Ricardo Rivera

Ricardo Emmanuel Rivera de León (born 17 April 1997) is a Puerto Rican professional footballer who plays as a forward for Liga Puerto Rico Pro club Academia Quintana and the Puerto Rico national team.

Early life Rivera played most of his youth career at Club Atlético de San Juan, before moving to Valencia in 2015, where he played one year at Racing Algemesí. From 2016 to 2018, he played college soccer at UPR Mayagüez, where he won the championship twice, and earned awards including MVP and top goalscorer. Club career Villamarxant In 2018, Rivera tried out and signed with Villamarxant CF of the Tercera División. Miami FC Rivera signed with USL Championship club Miami FC in January 2025.

International career Rivera was called up to the Puerto Rico national under-17 team under manager Jeaustin Campos in 2012, for the FIFA U17 World Cup Qualifiers. In 2016 he played for the Puerto Rico national under-20 team. In the same year, he was called up, and made his debut for the senior national team, for friendly matches against the Dominican Republic. In July 2019, he was called up to the Puerto Rico national under-23 team, for the 2020 CONCACAF Olympic Qualifying Tournament. He scored the winning goal in the 93' minute in his debut against Antigua and Barbuda.

Rivera concluded the 2022 World Cup qualifiers as the team’s leader in goals, with four. Puerto Rico finished this stage second in their group, but only Saint Kitts and Nevis advanced.

Career statistics

International goals

+ List of international goals scored by Ricardo RiveraNo.DateVenueOpponentScoreResultCompetition 1 28 March 2021 Estadio Centroamericano, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 1–1 1–1 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification 22 June 2021 Estadio Centroamericano, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 2–0 7–0 3 4–0 4 8 June 2021 Georgetown Football Stadium, Georgetown, Guyana 1–0 2–0 512 June 2022 Estadio Centroamericano, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 2–0 6–0 2022–23 CONCACAF Nations League C 6 4–0 7 5–0 8 6–0 926 March 2023 Mayagüez Athletics Stadium, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 1–0 5–1 10 3–0 11 9 September 2023 Thomas Robinson Stadium, Nassau, Bahamas 2–1 6–1 2023–24 CONCACAF Nations League B 1212 September 2023 Mayagüez Athletics Stadium, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 2–0 5–0 13 3–0 1421 November 2023 Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, Bayamón, Puerto Rico 1–0 6–0 15 2–0 16 3–0 17 14 October 2024 Trinidad Stadium, Oranjestad, Aruba 2–1 2–1 2024–25 CONCACAF Nations League B 18 15 November 2024 Mayagüez Athletics Stadium, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico 3–1 5–1 19 25 March 2026 Juan Ramón Loubriel Stadium, Bayamón, Puerto Rico 2–0 4–0 2026 FIFA Series