. He scored his first league goal on 13 April 2011 in the 4–2 win over Pachuca at the Estadio Universitario.
Pulido scored the third goal in the 3–1 second-leg victory of the 2011 Apertura Final against Santos Laguna on 11 December, winning his first league title and helping secure the club's third league title, the first in over thirty years. Throughout the tournament, Pulido was subdued to a substitute role, behind first-choice striker Héctor Mancilla, and received limited playing time.
He was a pivotal piece in the club's winning of the Clausura 2014 Copa MX, where he finished with the tournament's top scorer, scoring 11 times within 10 matches.
In November of that year, Pulido and his representative started a legal dispute against Tigres via the Mexican Football Federation, claiming the signature on the addendum of the contract was falsified. The Federation ultimately ruled in favor of Tigres, though another complaint was filed with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
On 9 March 2015, Pulido scored on his official league debut with Levadiakos in the 3–1 win against Platanias, and was named man of the match.
He completed the campaign with six games played and one goal scored as Levadiakos finished 14th in the table
On 13 January 2016, Pulido started his first match for Olympiacos in the Greek Cup match against AO Chania, scoring the fifth goal in the 6–0 victory. On 18 January, he made his debut with the club in the Super League in a 0–0 draw game against Platanias. Five days later, Pulido played all 90 minutes and scored the only goal in a 1–0 victory against Skoda Xanthi. On 28 February, Pulido scored the third goal in the 3–0 win over Veria, meaning Olympiacos won the league with six matches to spare, 21 points clear of second-place AEK Athens.
In April 2017, Guadalajara won the Clausura Copa MX final against Monarcas Morelia after defeating them in a penalty shoot-out in which he scored. The following month, the Clausura championship was disputed against his former club, Tigres UANL. In the first leg at Estadio Universitario, he scored the first goal in a 2–2 draw. In the return leg at Estadio Akron, he scored the first goal of the match again — a goal named as Goal of the Tournament — this time the final score being 2–1 in Guadalajara's favor meaning they were crowned champions for the first time since the Apertura 2006 and won their first Double since the 1969–70 season. He was included in the Clausura's Best XI and named as the tournament's most valuable player as well.
On 17 April 2018, during the first leg of the CONCACAF Champions League finals against Major League Soccer club Toronto FC, Pulido would score from a free kick, helping his team attain a 2–1 victory — the goal was named as Goal of the Tournament. Guadalajara went on to win the finals after defeating them in a penalty shoot-out 4–2 following a 3–3 aggregate draw; managing to score during the shoot-out.
Pulido finished the Apertura 2019 as one of the joint top goalscorers with 12 goals and was the first Mexican to score the most goals in a tournament since Ángel Reyna in the Clausura 2011 with 11 goals. Pulido was subsequently awarded the Golden Boot and included in the Apertura's Best XI.
On 29 February 2020, Pulido scored a goal in his debut match against Vancouver Whitecaps in a 3–1 victory. On 3 October, he returned to the lineup following a hamstring injury and scored his first brace in a 2–1 victory over Houston Dynamo, leading him to being named MLS Player of the Week.
At the end of the regular season, Pulido was nominated as a finalist for that year's MLS Newcomer of the Year Award and was awarded the club's Offensive Player of the Year award.
In June 2023, Pulido won the MLS Player of the Month award for the first time, scoring 6 goals and chipping in an assist in 5 games. He became the first Sporting Kansas City player in five years and the fourth Mexicans player to win the award.
Pulido was included in the roster that participated at said tournament, as Mexico placed third.
Pulido received his first call up to the senior national team by Luis Fernando Tena for the 2011 Copa América, a team largely composed of under-23 players due to the close proximity of the recently concluded Gold Cup, but did not appear in any matches.
On 23 March 2012, Pulido scored the opening goal in Mexico's 7–1 win over Trinidad and Tobago in the 2012 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament held in the United States. Two days later, he scored a hat-trick in Mexico's 3–0 victory over Honduras. His fifth goal came in the semi-final match against Canada, making him joint-top-scorer, along with teammate Marco Fabián.
In the summer of that year, Mexico won the Toulon Tournament, with Pulido scoring his only goal in the competition in the 3–0 win over Turkey in the Final.
On 2 June 2014, Pulido was named in Mexico's squad for the World Cup in Brazil. He did not appear in any match.
Pulido was originally included in the roster for the 2017 Gold Cup, but withdrew from the list after picking up an injury in a friendly match against Paraguay and was subsequently replaced by Erick Torres Padilla.
| + Appearances and goals by club, season and competition !rowspan="2" | Club !rowspan="2" | Season !colspan="3" | League !colspan="2" | National cupIncludes Copa MX, Greek Cup and U.S. Open Cup !colspan="2" | ContinentalIncludes North American SuperLiga, CONCACAF Champions League/Cup, UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League !colspan="2" | Other !colspan="2" | Total |
| Tigres UANL | 2009–10 | Liga MX | 1 | ||||
| 2010–11 | 3 | ||||||
| 2011–12 | 4 | ||||||
| 2012–13 | Liga MX | 8 | |||||
| 2013–14 | 25 | ||||||
| Levadiakos | 2014–15 | Super League Greece | 1 | ||||
| Olympiacos | 2015–16 | Super League Greece | 6 | ||||
| 2016–17 | 0 | ||||||
| Guadalajara | 2016–17 | Liga MX | 14 | ||||
| 2017–18 | 6 | ||||||
| 2018–19 | 9 | ||||||
| 2019–20 | 12 | ||||||
| Sporting Kansas City | 2020 | MLS | 7 | ||||
| 2021 | 8 | ||||||
| 2022 | — | ||||||
| 2023 | 15 | ||||||
| 2024 | 8 | ||||||
| Guadalajara | 2024–25 | Liga MX | 2 | ||||
| + Appearances and goals by national team and year | |
| Mexico | 4 |
| 0 | |
| 1 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| 0 | |
| + List of international goals scored by Alan Pulido |
| Exhibition game |
| 3–0 |
| 4–0 |
| Friendly |
| Friendly |
Olympiacos
Sporting Kansas City
Guadalajara
Mexico Youth
Individual
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