William Carter

Field Marshal Sir William Carter GBE GCWO GCH PMF
Born	William Robert Geoffrey Thomas Carter (1979-05-11) May 11, 1979 Los Angeles, California, United States
Nationality	British American
Alma mater	University of California, Los Angeles (BSS) University of Manchester (MSS)
Occupation	Footballer Manager Pundit
Height	6 ft 2 in (188 cm)
Spouse(s)	Anne Hathaway (m. 2012)
Partner(s)	Gisele Bündchen (2004 - 2007)
Children	William Anne Andy John
Parents	King Thomas (father) Lynda Carter (mother)
Relatives	Steffi Graf Jodie Foster (aunt-in-laws) Georgia May Jagger Corey Rodman Gracie Abrams (cousins) Henry Cavill Jack Shand (brother-in-laws) Patrick Schwarzenegger (cousin-in-law)
Association football career Position(s) Forward Youth career 1992 - 1997 IMG Academy Senior career* Years Team Apps (Gls) 1997 - 1999 LA Galaxy 83 (68) 1999 - 2003 Bayer 04 Leverkusen 125 (75) 2004 - 2010 Manchester United 192 (225) 2010 - 2019 Atlético Madrid 302 (328) Total 702 (696) International career 1999 - 2000 United States U20 7 (12) 2000 - 2003 United States 64 (68) 2004 - 2014 England 141 (172) 2012 Great Britain 6 (9) Managerial career 2019 - 2023 Tottenham Hotspur Honours Men's football Representing England and United States FIFA World Cup Winner 2002 South Korea-Japan Winner 2006 Germany Winner 2010 South Africa Winner 2014 Brazil UEFA European Championship Winner 2008 Austria–Switzerland Winner 2012 Poland–Ukraine Winner 2016 France FIFA Confederations Cup Winner 2001 South Korea-Japan Winner 2003 France CONCACAF Gold Cup Winner 2000 United States Winner 2002 United States FIFA U-20 World Cup Winner 1999 Nigeria Representing Great Britain Olympic Games 2012 London *Club domestic league appearances and goals

Field Marshal Sir William Robert Geoffrey Thomas Carter GBE GCWO GCH PMF (born 11 May 1979) is an American-English football pundit, former football manager and player. Known for his explosive pace, exceptional playmaking abilities, strong link-up play, and formidable goalscoring prowess, Carter is generally regarded as one of the greatest footballers of all time and among the most complete forwards in football. Popularly nicknamed "The King of Kings", with a total of 93 senior titles to his name, Carter is the most decorated player in football history along with being one of the few players to have made over 1,000 professional career appearances as well as the only player to have scored over 1,000 official senior career goals for club and country, making him the highest goalscorer of all time with 1,299 goals in total. In 2004, Carter was named by Pelé in the FIFA 100 list of the world's greatest living footballers, becoming the only male American player on the list. Prior to the discontinuation of the FIFA Confederations Cup and the subsequent introduction of the UEFA Nations League, Carter, along with longtime compatriot Sir Wayne Rooney, are the only two footballers to have won all the available titles at both club and international levels. Moreover, he is also the only player to have achieved a sextuple with three different clubs, namely with Manchester United, Atlético Madrid, and Tottenham Hotspur, for which he is the only one to have done so as both a player and a manager. With fifteen awards in total, Carter is the record holder for the most Ballon d'Or wins and is one of only eight footballers in history to have won the FIFA World Cup, UEFA Champions League, and the Ballon d'Or, a feat referred to by Carter himself as "the great treble".

The only son of actress Lynda Carter and King Thomas, Carter joined IMG Academy at the age of thirteen. After a five-year period, at the age of eighteen, he was selected by Major League Soccer side LA Galaxy, with whom he went on to spend three seasons, during which he won both the MLS Cup and the CONCACAF Champions Cup once, before moving to the Bundesliga side Bayer 04 Leverkusen for a Major League Soccer record of $65 million, an amount that was also an unbroken Bundesliga record for two decades long. In his four seasons with Bayer 04 Leverkusen, despite the club's relatively modest stature, Carter otherwise enjoyed outsized success, winning both the Bundesliga and the UEFA Champions League in his debut season, both of which he successfully went on to defend throughout the next two seasons before a disastrous fourth and final season saw him depart the club in favour of a year-long sabbatical. With 147 goals scored across all competitions, Carter is currently ranked third in the club's all-time goalscorers list and, in the years that followed his departure, continues to be remembered as a central figure behind the club's extraordinary but short-lived success at the turn of the century.

In 2003, following a year-long temporary break, Carter joined Premier League club Manchester United on a six-year contract. With the club, he went on to achieve unprecedented success, winning the Premier League five seasons in a row, the FA Cup, UEFA Super Cup, and FIFA Club World Cup thrice, the UEFA Champions League four times, and the EFL Cup a total of five times. In this, he notably helped Manchester United to a historic sextuple in the 2008-09 season in a first for a European and English club during which he became the only player in Premier League history to score seven goals and five goals in one half in a record 10-0 win over Fulham. With a total of 225 goals in 192 appearances, Carter is the leading all-time goalscorer for Manchester United and the Premier League's joint-second-highest goalscorer alongside Sir Wayne Rooney and behind Alan Shearer. On the other hand, Carter previously held the record for the most goals scored in a Premier League season with 41 goals, a record later broken by Arsenal's Richard. Considered to be among Manchester United's and the Premier League's best strikers of all time, Carter was later inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame in 2021.

In 2010, Carter signed for La Liga side Atlético Madrid for a then world-record transfer fee of £82.5 million, becoming one of the few players to have broken the world record twice. With the club, he went on to win the La Liga six times in a row, the Copa del Rey four times, the Supercopa de España six times in a row, the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Super Cup eight times in a row, the FIFA Club World Cup seven times in a row, and the UEFA Europa League once during which he helped the club to three separate sextuples. Considered to be the most successful player in the club's history, along with Diego Simeone, Carter is considered an instrumental figure in the club's revival amidst an extended period of Real Madrid and Barcelona dominance in the La Liga to become a major force or a "third power" against the two clubs and is thus considered by most of the club's faithful to be a cult hero. With 328 goals scored in 302 appearances, Carter is the leading all-time goalscorer for Atlético Madrid along with being La Liga's second-highest all-time top scorer behind Lionel Messi and ahead of Cristiano Ronaldo and its second-highest all-time top assister behind only Lionel Messi.

On the international level, Carter began his career via a brief stint with the United States under-20 national team, with whom he won the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship by scoring the lone winning goal in the final against Japan. Following this, Carter served as captain of the senior team and achieved much success in the process, winning the 2000 and 2002 CONCACAF Gold Cups, the 2001 and 2003 FIFA Confederations Cups, and most notably the 2002 FIFA World Cup where Carter famously scored in a 5-0 win against Brazil in the final, thereby winning the first and only FIFA World Cup title for the United States.

In 2003, Carter departed the United States, and in the following year, joined the England national team, which he subsequently led to a historic victory at the 2006 FIFA World Cup where a 5-2 win over Italy in the finals secured England their first World Cup title in forty years since their first title back in 1966. Following this, Carter went on to achieve further back-to-back success with England, winning their first-ever UEFA European Championship title in 2008 by defeating Germany 4-2 in the finals, as well as a second consecutive World Cup title in 2010 via a 5-0 win over the Netherlands, followed by a second consecutive European Championship win in 2012 in which Carter contributed a hat-trick to deliver a 4-2 victory over Spain in the finals. In 2014, Carter went on to deliver a record-breaking third consecutive World Cup title for England via a 4-2 win on penalties against Argentina and a similarly record-breaking third consecutive Euros title in 2016 by defeating Belgium 7-2, thereby contributing to the current two-decades-long unbeaten streak enjoyed by England in both tournaments. In addition to his international stints with the United States and England, Carter also briefly captained the Great Britain national football team at the 2012 Summer Olympics where he successfully led them to a 2-0 win over Mexico in the finals, becoming one of only two male players alongside Daniel Sturridge to have achieved a World Cup, Euros, and Olympic Games treble, an honour that he also shares as one of only two captains, male or female, alongside England Women's Leah Williamson.

Having made a total of 141 appearances, Carter is the second-most-capped England player behind his longtime teammate Sir Wayne Rooney and ahead of another longtime teammate {Sir {wp|Steven Gerrard}} while otherwise being its leading goalscorer with 172 goals. Similarly, although not necessarily the United States' most capped player, having made only 64 appearances in total, Carter is the country's all-time goalscorer with 68 goals, followed only by Landon Donovan and Clint Dempsey jointly in second place. Among others, Carter is also the first and only player to win a World Cup title with two different countries as well as the first and only one of two alongside Sir Wayne Rooney to win four World Cups. Moreover, Carter is the second player after Geoff Hurst to have scored a hat-trick in a World Cup final, the second after Luis Monti to have played in a World Cup final with two different countries, and one of only three alongside George Best and Richard to have scored a hat-trick in a Euros final. In addition, Carter is the record holder for the most goals scored in both the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA European Championship with forty and forty-two goals respectively, as well as for the most matches played at the FIFA World Cup with a total of twenty-eight matches played from 2002 to 2014, having not missed a single match ever. With a total of 240 goals scored on the international level, Carter is the world's all-time leader for international goals and was formerly the all-time leader for international appearances with 205 appearances until surpassed by Portugal's Cristiano Ronaldo.

Around November 2019, Carter was appointed head coach of Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur, succeeding Mauricio Pochettino after an initial poor start to the 2019-20 season. Initially appointed on an interim basis, Carter subsequently won the club's first UEFA Champions League title in his debut season while also achieving a second-place finish in the league, thereby leading him to become the club's full-time manager over the next three seasons that all proved considerably successful as Carter helped the club to two further UEFA Champions League titles, back-to-back Premier League and FA Cup titles, and one EFL Cup title, becoming the first and only English and American manager to ever win the Premier League since its inception, the first and only one to do so consecutively, as well as one of five English and the only American manager to have won the UEFA Champions League. In this, during the 2021-22 season, consecutive victories over Liverpool in the FA Cup, EFL Cup, and William Carter Shield, as well as a triumph over Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League saw Tottenham Hotspur become the second English and third European club to achieve a sextuple, thereby making Carter himself the latest of three managers to have achieved it after his former managers Sir Alex Ferguson and Diego Simeone. A self-professed "coach of the underdogs", Carter, considered widely to be a "miracle worker" due to the successes that he achieved in the face of much stronger opponents, has received a number of honours and awards as head coach, including UEFA Men's Coach of the Year Award, LMA Manager of the Year, The Best FIFA Men's Coach, Onze d'Or Coach of the Year, and IFFHS World's Best Club Coach, all of which were won for three consecutive years. At 42 years old, Carter was the joint-youngest manager with José Mourinho to have won the Premier League, a record later broken by Mikel Arteta, but is otherwise tied with both Mourinho and Arteta for the youngest manager to have won the UEFA Champions League at 41 years old. Moreover, together with Sir Alex Ferguson and Diego Simeone, his two former managers, Carter is just one of three managers to have won the UEFA Champions League thrice in a row, one of only two English managers alongside Bob Paisley to have won it thrice and the one with the most European titles as both player and manager with a current total of eighteen titles, aside from which, with 281 goals scored, Carter is also the leading all-time goalscorer in the UEFA Champions League.

Since retiring from professional football, Carter has served as president of The Football Association as well as an honorary advisor to the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In addition, Carter has also begun a career in the media as a pundit and sports analyst with his current role as a presenter for the BBC One program Match of the Day. In August 2024, he was appointed deputy chairman of the National Football League franchise New England Patriots, the most successful American football team owned by his father, whom he is expected to eventually succeed as chairman in the future. In 2019, he was made an honorary field marshal by the British Army, becoming the first and only former professional athlete to be accorded such an honour. Since 2014, Carter has been married to American actress Anne Hathaway, with whom he has four children. In addition, Carter is the older brother of journalist and politician Dame Jacqueline Carter, who currently serves as Leader of the Liberal Democrats and Leader of the Opposition, and professional footballer Prince Richard who captains the Premier League club Arsenal and also plays for England.

As one of the most well-known and marketable football icons of his generation, Carter has embarked on a string of product endorsements since his retirement with the most notable instance being Adidas's King Carter line of sneakers that were introduced in 2002 to massive commercial success and are often considered as a direct rival to Nike's Air Jordans named after legendary basketball player Michael Jordan. In addition, he has also appeared in shows including the Apple TV+ sports comedy series Ted Lasso and the Netflix documentaries The June 30th Miracle: Ten Years On and 1966: The Making of a Footballing Dynasty. Moreover, he was also featured in Amazon Prime Video's All or Nothing: Tottenham Hotspur and its subsequent follow-up The Spursy Fantasy. Consequently, his global popularity, coupled with his extraordinary on-pitch success unmatched by any of his contemporaries, led BBC News to dub him "football's great titan" while other media outlets have generally noted his "larger-than-life" fame and persona, both of which, some have argued, are comparable to or perhaps even greater than those of fellow American superstar athletes Michael Jordan and Tiger Woods. Similarly, Gary Lineker, in a summary of Carter's achievements, remarked, "While he is not necessarily the first in football history to become a world-famous superstar, he is perhaps otherwise the first and only one with world-level fame and a host of trophies to truly match: ninety-three senior titles that included fifteen Champions League trophies, four World Cups, and three Euros titles, among others".

Early Life

The American actress Lynda Carter, best known for her role in the live-action television series Wonder Woman where she played the titular character. Following her relationship with Thomas, Carter remarried to the American lawyer Robert A. Altman, with whom she had two further children.

Born William Robert Geoffrey Thomas Carter on 11 May 1979, Carter was the oldest of two children of actress Lynda Carter and the heir to the British throne Prince Thomas. Having been born out of wedlock and from a largely secretive romantic affair between his parents, Carter, unlike his later half-siblings, was never officially made a prince, and therefore, despite being the firstborn son and a biological descendant of a member of the British royal family, was never included in the British line of succession to the throne. Reportedly named William after his paternal great-grandfather William Bacall, Carter, who officially took his mother's surname, was given three middle names with one honouring his father while the other two honour the legendary English footballers Sir Bobby Charlton, one of Manchester United's greatest players, and Sir Geoff Hurst who gained fame as the first player to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final during England's 4-2 win over Germany at the 1966 FIFA World Cup Final.

Early on, his father's native English roots, coupled with the United Kingdom having football as its most popular sport, consequently led a young Carter to be exposed to the sport at a rather early age. In a later interview, Carter recounted growing up watching and studying the likes of Pelé, Bobby Charlton, George Best, and Johan Cruyff, famous footballing figures whose respective playing styles were tentatively studied by Carter by watching exclusive clips provided by his father. In addition to this, it was also said that Carter's father even had a miniature football field set up in the family's backyard where Carter often practiced and perfected his goalscoring technique with the added difficulty of wooden obstacles deliberately placed to frustrate him similar to real-life defenders in professional football. However, despite his deep-seated interest in football, from time to time, Carter also developed an interest in other types of sports, including swimming, golf, and American football where he briefly played as a quarterback to some success but chose not to pursue a career in the sport anyway, a decision that he later explained as him finding his calling in association football as opposed to American football.

When Carter was around sixteen years old, amidst pressure upon his father to marry an eligible woman in order to secure the future of the British monarchy, and the fact that Carter's mother Lynda Carter was, by virtue of her ex-husband, the actor Roger Davis still being alive at the time, therefore canonically ineligible to marry her beloved romantic partner, the small family of four was thus met with an unexpected setback when Thomas later departed the family, albeit in a heavily reluctant manner, in order to marry the American supermodel Christy Turlington, who the former had been seeing for some time and who was deemed a prospective candidate as a legitimate wife, given that unlike Carter, the former had never been divorced before, a condition that was reportedly the very obstacle to a potential marriage between Thomas himself and his then-romantic partner. Evidently, according to Carter himself, their father's departure was "one of the most difficult things in my life and one that tested our small family of four greatly with something that we could probably not have anticipated". Moreover, it was said that actress Lynda Carter herself later cried for "days on end" in the days following her romantic partner's departure, although the presence of and support from her two children otherwise proved a comforting counterbalance to the actress's grievances. Thus, for almost the next ten years or so, the now family of three continued to live in relative obscurity in Los Angeles, California, where the family had already made their home for a few years prior to Thomas' departure.

In the years since their romance officially came to an end, Carter's mother Lynda later remarried to the American lawyer Robert A. Altman who Carter later described as a "kind and very caring stepfather" while asserting that "absolutely no one will ever come to replace my own biological father", adding that despite the two enjoying a relatively cordial relationship, both Carter and his sister were still mostly emotionally attached to their biological father, with whom the two longed on reuniting in the nearby future. In this, Carter sought to use his own football career as a means to do so by hopefully making himself noticeable in the eyes of major European football clubs, especially Manchester United, a club that he had supported since childhood and which would crucially allow him to move to England where his father mainly resides. Later, in February 2021, Carter's stepfather Robert A. Altman passed away at the age of seventy-three from a rare type of leukemia, leaving behind his two children with his wife, namely Carter's half-siblings James and Jessica Altman, both of whom were later formally adopted by Carter's father King Thomas in light of their father's passing. During a 2019 interview with BBC News, Carter revealed that for several years as a teenager, in order to seemingly "clear" any ambiguity regarding his paternity, his name was frequently written by his mother as "William Altman", thereby implying that, on paper, he is the actress's child by her husband despite the reality being the opposite, stating, "For understandable reasons, my mom can't just go around telling people that my dad is the king of a country yet people are obviously going to know who my father is. Ultimately, when my stepfather came along and the two had children afterward, it gave my mom the perfect answer to those questions asking incessantly about the father of her two eldest children, who, in turn, could finally have some peace of mind after a long time".

Club Career

LA Galaxy (1992 - 1999)

Youth Prospect

An aerial view of the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, where Carter spent his formative years prior to becoming a professional footballer.

Having already shown a deep-seated interest in football at a rather young age, at thirteen, Carter was enrolled by his father at the IMG Academy in Bradenton, Florida, one of the country's most well-known sports academy that was first established in 1978. Early on, having quickly earned a reputation as a "hardworking" and "tenacious" youth prospect, Carter was able to quickly impress both his teammates and the officials at the academy, during which he quickly gained a reputation for an excellent playing style as well as a strong sense of discipline, with one of Carter's former educators at the academy later recounting the former as a "very dutiful" and "extremely hardworking" player while another described the California-born teenager as "someone who always wants to achieve all that he could and who also doesn't easily give up in doing so at first sight of defeat". Eventually, at eighteen years old, Carter was finally granted a much-awaited senior soccer career when he was then chosen for LA Galaxy in just the second season of Major League Soccer.

Senior Team

Immediately after he was drafted by LA Galaxy, Carter soon made his debut in the club's opening match for the 1997 season, where they faced D.C. United at home. However, despite being included in the starting lineup, Carter did not end up scoring his first goal yet as Major League Soccer rules at the time resulted in LA Galaxy losing 2-3 to their opponents in a penalty shootout held to resolve the 0-0 draw. Then, after failing to find the net throughout the next few matches, on May 2nd, Carter scored his first goal for the club in a 1-2 loss once again to D.C. United. Following this, on May 10th, Carter scored his first brace for the club to deliver a resounding 2-1 victory over Sporting Kansas City, a feat that he promptly followed up on with another brace in the following match to break a 0-0 deadlock against San Jose Earthquake and mark a second consecutive victory for the club. Soon enough, on May 25th, in a dominant 4-0 win over Columbus Crew at home ground, Carter went on to score his first-ever hat-trick for LA Galaxy with a second hat-trick subsequently coming on June 21st where he scored his third goal in the 67th minute to mark a stunning 4-2 victory over the Colorado Rapids. Moreover, after scoring another brace in a 5-0 win over FC Dallas, Carter soon marked his third hat-trick for the club, scoring thrice in a 4-2 win over Columbus Crew at home once again as a few further goals from Carter followed over the later stage of the season where at season's end, owing to Carter's standout performance with a total of twenty-one goals scored, the highest for that season, LA Galaxy managed to top the Eastern Conference and, in turn, face Dallas Burn who ultimately bested them over the course of two legs, thereby eliminating the club at the quarter-finals of the ensuing playoff phase. In the meantime, Carter also scored his first goal in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, namely in a 5-1 win over the Mexican club Santos Laguna to advance to the quarter-finals where a brace from Carter saw LA Galaxy make quick work of the West Indies club United Petrotrin with a dominant 3-0 win, followed by another two goals from Carter that helped them achieve a similar 3-0 win over rivals D.C. United. However, in facing the Mexican side Cruz Azul in the final, despite another goal from their young star, LA Galaxy were narrowly defeated 4-5 by their superior Mexican opponents, thereby denying Carter a continental title in his first season.

The Brazilian football legend Pelé playing for the now-defunct North American Soccer League club New York Cosmos. His two-year presence at the club has been widely attributed to the sudden surge in popularity for soccer in the United States around the late 1970s.

In his second season, Carter started off with a brace in the opening match, which LA Galaxy won 5-3 against San Jose Earthquake. Then, somewhat remarkably, the next two matches saw Carter score two goals each, thereby leading to dominant victories over New York Red Bulls and Colorado Rapids, with the fourth match seeing Carter score once more against the New York Red Bulls to seal a 4-2 win at the latter side's home ground. Then, on May 30th, after scoring twice ten days earlier to draw 2-2 away with Chicago Fire, which the club ended up losing to in the ensuing penalty shootout, Carter scored his first hat-trick of the season to mark a dominant 4-1 home win over Chicago Fire in apparent revenge for their earlier defeat with the ensuing match seeing Carter score once to contribute to an overwhelming 9-1 win over Dallas Burn at their own ground. Then, on August 29th, Carter scored his second hat-trick of the season to seal a dramatic 3-3 draw against Columbus Crew although the ensuing penalty shootout saw LA Galaxy bested by their opponents once again. Nonetheless, the last few matches of the season saw Carter put on a performance described by ESPN as "inexplicably dominant", scoring two goals each to mark dominant 5-0 and 8-3 wins over Dallas Burn and Miami Fushion and two consecutive hat-tricks to destroy San Jose Earthquake and Chicago Fire 4-1 and 4-0 respectively in their last two matches of the season. Following this, Carter later scored two crucial goals to help LA Galaxy narrowly defeat Chicago Fire 3-2 on aggregate in the semi-finals, thereby bringing the club further to the finals where Carter assisted twice in a dramatic 3-2 victory over rivals D.C. United, thereby winning the MLS Cup for the first time. Meanwhile, having qualified for that year's edition of theCONCACAF Champions Cup via their dominant performance the previous season, LA Galaxy began their renewed challenge for the title with a dominant 5-0 win over the West Indies club Joe Public in the quarter-finals but not before being eliminated by the Mexican club and eventual runners-up León in a 1-3 defeat at the semi-finals, effectively ending their challenge rather prematurely.

In his third and final season, Carter began rather promisingly, scoring a total of three goals in the first five matches and helping LA Galaxy to wins in the process over Colorado Rapids, San Jose Earthquake, and Chicago Fire where a brace from Carter resulted in a dramatic 2-1 comeback victory by LA Galaxy. Then, after scoring a brace on May 8th that saw LA Galaxy defeat Sporting Kansas City 3-2 in a dramatic fashion, Carter also scored a hat-trick in a dominant 4-1 win over D.C. United on June 19th, a feat promptly followed by two goals scored just a week later in a similarly dominant 6-2 win over Tampa Bay Mutiny. Soon enough, during the later stage of the season, in his last few matches for the club, Carter earned further acclaim with another brace in a 3-0 win at home over Chicago Fire, followed by a hat-trick on September 29th where LA Galaxy mounted a dramatic 3-2 comeback win over D.C. United which also proved to be his last few goals for the club as Carter finished the season with nineteen goals in thirty appearances, an amount just one digit higher than the eighteen goals jointly scored by Stern John, Roy Lassiter, and Jason Kreis. Meanwhile, in their debut at the U.S. Open Cup that season, despite scoring a hat-trick early on to mark a dominant 6-2 win for LA Galaxy over San Diego Flash in the third round, Carter otherwise failed to influence the final outcome in the quarter-finals where they were subsequently defeated by Columbus Crew 1-3. Separately, in the CONCACAF Champions Cup, which they qualified for by virtue of their MLS Cup triumph, Carter began with a hat-trick in the quarter-finals that saw LA Galaxy comfortably demolish Joe Public once again by 4-0, thereby leading them to the semi-finals where an ensuing 1-1 draw against Alajuelense resulted in a penalty shootout that LA Galaxy won 3-1 in order to reach the finals where a lone goal from Carter proved the crucial difference, allowing LA Galaxy to narrowly defeat the Mexican club Necaxa 2-1 and thus secure their first-ever continental title.

Amidst a steady future at the club, in the aftermath of the 1999 season, Carter announced his sudden departure from the club by revealing that he had accepted a contract from the Bundesliga club Bayer 04 Leverkusen after Christoph Daum, whose maiden season as the club's head coach in 1996 had ended rather promisingly, chose to acquire Carter's services for the club in light of his standout performance that year at the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship where he scored the winning goal in the final against Japan. Consequently, it was later announced that LA Galaxy was paid $65 million for the Los Angeles-born star, a record that still holds to this day for Major League Soccer and which also remained unbroken in the Bundesliga for roughly two decades prior to the roughly $73 million amount paid for Matthijs de Ligt by Bayern Munich.

Bayer 04 Leverkusen (1999 - 2003)

Early Years

To that end, after undergoing the preseason period with the club, Carter soon made his debut on 13 August 1999 in the opening match against MSV Duisburg where as a member of the starting lineup alongside Ulf Kirsten and the highly-regarded Michael Ballack, Carter made an immediate impact with a brace in just thirty minutes to deliver a 4-2 victory over their opponents. Then, despite missing out on a chance to score against the German heavyweights Bayern Munich in the following match, on August 28th, Carter wasted no time securing his first hat-trick with the club in a 6-1 away win over VfB Stuttgart. Then, on October 2nd, Carter was met with much praise for a brace that secured a decisive 3-3 draw against VfL Wolfsburg as Carter's second hat-trick on October 30th saw the club demolish 1860 Munich 4-1 with relative ease. However, after scoring twice to help Bayer 04 Leverkusen to a 4-2 victory over Hamburger SV, Carter otherwise failed to score a single goal in the club's ensuing 1-4 loss to Bayern Munich although this was promptly avenged with Carter notably scoring another hat-trick on March 25th to a deliver a 4-1 victory over SC Freiburg, a feat that was followed with another hat-trick in a dominant 7-1 win over Eintracht Frankfurt on the penultimate day and culminating in the club's historic first-ever Bundesliga title after securing a record 84 points over runners-up Bayern Munich. Meanwhile, after scoring two consecutive hat-tricks in his first DFL-Ligapokal season, thereby defeating 1. FC Kaiserslautern and Werder Bremen 6-1 and 4-2 respectively, Carter went on to score a third consecutive hat-trick in the final to mark a dramatic 4-3 win over two-time defending champions Bayern Munich, thereby also delivering the club's first-ever DFL-Ligapokal title. Otherwise, after helping Bayer 04 Leverkusen progress beyond the first group stage in his debut UEFA Champions League season, during which he scored a hat-trick against Ukrainian side Dynamo Kyiv and a tiebreaking goal against the Italian club SS Lazio in the group stages, Carter faced his future and childhood club Manchester United in the quarter-finals where a brace from the American, coupled with goals from teammates Ulf Kirsten and Michael Ballack, saw them narrowly defeat the reigning champions 4-3 on aggregate to then face local heavyweights Bayern Munich in the semi-finals where a second-leg hat-trick from Carter translated to a similarly dramatic 6-4 victory over their rivals and, in turn, their first-ever appearance in a UEFA Champions League final where they faced the Spanish side Valencia where two goals from Carter proved decisive in handing the German club their first-ever UEFA Champions League title, an unexpected yet remarkable feat that, in turn, drastically boosted Carter from a relatively unknown star to a world-famous talent overnight.

In his second season with the German club, hot on the heels of last season's extraordinary success, Carter began the season somewhat promisingly, scoring a hat-trick on the opening day to mark a dominant 5-0 win over VfL Wolfsburg although this was immediately followed by a crushing 1-4 defeat to VfB Stuttgart. Nonetheless, on September 16th, Carter avenged the loss by scoring once to draw 2-2 with Hansa Rostock, followed by a tiebreaking goal against Werder Bremen on October 14th and a similar one against Schalke 04 on October 28th. Then, Carter went on to have a rather productive December, scoring twice in a 6-0 win over Hertha BSC and once in a decisive 3-3 draw against VfL Bochum. Following this, a subsequent hat-trick against Unterhaching and goals against Borussia Dortmund and Hamburger SV saw Carter's final 21-goal tally deliver Bayer 04 Leverkusen's second straight Bundesliga title as the club racked up a total of 67 points, just four points behind Bayern Munich. In the midst of this, while Leverkusen was denied a debut in the FIFA Club World Cup due to its sudden cancellation, the club instead contested the UEFA Super Cup for the first time, defeating the UEFA Cup winners Galatasaray 4-3 on penalties. Meanwhile, following a round of 16 elimination from the DFB-Pokal at the hands of SC Freiburg, draws on both occasions against Real Madrid in the first group stage round, both of which were made possible by Carter's goals, and a win over Sporting CP saw them push the Spanish giants down to the UEFA Cup again, thereby allowing them to ultimately reach the finals once again where they faced Valencia once more where a 5-3 win on penalties confirmed Leverkusen's second straight European title.

Final Years

In the third season, Carter once again made an early start, missing a chance to score in the opening match against VfL Wolfsburg before promptly registering a hat-trick in the second match against Hansa Rostock. Then, on August 11th, Carter marked his first-ever league win over Bayern Munich with a lone goal in a decisive 2-1 win, a feat followed by hat-tricks in a 6-1 win over St. Pauli and a similar 7-1 win over Freiburg respectively. Then, despite a 0-2 loss to Bayern Munich canceling out a previous 3-2 win over Hertha BSC courtesy of a brace from himself, Carter promptly rebounded with two goals to defeat Schalke 04 2-1, thereby ensuring a roughly two-month-long unbeaten streak that was ultimately ended by a 1-2 loss to Bermen on the third final day, a loss that ultimately proved insufficient to deny Bayer 04 Leverkusen their as four extra points saw them successfully defend their league title despite a fierce challenge from Borussia Dortmund. Meanwhile, after much delay, Carter's hat-trick in a 6-0 win over 1860 Munich saw him finally score his first few goals in the DFB-Pokal although he ultimately failed to score in the final where they were beaten 2-4 by Schalke 04. Otherwise, in the UEFA Champions League, following a dominant performance in the group stages, for the third consecutive time, Bayer 04 Leverkusen once more reached the finals, during which Carter himself scored twice in the semis to defeat his future club Manchester United 5-3 on aggregate, where they faced Real Madrid and subsequently dramatically won 3-2 by a brace from Carter to thus claim their third consecutive European title, a feat that followed a similar consecutive UEFA Super Cup title in the form of a 1-0 win over Liverpool around a year prior.

In his final season with the German club, amidst an unexpected change in management, Carter, paired together with future Manchester United teammate Dimitar Berbatov, Carter himself made a somewhat uncharacteristically slow start, failing to score in the first of four matches. However, apparently buoyed by a 2-1 win over giants Bayern Munich, on October 5th, he returned to score a hat-trick in a dramatic 3-2 win over Wolfsburg, his only goals prior to a subsequent months-long goal draught that only ended on March 15th when he scored his fourth goal of the season in a 2-1 win over Wolfsburg yet again although two further goals in a subsequent 2-1 win over Kaiserslautern provided some hope of a rediscovery in form for the maligned Carter. Ultimately, as a few further losses followed, Carter only managed to score two further goals in a 5-0 win over 1860 Munich in the penultimate match, thereby bringing his final league goal tally to a record low of six, the only time in his two-decades-long career that his league goal tally ever dropped below double digits. Despite this, the club managed to reach the semi-finals of the DFB-Pokal before being ultimately eliminated by giants Bayern Munich in a 1-3 loss. Likewise, with only a hat-trick against the Israeli side Maccabi Haifa in the first group stage round, Carter, already largely seen by many at the time as completely dejected in the face of his club's sudden and dramatic decline, did otherwise managed a hat-trick against Barcelona in the second round to mark the club's only victory in that stage, an ultimately futile effort as the three-time defending champions promptly crashed out of the tournament, thereby leaving Carter trophyless for the first and only time with Bayer 04 Leverkusen as he subsequently announced his departure from the club, citing the "physical" and "emotional" tolls the season had taken on him, in favour of a year-long sabbatical before later returning to football with Manchester United two years later.

During an interview shortly after Bayer 04 Leverkusen secure their first Bundesliga title in two decades under the management of Xabi Alonso, the former Liverpool and Real Madrid midfielder}} who led to Bayer 04 Leverkusen to both their first Bundesliga and DFB-Pokal titles in decades unbeaten and also a UEFA Europa League title via a 2-0 win over Atalanta, Carter, while acknowledging the "disastrous" and "nightmarish" final season that he endured with the club, adding that the season itself almost nearly led him to a complete mental breakdown, otherwise spoke in a mostly positive manner of his past with the German club, noting how former manager Christoph Daum, who was later fired from the club at the end of the 1999-2000 season amidst a drug scandal, gave him the chance to establish himself as a world-class talent despite the considerable skepticism that his nationality and track record of having hailed from the less prestigious Major League Soccer brought upon him, stating, ."When I first heard that a club in Europe wanted me, I thought it would be Manchester United rather than some club in Germany that I barely knew about. Ultimately, regardless of my thoughts at the time, in hindsight, I would absolutely say that a move to Leverkusen at only twenty years of age was the right move for my career since I could properly introduce myself to Europe's elite without the overwhelming pressure that would necessarily come from playing in a more prestigious league like the Premier League in England. In the end, my dream club Manchester United saw just how talented I was with a club like Leverkusen, defying all the odds to win titles here and there, and, in turn, rightfully offered me a contract which was essentially my ticket back to football after a time where I felt that my career was basically over after my last season with Leverkusen". In the end, with a total of 147 goals across all competitions, Carter currently ranks third in the club's all-time goalscorers list behind Ulf Kirsten and Stefan Kießling and otherwise ahead of Dimitar Berbatov who later went on to join him for two seasons at Manchester United. Meanwhile, despite his relatively short time spent and rather messy departure from the club, Carter continues to be a well-regarded figure among the club's supporters, with his debut in the 1999-2000 season at the club particularly drawing comparisons between Carter and the German football legend Gerd Müller.

Manchester United (2004 - 2010)

Early Years

"Without a doubt, bringing him to the club straight from Major League Soccer was one of or if not the best decision I've ever made as manager in my entire life."

Former Manchester United head coach Sir Alex Ferguson on signing Carter for the club

On 1 August 2004, just a day after a friendly match against A.C. Milan, Carter, by then a free agent and on a temporary break from professional football following his historic triumph at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, was officially announced to have joined Manchester United with his transfer to the club said to have then brought "extreme delight" for longtime head coach Sir Alex Ferguson who later remarked in a 2014 interview, "The fact that a recent World Cup champion and the man who scored a hat-trick to defeat the mighty Brazil was just walking around as a free agent waiting for a club to sign him is like a dream come true and the fact that Manchester United was the one who did it will always be something that I'll be proud of for the rest of my life". Soon enough, on 8 August 2004, Carter would make his debut for the club just a week later in the 2004 FA Community Shield match against Arsenal, where he was called in early on in the 19th-minute as a substitute for Paul Scholes, who had to be subbed off following an unfortunate injury on his left thigh. Then, following an initial 55th-minute goal by Alan Carter, Carter himself netted a late goal, his first ever for the club, in the 91st-minute following a successful run down the right flank past Arsenal defenders although this proved not enough to ultimately avoid a narrow 2-3 defeat at the hands of Arsenal who ultimately won the match by a rather thin 3-2 margin.

Nonetheless, not long after his debut at the FA Community Shield match, Carter was then featured in Manchester United's first Premier League match of the season that year, where after once again coming on as a substitute in the 25th-minute, Carter proceeded to immediately make a name for himself in the English football scene by scoring a hat-trick in the 84th minute, thereby allowing The Red Devils to easily beat Chelsea 4-1, after they were initially down by 0-1. Following this, Carter was once again employed as a "super sub" in the next two matches before an injury during his third league match led him to miss the next few subsequent games. However, shortly after his return, Carter, now a regular starter for the club, once more caught the football world by storm when in his returning match against Portsmouth, Carter scored his second hat-trick to save the club from a 0-2 defeat, something which he came to emulate in the next three matches against Manchester City, Newcastle United, and Charlton Athletic respectively. However, this too ultimately proved not enough to win The Red Devils the Premier League season that year, with the club finishing as runner-up behind rivals Chelsea. Nonetheless, his overall performance for the club, made especially notable by the thirty-five goals he scored, the highest ever that year in both the Premier League and in European football saw him receive both a Premier League Golden Boot award and an European Golden Shoe award that year, which only further raised his image in the wider footballing community. In that same season, Carter also made his mark in the UEFA Champions League, where throughout the course of the competition, he recorded a total of three separate hat-tricks while notably scoring the lone goal in the finals against Liverpool, thereby avoiding a narrow 0-1 defeat, before proceeding to beat their English rivals 4-2 in a penalty shootout, awarding the club their third Champions League title.

Peak of Success

The Manchester United squad celebrating their historic sextuple triumph.

For the following season, Carter continued to display a consistently positive performance, helping The Red Devils to finally win the Premier League albeit by their narrowest margin yet, that is by just one point ahead of runners-up Chelsea. Similarly, the club also found much success in the FA Cup and EFL Cup respectively but otherwise fell short of winning the UEFA Champions League for a second consecutive time following a narrow 4-5 defeat via penalty shootouts to Barcelona in the quarter-finals after both teams were tied at 5-5. Then, following the next two seasons where Manchester United continued to see much consistent success in the domestic scene, Carter's time with the club came to a high point when in 2009 the club became the first-ever European team to achieve a sextuple by winning the 2008-09 Premier League season, the 2008-09 FA Cup season, the 2009 FA Community Shield, the 2008-09 UEFA Champions League season, as well as the 2009 UEFA Super Cup and the 2009 FIFA Club World Cup. Then, in the following season, as well as the season beforehand, Manchester United surprisingly came close to achieving another sextuple if not for an unfortunate loss in the FA Cup in both seasons in a testament to the club's overall dominance at the time. Meanwhile, in 2009, Carter twice made history in the Premier League, firstly by scoring a record seven goals in a historic 10-0 win over Fulham on February 18th and secondly by scoring four goals in a 7-1 win over Tottenham Hotspur on September 12th. In this, his seven goals scored, currently an unbroken league record, saw Manchester United once again mark the biggest win in Premier League history, surpassing their own previous record of a 9-0 win over Ipswich in which Andy Cole scored a record five goals. Moreover, having previously set the new record for the most goals scored in a Premier League season with 39 goals in his second season with Manchester United, Carter, over the course of his last two seasons with the club, established a new record of 41 goals in both seasons which would remain unbroken until Arsenal's Richard scored a record 45 goals in the 2022-23 season.

Departure to Atlético Madrid

Following the end of the 2009-10 season, after it was reported by the BBC that Carter did not wish to renew his six-year contract with Manchester United, rumours quickly arose regarding his next destination with several of Europe's biggest clubs including Real Madrid, Barcelona, Bayern Munich, and Juventus being touted as his next club. In addition, derby rivals Manchester City, whose new owner Sheikh Mansour once reportedly thought of acquiring the Manchester United forward's services in what was then considered a "direct sabotage" of their biggest rivals, was also briefly considered until Carter himself promptly refuted such rumours, stating, "I'll be leaving Manchester United soon but never for its very own rivals in my entire life". Eventually, in a move that sparked much surprise from many observers, it was announced by the Spanish newspaper Marca that Atlético Madrid had acquired Carter for a world-record transfer fee of £82.5 million (€96 million), an amount that slightly surpassed that of the previous world-record fee of £80 million paid by Real Madrid for Cristiano Ronaldo the previous year, in a lucrative contract that would see him remain with the club for a total of five years with the option of an additional year while also including a €1 billion buy-out clause in a deliberate attempt to ward off encroaching competitors especially city rivals Real Madrid who were similarly interested in acquiring Carter's services for themselves. Meanwhile, during his ensuing presentation ceremony to club supporters at the Vicente Calderón Stadium, Carter spoke of a "bittersweet feeling" of leaving his much-beloved Manchester United which he had long dreamt of playing for since childhood. However, pointing to his new club's "underdog" status, Carter explained that his decision to join Atlético Madrid was to "face a new challenge for myself", adding, "When people talk about La Liga, they always say that Real Madrid and Barcelona are the strongest clubs around and the only ones who can win the Champions League. Now, just as I did before with the United States at the World Cup, I'm going to prove those same people wrong and show that Atlético Madrid is just as strong or even stronger than both clubs and could absolutely win the Champions League as well". Meanwhile, in his best-selling autobiography, Carter later wrote of a "difficult conundrum" that he faced prior to leaving Manchester United, stating, "Without a doubt, I always wanted to play for Manchester United ever since I could walk but as excited and thrilled as I was scoring goals while wearing the red jersey, at some point, the game itself just felt a bit too easy for me when all we could seemingly do was just win titles left and right with almost no one apparently able to stop us. At that point, I stopped myself and asked whether I wanted to be a long-lasting servant of the club who could just win anything with just one goal or someone who was always challenged by equally strong opponents of the highest levels of the game who could be challenging me to be better than I previously was each time. In the end, I chose the latter".

"Out of all the players that left during my time, Carter leaving was definitely the hardest I had to take and the most difficult one that I had to come back from. Truth be told, we were never the same without him anymore."

Former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson reflecting on Carter's departure from Manchester United in 2010

By the time of his departure, Carter's total goal tally of 471 across all competitions established him as the all-time goalscorer for Manchester United while his 225 goals scored in the Premier League currently makes him the second-highest all-time goalscorer behind Alan Shearer with 260 goals with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane almost coming close to surpass him with 221 goals. Meanwhile, until 2023, Carter formerly held the record for the most goals scored in a Premier League season with 41 goals until Arsenal's Richard surpassed it with 45 goals in the 2022-23 season. Since then, Carter has remained a hugely popular and highly celebrated figure among Manchester United supporters who famously nicknamed him "The Red Prince" due to his royal lineage and the club's traditional red colours. Moreover, together with Wayne Rooney and Eric Cantona, Carter is considered to be one of Manchester United's greatest forwards of the Premier League era and, among some supporters, is even considered to be the successor to the late Bobby Charlton. As of current, Carter is the only American player to have won the Premier League and only one of two Americans to have won the UEFA Champions League alongside Jovan Kirovski who won the tournament in 1997 with Borussia Dortmund.

Following the end of the 2022-23 season, the departures of goalkeeper David de Gea and defender Phil Jones, the last few players remaining from the Ferguson era, effectively left Manchester United without a Premier League winner for the first time in three decades. However, after almost eight years away, the club later re-signed academy graduate Jonny Evans, a member of the historic 2008-09 sextuple-winning squad, thereby making the Irish defender the only player so far currently at Manchester United to have won both the Premier League and the UEFA Champions League, titles that Manchester United last won in the 2012-13 and 2009-10 seasons respectively.

Atlético Madrid (2010 - 2019)

Debut Season: Europa League Triumph

On August 30th, Carter made his La Liga debut in a home match against Sporting Gijón in which Carter, despite not scoring a goal himself, played an active role in the club's dominant 4-0 win over their opponents. Nonetheless, in the following match against Athletic Bilbao on September 11th, Carter soon made his mark at the club by scoring a hat-trick in the 76th minute, allowing Atlético Madrid to easily defeat their opponents 5-1. However, throughout the next few matches or so, Carter experienced a temporary goal draught that saw the club lose to both Barcelona and Sevilla while otherwise drawing with Valencia although this soon came to an end when Carter subsequently scored just his second hat-trick for the club in a dramatic 3-2 win over Villareal who initially led 2-0 by the 52nd minute before a subsequent hat-trick from Carter in the 58th minute turned the match upside down in Atlético Madrid's favour. Then, a third hat-trick followed in a November 13th fixture against Osasuna along with his first brace for the club just a week later against Real Sociedad, the latter which he wasted no time in following up on by scoring a fourth hat-trick in a dramatic 5-3 win over Espanyol. A fifth hat-trick followed in a 3-0 win over Racing Santander although this itself was followed by a heavy 1-4 defeat to Hércules and an ensuing 4-0 win over Mallorca. Following this, amidst a string of poor performances which saw the club lose once again to Barcelona by 3-0 via a Lionel Messi hat-trick, Carter nonetheless proved vital in scoring a decisive 47th-minute goal that helped them draw 2-2 against Valencia. Then, after scoring two consecutive hat-tricks that allowed Atlético Madrid to defeat Sevilla and Getafe 5-2 and 4-1 respectively, Carter soon scored his first goal against La Liga giants Real Madrid in a 2-2 draw on March 29th, which he followed up with a tiebreaking brace in the 69th minute against Espanyol, who the club ultimately defeated 4-2 thanks to a separate brace from Sergio Agüero in the 61st minute. In the end, Carter would cap off his first season with Atlético Madrid through yet another hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Deportivo La Coruña, a brace in a 2-3 loss to Málaga, and his final brace of the season in a 6-3 win over Mallorca on the final day at which point he finished as the club's leading goalscorer with 34 goals in 36 appearances, the second-highest behind Cristiano Ronaldo and ahead of Lionel Messi. In the meantime, with a total of 74 points, Atlético Madrid also qualified for the UEFA Champions League group stage alongside giants Real Madrid and Barcelona.

The Aviva Stadium in Dublin, Ireland, which hosted the 2011 Europa League Final between Atlético Madrid and Porto.

Separately, on December 22nd, Carter also made his Copa del Rey debut in a much similar fashion, scoring a hat-trick in the second leg of the round of 32 to mark a final 9-1 win on aggregate against Universidad de Las Palmas although he did not otherwise score any further with Atlético Madrid subsequently losing 4-1 on aggregate to Real Madrid. Meanwhile, on September 16th, Carter scored his first two goals in the UEFA Europa League in a 3-1 win over Greek side Aris, which he soon followed up with another brace in a 3-1 win over his former club Bayer 04 Leverkusen, followed by one goal in a 3-1 win over Rosenborg and another single goal in a 3-3 draw against Aris. Then, following a narrow 6-5 win on aggregate against Dynamo Kyiv, Atlético Madrid, courtesy of a hat-trick from Carter in both legs of the round of 16, marked a dominant 11-3 victory over Manchester City before proceeding to demolish Portuguese sides Braga and Benfica 6-3 and 6-2 respectively as well as another Portuguese side Porto 4-0 in the finals to win their second UEFA Europa League title in a row after their first one that was achieved by a 2-1 win over English side Fulham, thereby qualifying them once again for the UEFA Super Cup in which Atlético Madrid narrowly defeated Barcelona 3-2 to follow up on their previous 1-0 win over Carter's former club Manchester United in the previous edition.

Diego Simeone Era

"From the beginning, I knew that together we're going to do something special and remarkable at the club, and during those five years we certainly did a lot."

Atlético Madrid manager Diego Simeone on his five-year partnership with Carter

In his second season with the club, Carter began promisingly, scoring a tiebreaking goal against Osasuna and a hat-trick in a 7-0 win over Racing Santander. Despite a heavy 0-5 loss to Barcelona, he scored crucial goals against Sevilla, Granada, and a hat-trick in a 6-1 win over Rayo Vallecano. Under new manager Diego Simeone, Carter scored a memorable brace in a 2-0 win over Malaga and continued to shine with multiple braces and hat-tricks against various teams, culminating in a total of 40 goals in 34 appearances. Although Atlético Madrid was eliminated from the Copa del Rey by Albacete, they triumphed in the UEFA Champions League, defeating Bayern Munich 2-0 in the final. They also won the UEFA Super Cup against Athletic Bilbao and the FIFA Club World Cup against Corinthians.

In the 2012-13 season, Carter started strong with a hat-trick in a 7-3 win over Rayo Vallecano and a goal in a 5-2 win over Real Betis. Despite losses to Valencia and Real Madrid, he maintained consistent form, scoring 16 goals in 15 matches. His notable performances included a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Celta Vigo, another in a 3-3 draw with Athletic Bilbao, and a decisive hat-trick against Rayo Vallecano. By season's end, he had 40 goals, making him the second-highest scorer behind Lionel Messi. Atlético Madrid finished second in La Liga, their best in two decades. Carter was instrumental in their Copa del Rey victory and their second consecutive UEFA Champions League title, including a hat-trick in both legs against Barcelona. They also won the UEFA Super Cup and defeated Raja Casablanca in the FIFA Club World Cup. In the Supercopa de España, Carter's brace secured a 3-1 victory over Barcelona.

Sextuple Success

Carter began the 2013-14 season strongly, scoring consecutive braces against Real Sociedad and Almería, a hat-trick in a 4-0 win over Real Madrid, and a goal in a 1-1 draw with Espanyol, helping Atlético Madrid go ten matches unbeaten. Despite a 0-2 loss to Almería, Carter's hat-trick in a 3-3 draw with Osasuna and another against Real Madrid in a 5-2 win, followed by a hat-trick against Barcelona in a 4-1 win, secured their first La Liga title in nearly two decades. Though they lost 1-5 to Real Madrid in the Copa del Rey semi-finals, they triumphed over Real Madrid in a 2-1 win in the UEFA Champions League final. They also won the UEFA Super Cup against Sevilla, the FIFA Club World Cup against San Lorenzo, and the Supercopa de España against Real Madrid.

In the 2014-15 season, Carter opened with a hat-trick in a 3-0 win against Rayo Vallecano. Despite a loss to Valencia, Carter's hat-tricks and braces led to victories over Getafe, Deportivo La Coruña, Elche, and Barcelona. By season's end, he had scored 40 goals, and Atlético Madrid won La Liga for a second consecutive season, becoming the first club besides Real Madrid or Barcelona to do so since the 1980s. Though they lost to Barcelona in the Copa del Rey quarter-finals, they avenged this loss with a 5-2 win in the UEFA Champions League final, marking their fourth consecutive title. They also won the UEFA Super Cup, the FIFA Club World Cup, and the Supercopa de España.

The San Siro in Milan, Italy, which hosted the 2017 UEFA Champions League Final between Atlético Madrid and Real Madrid, with the former subsequently winning the match 4-1 and later going on to achieve a historic sextuple in a first for a Spanish side and the second in European history after Manchester United.

In the 2015-16 season, Carter returned to form with a brace in a 3-1 win over Barcelona, and another brace in a 2-1 win over Villareal. He scored hat-tricks against Sporting Gijón, Las Palmas, Getafe, and Real Madrid, leading Atlético Madrid to an undefeated season and a record-breaking third consecutive La Liga title with 106 points. They also won the Copa del Rey with a 4-1 victory over Barcelona. In the UEFA Champions League, Carter's hat-tricks led to victories over PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, and Bayern Munich, culminating in a 4-1 win over Real Madrid in the final for their fifth consecutive title. They won the UEFA Super Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup, and the Supercopa de España, becoming the second European team to achieve a sextuple.

Final Years

In the 2016-17 season, Carter began brilliantly, scoring a hat-trick in the opening match against Alavés and adding a goal in a 5-0 win over Celta Vigo. Despite a 1-1 draw with Barcelona, he contributed significantly with assists and goals, including crucial hat-tricks against Real Sociedad and Real Madrid. He ended the season with 40 goals, leading Atlético Madrid to their fourth consecutive title, and scored vital goals in the UEFA Champions League, culminating in a hat-trick to secure their sixth consecutive European title with a 5-1 win over Juventus. Carter also led his team to victory in the UEFA Super Cup against Manchester United and the FIFA Club World Cup, capping off the season with a dramatic win over Barcelona in the Supercopa de España.

In the 2017-18 season, Carter started strong with a hat-trick in an 8-1 win over Las Palmas and maintained his form with key goals, including a hat-trick in a 4-1 victory over Barcelona. Despite a setback against Espanyol, Carter continued to score crucial goals, leading Atlético Madrid to their fifth consecutive title. He was instrumental in their Copa del Rey win, scoring a hat-trick in the finals against Barcelona. In the UEFA Champions League, Carter's goals helped defeat Liverpool and Real Madrid, securing their seventh European title. Atlético Madrid also won the FIFA Club World Cup and the Supercopa de España, achieving a historic second sextuple, with Carter now holding three sextuple achievements, the most for any player.

In his final season with Atlético Madrid, Carter began with a brace in a 2-2 draw against Celta Vigo. On September 15th, he scored his first hat-trick of the season, leading to a 4-1 win over Eibar, followed by a 2-0 victory over Getafe. Despite another hat-trick against Huesca, Carter couldn't break the deadlock against Real Madrid, but compensated with a decisive goal in a 2-1 win over FC Barcelona. He then scored hat-tricks in dominant wins over Alavés and Espanyol. Despite losses to Real Betis and Real Madrid, Carter contributed two goals in a 4-0 win over Real Sociedad. A hat-trick on March 16, 2019, secured a 3-2 win over Athletic Bilbao, and Carter's final goals in a 4-2 victory over Levante helped Atlético Madrid clinch their sixth consecutive La Liga title. In the Copa del Rey, Carter's hat-trick against Girona secured a 7-4 aggregate win in the round of 16. He also scored a crucial goal to see off Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, leading to a semi-final against Barcelona. Carter's hat-trick and two additional goals resulted in a 4-8 aggregate victory, clearing the path to the finals, where his tiebreaking goal helped defeat Valencia 3-2. In the UEFA Champions League, Carter faced his old rival Cristiano Ronaldo of Juventus. Carter's hat-trick in the first leg offset Ronaldo's hat-trick in the second, leading to a 3-5 aggregate victory. Atlético Madrid then demolished Ajax 13-0 on aggregate and defeated Tottenham Hotspur 8-1 on aggregate to then face Liverpool in the final at the club's own home ground where they went on to win 4-1 via a hat-trick from Carter, thereby winning their eighth overall European title, the most for any club to date.

"Without a doubt, Real Madrid can say they have Cristiano Ronaldo and Barcelona can say they have Lionel Messi. In the end, we had William Carter, and judging by our successes and the multiple sextuples, we were the lucky ones, and the others couldn't necessarily say the same"

Atlético Madrid captain Koke on Carter's impact at the club

By the time of his departure from the club, having scored 328 goals in 302 appearances, Carter had long officially become the all-time goalscorer for Atlético Madrid, surpassing the previous record of 172 goals by Luis Aragonés, to whom Carter subsequently paid a personal tribute upon breaking the latter's goalscoring record, stating, "As great as I could have been in my five years at the club, there is surely no one better than the one and only Luis Aragonés". In the meantime, his total goal tally also notably makes him La Liga's second-highest all-time goalscorer, becoming the only English or American player to be included in the top ten in a list mostly dominated by Spanish players and led in the top three by Carter, Lionel Messi, and Cristiano Ronaldo respectively. Among club supporters, Carter is popularly known by the nickname of "San Guillermo" ("Saint William") as a tribute to his extraordinary successes with the club, similar to how former longtime Real Madrid goalkeeper Iker Casillas is popularly known as "San Iker" ("Saint Iker") among the club's fans. In addition, some supporters have also nicknamed him "Hijo del Atlético" which translates to "Son of Atlético", a testament to his overwhelming popularity among the club's supporters. Since his departure at the end of the 2018-19 season, the club has gone on to win the league once more, making it their seventh title overall, the Copa del Rey thrice in a row, and the Supercopa de España twice, for which they defeated Real Madrid 4-1 on penalties and Barcelona 2-1 respectively.

Having participated and scored in all three European finals to date that were lost by Real Madrid, all of which were with Atlético Madrid, Carter is generally considered by most observers to be the apparent kryptonite against the Spanish giants whose ongoing two-decades-long European title drought since their last one in 1998 has been considerably attributed to Carter's dominant success with Atlético Madrid throughout much of the 2010s. Later on, in the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final between Real Madrid and Tottenham Hotspur, with the latter being under Carter's management at the time, the Spanish giants were defeated 0-1 by a lone goal from Lucas Moura, thereby resulting in the so-called "Carter Curse" which claims that Real Madrid would lose any European final as long as the opposition was captained or managed by Carter himself. Moreover, in the immediate season following Carter's retirement as head coach, Real Madrid was eliminated in the semi-finals by the Premier League club Arsenal currently captained by Carter's younger brother Prince Richard.

International Career

United States U-20

The National Stadium in Lagos, Nigeria, which hosted the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship Final between the United States and Japan. The United States later won the match 1-0 via a tiebreaking goal from Carter in the 76th minute.

In 1999, two years into his career as a professional footballer for LA Galaxy, Carter, by virtue of his fast-rising popularity and talent, was called up for the under-20 national team, with the national call-up proving vital in exposing Carter to his first-ever international tournament, namely the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship in Nigeria. It was later reported that the callup, at least initially, was opposed by Carter's mother, the actress Lynda Carter, who was said to have been personally concerned for her son's wellbeing in such a foreign country at a relatively young age. Ultimately, repeated assurances that the twenty-year-old Carter's well-being would be well taken care of, coupled with Carter's own personal insistence on participating in the tournament, eventually gave way to the national team call-up.

Soon enough, having been grouped with the likes of England, Japan, and Cameroon, Carter quickly made his mark for the national team by scoring a brace in the first group stage match against England although this was then followed by a 1-3 defeat to Japan. However, in what would be a vital match towards securing qualification to the knockout stages, Carter went on to score his first hat-trick for the United States against Cameroon in a 6-0 win. Not long afterward, a late 93rd-minute goal from Carter proved vital in avoiding a narrow 2-3 defeat to Spain in the round of 16, following which the United States proceeded to defeat the Spaniards 4-1 on penalties to advance to the quarter-finals. Then, after scoring two goals to complete a narrow 3-2 victory over hosts Nigeria in the quarter-finals, Carter scored his second hat-trick for the United States to complete a dominant 6-0 win over Mali in the ensuing semi-finals, thereby allowing them to progress to the finals where they faced Japan. In this, after a relatively long period which saw both the United States and Japan unsuccessfully attempt a tiebreaker, at precisely the 76th minute, Carter shortly proceeded to dribble past several Japanese players before unleashing a powerful long-range shot from just outside of the penalty area to give the United States a vital breakthrough in the closing minutes of the game amidst subsequent unsuccessful attempt by Japan to level the scores. Soon enough, having personally contributed to the United States' first-ever FIFA World Youth Championship title with his tiebreaking goal in the finals, Carter's profile as a relatively unknown soccer player immediately rose to an unprecedented high with some media outlets gradually beginning to tout Carter as a "future World Cup winner" especially so given that just a year prior the United States suffered a humiliating exit in the group stages of the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

United States

"As ridiculous as it might sound, he was our star, our captain, our engine, and our everything. Without him, we were essentially an entirely different team from the one that competed at the World Cup in 2002."

Former head coach Bruce Arena on Carter's time at the USMNT

In the following year, by then a talent-proven soccer player in the Major League Soccer scene, and most recently, the winner of the 1999 FIFA World Youth Championship, Carter was officially called up for his first-ever international duty as part of the United States national team, with then-manager Bruce Arena hoping to utilise the young and rising soccer star as the national team's primary goalscorer in future competitive matches, especially in light of the upcoming 2002 FIFA World Cup in Japan and Korea. On 16 January 2000, Carter made his debut for the national team in a friendly match against Iran where, following an initial 1-1 deadlock between the two sides, Carter proceeded to score two goals throughout the second half, ultimately giving the United States a 3-1 win over their opponents. Then, around a month later, for the 2000 CONCACAF Gold Cup tournament, Carter, who initially did not score in the first two matches against Haiti and Peru respectively, went on to score a hat-trick, his first-ever for the United States' senior team, in the quarter-final match against Colombia, allowing the United States to break the initial 2-2 deadlock and therefore achieve a resounding 5-2 victory. This was soon followed by a heavy 4-0 demolition of Peru in the semi-finals, in which Carter otherwise scored only one goal to add on to the other three goals by his teammates. In the end, a brace from Carter in the final match against Canada, whose initial 1-0 lead was consequently overturned as a result, proved to be the decisive factor that awarded the United States their second CONCACAF Gold Cup title. Then, just a year later, as a regular starter for the United States, Carter famously contributed two consecutive hat-tricks in the knockout stages to demolish both France and Japan 5-0 and 5-1 respectively, allowing the United States to also win their first-ever FIFA Confederations Cup tournament. Soon enough, with only a year left until the upcoming World Cup tournament, Carter was named the United States' new team captain, becoming the youngest-ever American captain in history at just twenty-two. Almost immediately, his public profile rose considerably among the American media with ESPN, noting Carter's physical attractiveness, beginning to refer to him as "America's David Beckham".

The Nissan Stadium in Yokohama, Japan, which hosted the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final and which saw the United States achieve a historic 5-0 win over Brazil to lift their first and only World Cup title to date.

Following this, in 2002, Carter saw further success by winning a second consecutive CONCACAF Gold Cup with the United States with his most notable contributions being a brace in a 6-0 win over El Salvador in the quarter-finals and a hat-trick in the finals that saw the Americans demolish Costa Rica 5-0 at the Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California. Soon enough, for the 2002 FIFA World Cup's group stage fixtures, Carter was a steady and dominant presence for the United States, scoring twice in a 5-2 win over Portugal and a crucial equalising goal in a 1-1 draw with Korea, thereby allowing the Americans to advance to the knockout stages despite a subsequent 1-3 loss to Poland in the final group stage match. In the ensuing round of 16, Carter provided one additional goal to complete a 3-0 rout of neighbours Mexico before following it up with a crucial hat-trick to complete a remarkable 3-1 comeback win over Germany, thereby allowing them to progress further to the semi-finals for just the second time in almost seventy years where the United States narrowly defeated Ireland 4-3 courtesy of a brace from Carter to reach a World Cup final for the first time ever. In this, Carter's individual brilliance, coupled with resolute defending from the American backline in an effective 4-4-2 counter-attacking system set up by head coach Bruce Arena, saw the United States achieve a historic 5-0 victory over a star-studded Brazilian national team consisting of the likes of goalkeeper Marcos, defenders Cafu and Roberto Carlos, midfielders Rivaldo and Kaká, and forwards Ronaldo and Ronaldinho, in what later came to be nicknamed by Brazilians as the "Desastre de Yokohama" (English: "Yokohama Disaster") given the heavy-handed and unexpected nature of their national team's defeat while American supporters otherwise came to refer to it as the "June 30th Miracle", a term that was even echoed by then-manager Bruce Arena who later said during the post-match press conference, "Under normal circumstances, with the players that Brazil had fielded, we definitely didn't stand a chance but this turns out to be not a normal match at all and by all means, we certainly did a miracle here that everyone will remember for generations". Most significantly, this marks the first and only time to date that the United States, as the first and only CONCACAF member state to do so, has ever won a World Cup trophy since they first participated in the tournament in its inaugural 1930 edition where they finished in third place behind Uruguay and Argentina, their highest-ever finish in the tournament prior to their victory in the 2002 edition. In the meantime, his 75th-minute hat-trick saw Carter become just the second player after England's Geoff Hurst to score a hat-trick in a World Cup final as well as the only American player to do so in what is the country's only appearance to date in a World Cup final.

Later on, despite suddenly announcing that the 2002 FIFA World Cup would be his first and only World Cup tournament with the United States, an announcement that quickly caught many by surprise, Carter continued to remain with the national team for another year to then successfully guide it to a first-place finish at the 2003 FIFA Confederations Cup in which a hat-trick from the former in the finals saw the United States deliver a 3-1 defeat to Costa Rica, who beforehand had recorded an unexpected 3-0 victory over France in the semi-finals, thereby securing a second consecutive win in the FIFA Confederations Cup, with the United States itself becoming the first nation to win the tournament twice in a row, followed by Brazil afterward. In the end, amidst much speculation and expectation that he would retire from the United States national team, Carter announced his much-anticipated departure that would precede a subsequent move to England the following year. Since then, the somewhat abrupt nature of Carter's retirement from the national team, that is at the mere age of twenty-five, coupled with the fact that the national team itself would never go on to win another World Cup or reach the same heights as they previously did, has led many American sports commentators to describe it as a "watershed moment" for the United States national team who had effectively lost their star player right after a major and historic triumph. Evidently, former LA Galaxy and United States teammate Cobi Jones later remarked, "Without a doubt, he (Carter) was one of or if not the best soccer player I've ever played with in my entire life and it was truly a loss to see him go so soon especially when it became clear that we needed him so much later on". Since then, the United States has failed to progress beyond the round of 16 in subsequent editions during which they were twice eliminated in the group stages in 2006 and 2022.

For his success at the 2002 FIFA World Cup, Carter, along with other players in the national team, were each awarded a Presidential Medal of Freedom and a lavish state dinner by President Al Gore. In that same year, a marble statue of Carter, known as the "Captain America Statue", was erected in his honour and currently stands in front of the United States Soccer Federation headquarters in Chicago, Illinois. Moreover, American supporters and fans are known to have famously nicknamed Carter "Captain America" in recognition of his success with the national team at the 2002 FIFA World Cup that, coupled with his pre-eminent status in the American soccer scene, made him the most famous American soccer player in history, a view shared by former soccer player Cobi Jones who remarked, "The truth is that there were eleven of us that won the World Cup that year but as it would happen only one will be remembered for generations to come by almost everyone around the world". In the meantime, his good looks and footballing prowess also led some media outlets to initially dub him "America's Beckham", referencing the famous English footballer Sir David Beckham known for his combination of excellent talent and striking looks. Incidentally, the two later went on to play together for England at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany but were otherwise never paired together at the club level with Beckham even ironically moving to LA Galaxy in 2007, almost a decade after Carter had left the Major League Soccer franchise. Regarding this comparison, Carter, citing Beckham's infamous red card incident at the 1998 FIFA World Cup, once said that his compatriot "would be nothing if I did not come to England in 2006", referencing the 2006 FIFA World Cup, the last World Cup that Beckham played prior to retiring from international duty in 2009 and the only one he ever won, for which Carter believed that he deserved much credit for "making" his compatriot a World Cup champion at the last opportunity. Meanwhile, English actress Emily Blunt, a close friend of Carter, once proclaimed her best friend to be the "more successful and more handsome Beckham".

England

"If I was going to win a World Cup, I want it to be with my own father who will celebrate with me on the stage when it's over and not with some random politician that I probably didn't even vote for."

Carter on his decision to switch his international allegiance from the United States to England

In 2004, just shortly after he had signed for Manchester United under Sir Alex Ferguson, Carter, who had publicly stated his intention of representing England, was officially declared an England player by FIFA, football's governing body. To that end, on 18 February 2004, amidst widespread enthusiasm and anticipation, Carter made his debut in a friendly match against Portugal that eventually ended in a 1-1 draw, with the former unable to score a goal despite registering several attempts on target. However, around a month later, on March 31st, Carter scored his first few goals for England in a 2-1 win over Sweden, who initially led their opponents by 1-0 via Zlatan Ibrahimović until a brace from Carter overturned the result in England's favour. Then, following a three-month-long break, Carter soon returned to England to compete in the UEFA Euro 2004, his first European tournament, in which he first scored a brace in the match against France in the group stages before following it up with two consecutive hat-tricks against Switzerland and Croatia respectively. Once more, in the round of 16 fixture against Portugal, Carter's late 116th-minute goal, which came around just a minute after an earlier goal by Frank Lampard, proved vital in breaking the 2-2 deadlock, thereby avoiding an ensuing penalty shootout while allowing England to progress to the quarter-finals to meet the Netherlands where they ultimately lost 2-3. However, despite this setback, when later asked by a BBC journalist over his immediate feelings, Carter famously replied, "It's alright, I'm just getting started". As of the UEFA Euro 2024 Final, roughly twenty years later, the 2-3 loss to the Netherlands in the quarter-finals marks the last time that England had lost in the knockout Euros stages and, somewhat ironically, the two nations did face each other in the semi-finals with England ultimately winning it 5-1.

The Olympiastadion in Berlin, Germany, where England defeated Italy 5-2 to win their first World Cup title in forty years.

Despite the Euros setback, in anticipation of the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, Carter, by now a guaranteed regular starter under manager Sven-Göran Eriksson who had also appointed him as the new England captain, quickly proved his worth via a series of goals scored in the qualifying campaign for the upcoming World Cup tournament where almost all of their opponents except for Ireland, to whom England narrowly lost 0-1, were defeated each time by comfortable margins. Similarly, in the following group stage matches on June 2006, England, grouped alongside Paraguay, West Indies, and Sweden, easily managed their qualification to the knockout stages with victories against both Paraguay and West Indies while a fixture with Sweden ended in a 2-2 draw in which Joe Cole and Steven Gerrard provided the two England goals. Then, in the following round of 16, England comfortably managed a resounding 4-0 victory over Ecuador, with Carter himself providing his first hat-trick for the national team in the match. However, a 0-0 draw with Portugal in the following quarter-final match almost saw England's journey at the tournament cut short before a remarkable performance by goalkeeper Paul Robinson during the subsequent penalty shootouts saw England progress to the semi-finals with a final 4-2 win over their opponents. Following this, Carter went on to provide two decisive goals in the semi-final match against France before later adding two goals of his own to complete a 5-2 rout of Italy in the finals, thereby securing England their first World Cup title in decades while also ending a forty-year-long trophy drought since their first World Cup triumph in 1966. Moreover, Carter also personally gained fame for being the first player to win a World Cup for two different countries as well as the first to win two consecutive World Cup trophies.

The Ernst-Happel-Stadion in Vienna, Austria, where England defeated Germany 4-2 to win their first-ever European title in just two years after their first World Cup title in forty years.

In 2008, just two years after their historic World Cup triumph, England, now led by none other than Carter himself as captain and Sven-Göran Eriksson as manager, saw further success in the UEFA Euro 2008 where after being initially grouped alongside the likes of Spain, Sweden, and Greece, England, thanks to a resouding 5-3 victory over Spain, a similarly huge 4-1 victory over Greece, and a narrow 1-0 win over Sweden, easily progressed to the following knockout stage, where in the following quarter-final match, thanks to a hat-trick by Carter, England comfortably defeated their Dutch opponents 5-3 to meet Spain once more in the semi-finals which they then defeated 5-2 with Carter himself contributing a vital hat-trick to break the 2-2 deadlock. Eventually, in the final match, Germany, despite initially leading by 2-0 through goals from Bastian Schweinsteiger and Christoph Metzelder, were ultimately defeated by a dramatic comeback from England in the second half in which Carter's hat-trick, along with an additional goal by midfielder James Milner allowed England to overcome their two-goal deficit and ultimately win the tournament outright 4-2, and therefore, the country's first-ever Euros title, a milestone that was then popularly compared to England's inaugural World Cup glory where they defeated West Germany 4-2 to win their first World Cup title. The following year, as team captain, Carter guided England to a second-place finish at the 2009 FIFA Confederations Cup in South Africa where following a 6-4 victory over Germany in the semi-finals, a 1-3 defeat to Brazil in the finals forced England to settle for a second-place finish instead.

England and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard whose infamous "ghost goal" in the round of 16 against Germany was erroneously denied by the referee amidst claims pointing to the contrary. England later went on to win the match 7-6 on penalties following a 4-4 draw courtesy of a hat-trick from Carter.

Two years later, coming off their recent World Cup and UEFA European Championship triumphs, and despite some challenges in the group stages against the likes of the United States, Algeria, and Slovenia, England proved quick to secure qualification to the knockout stages, winning against all except for the United States where the two sides instead drew 1-1 in what was a reunion between Carter and former compatriot Landon Donovan but this time on opposite teams. In the following round of 16 fixture against Germany, which notably saw Frank Lampard's infamous "ghost goal" controversially disallowed by the referee, Carter established himself as one of the tournament's most memorable players when he later scored a decisive hat-trick in the 87th minute that effectively nullified the initial 4-1 lead the Germans had previously enjoyed to then bring the match to a penalty shootout which England ultimately won 7-6 in what was later popularly referred to as the "Bloemfontein Miracle" in reference to the city that the match had taken place. A subsequent brace from Carter soon added to a resounding 4-0 victory that knocked out Argentina in the quarter-finals which he then followed up on with a crucial assist in the semi-finals where England defeated Spain 2-0 to advance to the finals for the second consecutive time where Carter went on to score yet another brace to mark England's dominant 5-0 win over the Netherlands. Consequently, along with Brazil and Italy, England became just one of three nations to have ever won two World Cups in a row. Meanwhile, in the following year, Carter also captained England to a third-place finish at the 2013 FIFA Confederations Cup in Brazil, where a narrow 1-2 loss to Mexico in the semi-finals saw England successfully rebound to then deal Uruguay a heavy 4-0 defeat in the third-place playoffs, thereby securing a third-place finish in the tournament.

The Maracanã Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, which saw England defeat Argentina 4-2 on penalties after a 1-1 draw in what was famously called the "Falklands derby" in reference to the Falklands War conflict between the two countries that lasted from 1982 to 1984.

Following their success in the UEFA Euro 2012 tournament, England, which Carter would come to captain for one final time, further qualified for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Brazil. For the tournament, England found itself grouped with the likes of Italy, Uruguay, and Costa Rica. Subsequently, despite a 0-0 draw with Costa Rica, victories against Italy and Uruguay saw them progress easily to the knockout stages with their first opponent being Colombia in the round of 16 who they dramatically defeated 7-6 on penalties following a 2-2 draw. Following this, England then faced hosts Brazil in the quarter-finals where they proceeded to deal a crushing 5-1 victory with Carter's 88th-minute hat-trick in the match quickly evoking comparisons with his infamous hat-trick against the South American country just a decade earlier at the 2002 FIFA World Cup. For the ensuing semi-finals fixture against Germany, the two sides initially found themselves tied 1-1 after an early Wayne Rooney goal was then equalised by a second-half goal from Miroslav Klose afterward until a 65th-minute goal from Carter proved to be the essential tiebreaker, thereby allowing them to progress to the finals for a third consecutive time to face Argentina where following a 53rd-minute goal from Carter and a 79th-minute counter-goal from Enzo Pérez the two sides subsequently faced one another in a penalty shootout that England ultimately won it 4-2 to secure a record-breaking third consecutive World Cup title. Nonetheless, shortly after the celebrations concluded, Carter announced that the 2014 edition would be his last for England while revealing that he would continue to remain with the national team for a further two years, leading many to assume that the UEFA Euro 2016 in France would be his final tournament with England. To that end, despite voluntarily opting for a more substitute-like role in the coming years, as anticipated, Carter proved to be an ever-vital part of the squad, with his first feat in the tournament being a brace in a 2-0 win over Slovakia. Then, after sitting out a 4-0 demolition over Iceland in the round of 16, Carter scored once alongside his longtime teammates Wayne Rooney and Steven Gerrard to defeat hosts France 3-1 in the quarter-finals, which, in turn, led to a subsequent 2-1 victory over Germany in the semi-finals and a meeting against Belgium in the final after Portugal, captained by Carter's rival Cristiano Ronaldo, were previously knocked out in the semi-finals, thereby preventing a final showdown between the two superstars. Nonetheless, in the ensuing final against Belgium, Carter went on to score his last-ever hat-trick for England to complete a dominant 7-2 victory over their opponents during which Gerrard also scored a brace in the process to mark what is the largest goal margin to date in a Euros final, surpassing the previous record set in 1968 when Ireland, via a hat-trick from George Best, defeated Italy 5-1. In the end, as expected, Carter promptly announced his retirement from international football, stating that after winning three consecutive World Cups and three straight Euros titles with England, he felt that his job with the national team was complete and thus wanted to pass his role as England's main striker onto the next generation with Tottenham Hotspur's Harry Kane immediately establishing himself as a mainstay of the national team in the wake of Carter's retirement.

With a total of 68 goals scored during his time with the United States in 64 appearances, Carter is the country's all-time goalscorer. Meanwhile, his 172 goals also make him England's all-time goalscorer as well as its second-most-capped player with 141 appearances. In this, he once held the special distinction of being the all-time goalscorer for two football confederations, namely UEFA with England and CONCACAF with the United States until Stern John, who represented the West Indies, surpassed him in the latter with 70 goals to become CONCACAF's all-time goalscorer. Regardless, Carter is still the all-time goalscorer for UEFA with 172 goals scored. Moreover, as the first and only nation to win the FIFA World Cup thrice in a row, England was awarded the Jules Rimet Trophy in 2014, a prized artifact that has since been on display at the St George's Park National Football Centre at Burton upon Trent, Staffordshire. Prior to this, it was infamously stolen but later recovered by authorities prior to the 1966 FIFA World Cup, which England ended up winning, before being ultimately awarded in perpetuity to England in 2014 following their historic achievement.

Great Britain national football team

Former English player and manager Stuart Pearce, who managed the Great Britain's football team at the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Following the United Kingdom's successful bid to host the 2012 Summer Olympics, which would take place in the capital city of London, in the months leading up to the event, Carter, owing to his largely successful track record with England, was quickly touted as a likely candidate for selection to the Great Britain men's Olympic football team. However, on December 2011, in light of the impending UEFA Euro 2012 tournament that same year, it was announced by The Football Association that none of the players chosen for the England squad for the tournament would be chosen for Great Britain as well in order to reduce potential player fatigue caused by the relatively short twenty-day gap between the end of the Euro 2012 tournament and the start of the 2012 Summer Olympics.

Consequently, the potential omission of Carter from the final Great Britain lineup proved to be a source of great controversy, with pundit Gary Lineker bemoaning the "missed opportunity for Britain to display perhaps their greatest footballer ever not just at the World Cup but also at the Olympics, an international event that is of much similar prestige and visibility". Despite this, some otherwise defended the decision to omit Carter from the Olympics, citing the obvious issue of player fatigue and fixture congestion, with then-Culture Secretary Jeremy Hunt stating, "As delightful it would have been for Mr. Carter to represent Great Britain at the Olympics, we cannot absolutely forget that he also has his own duties for England in the World Cup and Euros, ones that are perhaps more important by comparison". However, Stuart Pearce, the head coach appointed to manage Great Britain at the ensuing Olympics, said that Carter's inclusion, in spite of the risks and worries, "remains a possibility", adding, "Clearly, even getting a player onboard, especially one like Carter, is not an easy task with many factors at hand to consider. Ultimately, the final decision will be made after a few rounds of quick and productive talks that will help clarify the situation and put it to rest for good".

Eventually, during a February 2012 interview with Sky Sports, Carter revealed that he had been officially chosen for and is expected to captain the Great Britain national team at the 2012 Summer Olympics, stating, "Without a doubt, there's the real issue of player fatigue and all that but for me, I have yet to personally experience that fatigue myself, meaning that even if it takes place just twenty days after another major tournament, I'll be ready to show the world a familiar face and the style of football that everyone has come to know and love me for". On 26 July 2012, Carter soon made his debut for Great Britain in a group stage match against Senegal at Old Trafford which ultimately ended in a 1-1 draw following a late 82nd-minute equaliser by Moussa Konaté. Nonetheless, in the following group stage match against the United Arab Emirates at Wembley Stadium, Carter went on to score his first and only hat-trick for Great Britain to seal a commanding 6-1 victory over the Emiratis before proceeding to score a brace in the third and final group stage fixture against Uruguay at the Millennium Stadium which saw the match end in a 3-0 win for Great Britain. Then, in the ensuing quarter-final match against Korea, Carter scored a decisive 46th-minute tiebreaking goal shortly into the second half, allowing Great Britain to reach the semi-finals via a narrow 2-1 win in which Carter, together with Neil Taylor and Ryan Bertrand, helped deliver a crushing 5-0 win over Brazil, thus qualifying them further to the finals where they proceeded to defeat Mexico 2-0 to win the tournament outright with Carter personally adding a 40th-minute goal onto a previous 32nd-minute goal by teammate Aaron Ramsey to deliver Great Britain's 2-0 victory in the finals.

In the end, with a total of nine goals scored, Carter finished as the tournament's top scorer while his performance, described by the BBC as "classy and brilliant as always", was mostly met with a positive reception by many with Gary Lineker jokingly calling Carter "Great Britain's ultimate cheat code at the Olympics" while The Guardian hailed him as the 2012 Summer Olympics' "grand performer". Meanwhile, on his part, Carter remarked, "Some will say I should've done it, and some will say I shouldn't have done it, but at the end of the day, I gave the fans what they wanted, and frankly speaking, I feel great!".

Post-Retirement

Ultra Ballon d'Or

On 11 May 2019, in honour of his 40th birthday, France Football, in recognition of his "outstanding and one-of-a-kind achievement in football", exclusively awarded Carter the Ultra Ballon d'Or, a one-off prize considered to be more prestigious than the standard Ballon d'Or (of which he currently has fourteen in total) and even the equally rare Super Ballon d'Or awarded to Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano who was notably crucial in establishing the club's dominance both domestically and abroad throughout the 1950s and 1960s. Featuring a gold-laden ball on top of a gold-laden vase with four outstretched "arms" covering the ball and which symbolically represents Carter's four record-breaking World Cup trophies, the award has since been in his private possession along with his other footballing honours, reportedly in a locked room inside Buckingham Palace for which an exclusive key possessed only by Carter himself is needed to enter.

Around September 2021, several media outlets reported that Carter had personally acquired the prestigious Super Ballon d'Or formerly belonging to Alfredo Di Stefano whose children opted to sell the late Argentine footballer's memorabilia with the Super Ballon d'Or, among other things, ended up being bought by an anonymous buyer during an auction event. In response, while neither confirming nor denying his rumoured ownership of the award, Carter remarked, "Wherever it is now, I dare say that an award of such incomparable prestige and status is currently in the hands of someone who deserves it the most among many others". On the other hand, one of Di Stefano's children, in an interview with Marca, appeared to subtly suggest that Carter is indeed in possession of the award, stating, "Of course, out of principle, I won't say who actually bought it but the person who did was very special and who, by all means, really deserves to own it now".

Football Honours

In the aftermath of his retirement from football, The Football Association announced that the FA Community Shield, beginning from the 2020 edition, would instead feature Carter's own name on the trophy similar to that of the Johan Cruyff Shield in the Netherlands. To that end, the first edition since the rebranding was contested between Arsenal and Liverpool with the former ultimately winning it 5-4 on penalties following a 1-1 draw. Meanwhile, on 30 August 2020, in commemorating the tenth anniversary of his first match for Atlético Madrid, the club further named him "Life President", with club president Enrique Cerezo stating, "For much of its long existence, no one other than William Carter has proven to be an unquestionably consequential and important player in delivering some of the club's greatest successes that it has ever seen, for which it is only right that he should be honoured with an extremely rare appointment of the kind". The occasion, held remotely via Zoom due to COVID-19 restrictions, saw the attendance of the club's president and chief executive officer Enrique Cerezo and Miguel Ángel Gil Marín as well as current and several former Atlético Madrid players with Carter himself being the event's guest of honour. In the meantime, for his services to football, Carter was later knighted by Queen Alexandra, his sister, thereby becoming "Sir William Carter" with the accompanying honours of knight grand cross of the Order of the British Empire, the Royal Williamite Order, and the Royal Guelphic Order.

In 2021, along with longtime rival Thierry Henry and the Premier League's all-time goalscorer Alan Shearer, Carter was inducted into the Premier League Hall of Fame, with The Football Association chairman Peter McCormick lauding Carter as the "greatest player in Premier League history with an incomparable goalscoring prowess and an unmatched all-around talent". Similarly, La Liga president Javier Tebas hailed Carter as a "revolutionary player who effectively changed the landscape of La Liga" while United States Soccer Federation president Cindy Parlow Cone described Carter as "the greatest player to have ever come from America", adding that "without much doubt, all Major League Soccer players, new or old, will be holding themselves to the highest standard embodied by none other than William Carter himself". In this, owing to his American background, ESPN once wrote, "In the United States, where basketball and American football each has its icons in Michael Jordan and Tom Brady, soccer has William Carter as its very own face and icon". Christian Pulisic, who currently plays for AC Milan and captains the United States men's national soccer team, is often considered by many American soccer fans to be Carter's spiritual successor.

On 11 May 2019, to celebrate his 40th birthday, Carter, an alumni of the University of Manchester, was awarded an honorary doctorate by the institution, an honour that he later described as "one of the greatest to hold in my life". Meanwhile, following his historic sextuple triumph as manager of Tottenham Hotspur, in a rare honour accorded to a professional athlete, Carter, known widely for his leadership qualities, was made an honorary field marshal by the British Army's Chief of the General Staff General Sir Roland Walker in a special ceremony at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst.

The FA Presidency

In his capacity as The Football Association president, Carter is known to be a somewhat vocal figure on several issues, including equal pay and player fatigue, having occasionally proposed several measures and initiatives meant to address both issues respectively. In this regard, Carter has also come to be known for his somewhat confrontational approach with the international governing body of FIFA, who he has at times vocally criticised, especially those relating to the controversial hosting rights awarded to Russia and Qatar for the World Cup as well as the organisation's decision to expand the size of major international tournaments including the FIFA World Cup and the FIFA Club World Cup which he argued was placing more physical strain on players, especially those who have already played a considerable number of matches at club level. During a 2023 interview with Sky Sports, Carter remarked, "The clear and unmistakable problem with these bloated and glorified expansions is that to some extent these decisions felt like it was about making more money for the executives at the top than it is to rather meaningfully better the game of football itself which is undoubtedly upheld by the tens of players around the world who will now surely be looking at playing a much larger number of physically demanding games or being temporarily excluded from some of the games so as to prevent them from essentially getting hurt from doing too much work than what the human body can take".

In recent years, Carter has also been a vocal figure against what he deemed to be the "oilification" of the Premier League, pointing to the state ownership of football clubs Manchester City and Newcastle United by the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia respectively in which both countries are similarly authoritarian states in the Middle East. In addition, Carter has also spoken against the trend of famous European football stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, N'Golo Kanté, Karim Benzema, and Neymar to the Saudi Pro League. Describing the trend as "Chinese Super League 2.0", Carter remarked, "Not too long ago, we saw a particular country trying to jump-start their footballing industry by bringing in big European names often with huge salaries and whatnot. Now, it's clear that such a trend has emerged once again, and unless a sudden miracle arises, it's safe to say that this one will perhaps meet the same impending demise as its predecessor had, namely the fate of being a mere afterthought on the minds of most footballing fans who would perhaps care more about the league for its audacious stories rather than its footballing quality". Meanwhile, beginning from around late 2023, amidst reports of players including Jordan Henderson and Karim Benzema looking to leave the Saudi Pro League, Carter slyly remarked, "It's quite a surprise that after just a year or so, some of these very generous and charitable football stars are looking to leave already. Logically speaking, how are they going to help grow the very terrific Saudi football scene within just a year or so? As everyone knows, Rome was not built in a day, and the glorious Saudi football project would certainly take much longer than that to be completed".

Subsequently, after spending several months in Saudi Arabia, Henderson did indeed return to Europe, namely in the form of a transfer to the Eredivisie club Ajax, a move described by Carter as a "grand reckoning", adding that despite the former's history, Henderson is unlikely to return to his former longtime club Liverpool anytime soon. Meanwhile, citing the case of Henderson itself, Carter subsequently called on England manager Sir Gareth Southgate to consider any players who went to the Saudi Pro League or similarly "low-level" leagues "effectively retired" and thus revoke their position in the national team, stating, "When a player is chosen to represent their country at the highest level, particularly a country like England, the undefeated champions over two decades and counting, that player should normally be playing at the highest levels of football rather than the opposite so that when the regular club season ends, the player is ready to tackle the grueling challenges of international football where countries normally muster their best players available within a limited period of time. Thus, if a player chooses to relegate themselves to a lower class of football, for their own country's sake, they should already consider retiring from the national team rather than continuing to be a burden on their teammates and the country as a whole, thereby letting younger talents currently playing in the top leagues rightfully take their spots in the national team that the player has effectively revoked by moving to an inferior football league".

Despite his position being largely ceremonial, by virtue of his footballing legacy, some media outlets have thus spoke of Carter being an unusually powerful and influential president to the extent that he is said to ultimately possess the final say for important decisions done by The Football Association relative to his role in the organisation. Most recently, Carter is said to have been the one who approved the hiring of German manager Thomas Tuchel as the new head coach of the England national football team following the resignation of Sir Gareth Southgate, a rumour that received credence when Carter himself later vocally criticised detractors who opposed the appointment of Tuchel on the basis of wanting an English-born manager, stating, "Over the last twenty years or so, both of England's men's and women's national teams have found much success under managers who either came from England, Sweden, or the Netherlands. With that in mind, it is quite foolish to say that only an English manager can do the job properly when it's clear that those who aren't even born English can do it just as well or even better by comparison". In this, he even particularly criticised former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp for the latter's negative reaction, stating, "Honestly, someone like Harry should be the last person talking about what or who makes a great manager in general. For four years at Tottenham, one of the biggest clubs in England, he achieved nothing of note as manager while in that same time period, I, an American-born man, won the Premier League twice and the UEFA Champions League thrice, both in a row and, of course, I achieved a sextuple too while I'm at it. When compared, I think one of us is in a more credible position over the other to talk about who makes a good manager for a team or not". In this, amidst rumours that Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola was being considered as Carsley's permanent successor, it has been claimed that Carter, who is known for his well-publicised rivalry and antagonistic relationship with Guardiola, personally shot down suggestions of hiring the former, thereby leading to Tuchel's appointment.

Political & Social Causes

A vocal environmentalist, Carter has been an advocate of a "green market economy", supporting "eco-friendly" alternatives such as nuclear energy as well as electronic vehicles (EVs), the latter for which he has also advocated for mass commercialisation so as to lessen its traditionally expensive and luxurious status and therefore make it generally affordable for many, stating, "Just as how there are luxurious cars as well as the standard affordable ones running on gasoline, electric cars should also be the same way and not a strictly luxurious commodity for the ultra-rich but rather for all who will stand to benefit much in the future from acquiring it". In the meantime, Carter has also vocally expressed support for "cheap but effective" public transport as well as being in favour of nuclear energy, stating in a 2019 interview, "By pure logic, it is a bit weird that the United Kingdom, one of the world's major nuclear powers, is not seemingly exploiting its status for non-military purposes. After all, nuclear energy is obviously not just for bombing cities but also to power them more effectively than traditional energy sources". Since 2014, Carter has been a registered party member of the Liberal Democrats and has also actively supported the ultimately successful Remain campaign in favour of the United Kingdom remaining within the European Union. Regardless, in spite of his party affiliation, Carter is said to be "close friends" with former Conservative prime minister David Cameron, whom he once referred to as "a close friend of mine named David but not the one who plays football", referencing fellow English football legend Sir David Beckham.

Around May 2023, in response to a temporary ban imposed on English footballer and Brentford forward Ivan Toney by authorities on several counts of rule-breaking betting, Carter has vocally advocated for a "complete purge" of gambling-related entities from football, particularly Sky Bet which has been the main sponsor for the EFL Championship, stating, "Admittedly, the Championship might not be as prestigious as the Premier League but that's not exactly and should not be the sole reason as to why a different company not related to gambling at all should not be chosen as the new sponsor". Pointing to the sponsorship of the Ligue 2 and Serie B leagues by Indian tyre company Balkrishna Industries, Carter has at times called for a "British non-gambling alternative" to be considered as the new sponsor and successor to Sky Bet. Later, Carter would again call for the "complete eradication of the disease of gambling from football" after Italian footballer Sandro Tonali, who plays as a midfielder for Newcastle United, was also banned from footballing activities over gambling offenses.

Media Career

Initially, during the period between his retirement as a player and his subsequent appointment as a football manager, owing to his vast footballing knowledge and experience, Carter briefly worked as a sports analyst for BBC Sport and Sky Sports with a particular interest on matches involving his former club Manchester United. However, his sudden appointment as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur late into the 2019-20 Premier League season meant that his time was devoted more towards the club rather than his fledgling media career. Nonetheless, despite his newfound role, Carter continued to appear on BBC Sport from time to time, presenting opinions in his capacity as Tottenham Hotspur head coach.

Following his retirement as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur at the end of the 2022-23 season, Carter promptly returned to the media scene as the occasional football pundit and sports analyst. Then, in the aftermath of the 2023-24 footballing season, shortly after former Arsenal player Ian Wright announced his departure from the BBC One program Match of the Day as a longstanding main presenter, Carter was announced as the former's replacement for the ensuing 2024-25 season and onwards alongside compatriots Theo Walcott and Joe Hart. The hiring of Carter, which was announced on the BBC's Instagram page, was met with overwhelmingly positive reception owing to his status as the most decorated footballer. Similarly, Gary Lineker, having presented Match of the Day since 1999, thus making him the program's longest presenter, spoke of "much excitement ahead" in working with Carter on the show, stating, "A few years after I had left football, Carter burst onto the scene and, as anyone who has watched even a minute of football would tell you, made an absolute name for himself as one of the beautiful game's greatest players in history. Now, the fact that we would be working together daily on Match of the Day is nothing short of exciting and I cannot wait to hear his perspective on the beautiful game derived from his two decades worth of experience". However, their partnership would prove short-lived, as Lineker, having been at the show's helm since 1999, later announced that he was stepping down at the end of the 2024-25 season, to which Carter responded by expressing his "gratefulness" for having worked together with Lineker during the latter's last few months at Match of the Day, stating, "Even if it was just for a while, it was certainly an honour to work with someone as distinguished, both on and off the pitch, like the great Gary Lineker. Farewell, legend".

Managerial Career

Tottenham Hotspur

The Estádio da Luz in Lisbon, Portugal, where Tottenham Hotspur won its first-ever UEFA Champions League title following a 2-1 win over Bundesliga champions Bayern Munich in a match played behind closed doors due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

A self-professed "champion of the underdogs", following his retirement, Carter had initially voiced interest in coaching perceived "underdog" clubs such as the likes of Arsenal and Tottenham Hotspur. Soon enough, the firing of Tottenham Hotspur's Mauricio Pochettino amidst a poor start to the 2019-20 season on November 19th provided the much-awaited opportunity, with Carter himself being quick to apply for the now vacant position of club manager which he was subsequently granted the following day by club chairman Daniel Levy with the promise of establishing a "beautiful and deadly attacking style of play" and "achieving the impossible". Following this, Carter's first match in charge came to be an away fixture against West Ham United on November 23rd that ended in a 3-2 win for Tottenham Hotspur which was then followed just a week later with a similar 3-2 win over Bournemouth and a 2-1 win on December 4th at Old Trafford with Carter emerging triumphant against his former club Manchester United. Then, after a dominant 5-0 win over Burnley on December 7th, Carter also secured a victory against another major club in Chelsea, who the club defeated 1-0 via a 37th-minute goal from Christian Eriksen. Following this, wins against Brighton & Hove Albion and Norwich City, the latter particularly falling to a Harry Kane hat-trick, saw him manage to make it eight matches unbeaten by the end of the year in stark contrast to the club's otherwise poor start to the season beforehand. Then, following an unexpected 0-0 draw against Southampton on January 1st, Carter was dealt his first defeat just ten days later in a 0-1 loss to Liverpool although this was promptly compensated for with a dramatic 2-1 win over Watford in which a 94th-minute goal from Christian Eriksen in extra time saw Spurs successfully come back from defeat after a Harry Kane equaliser. Following this, a sixteen-match unbeaten streak which included a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on February 22nd, coupled with dominant 3-0 wins over Manchester United and Leicester City and a 3-1 win over Crystal Palace in the final day saw Tottenham Hotspur achieve a remarkable second-place finish with 87 points ahead of Manchester City in third and behind Liverpool in first.

Meanwhile, a 1-4 loss to Manchester United in the FA Cup and a narrow 2-3 defeat on aggregate to Manchester City in the EFL Cup saw Carter unable to win either domestic cup in his maiden season with the club. Regardless, after beginning his first European campaign as head coach with a narrow 3-2 win over RB Leipzig, Carter then faced his former mentor Diego Simeone, whom he went on to defeat 3-2 in extra time before proceeding to remarkably defeat a star-studded Paris Saint-Germain via a lone goal from Son Heung-min and eventually reaching their first UEFA Champions League final where a late Tanguy Ndombele goal in extra time, the second after an initial goal by Harry Kane that was canceled out by Ivan Perišić, saw Tottenham Hotspur win their first-ever European title via a dramatic 2-1 win over Bundesliga giants Bayern Munich, breaking all the expectations from pundits who initially foresaw a comfortable win for the German giants. Consequently, while Carter became the joint youngest manager with José Mourinho to win the UEFA Champions League, he was also now responsible for or was on the same team with the only two Asian players in history to have won Europe's most prestigious football tournament, namely Park Ji-sung, his former Manchester United teammate, and Son Heung-min, one of the players under his management at Tottenham Hotspur. Regardless, following their maiden UEFA Champions League triumph, the club went on to defeat UEFA Europa League winners Sevilla 3-1 in the UEFA Super Cup and Mexican side Tigres 3-0 in the FIFA Club World Cup, thereby resulting in Carter, who initially assumed the position on an interim basis until the end of the season, to eventually formalise a four-year contract with the club as head coach after a surprisingly remarkable start that saw Tottenham Hotspur win their first silverware in decades and also their first European title, a feat that Carter himself admitted in a subsequent interview to be "beyond my wildest dreams", stating, "Truth be told, when I took the job, I just really wanted to try and at least have this down-on-its-luck club survive the rest of the season and get a respectable top five finish as they usually do. To somehow win the UEFA Champions League on the first try was not exactly on my bucket list but, if given the chance to relive it again, I would gladly do so in a heartbeat".

Tottenham Hotspur forward Harry Kane in action during a 3-0 win over Manchester United where he scored twice through penalties.

In the following 2020-21 season, Carter started rather promisingly with a dominant 4-1 win over Everton, which he soon followed up on with an equally dominant 5-2 win over Southampton. Then, despite a 0-1 loss to Newcastle United, Carter proved quick to steer the club back onto a dominant winning streak, defeating among others his former club Manchester United 6-1, Manchester City 2-0, and Chelsea 3-0 while otherwise drawing 0-0 with defending champions Liverpool. Regardless, on December 20th, the club was met with a shock 1-4 defeat to Leicester City that ended a thirteen-match unbeaten streak although this was promptly made up for with a 2-0 win over Wolverhampton Wanderers just a week later that preceded a subsequent 3-0 win over Leeds United and a following 1-0 win over Fulham. In the meantime, the club also drew once again with Liverpool while also defeating Brighton & Hove Albion 4-0 and losing to Chelsea 1-2. Meanwhile, a shock 3-1 win over Manchester City would precede a 1-1 draw against West Ham United, bringing much-renewed hope as Spurs then marked a dominant 4-0 victory over Burnley along with a 2-1 win over Arsenal and most notably a 3-0 win over Manchester United which saw two penalties awarded to Tottenham Hotspur and defender Harry Maguire being sent off in the 76th minute. In the end, amidst a 0-1 loss to Aston Villa on the penultimate day which preceded an otherwise triumphant 4-2 win over Leicester City, the club notched a record-high of 91 points to become Premier League champions for the first time in history, a feat that Carter himself described as "inevitable" owing to the club's second-place finish the season before. In the meantime, a narrow 2-3 loss to Chelsea saw Carter once again unable to win the FA Cup with Tottenham Hotspur. A similar fate also befell them in the EFL Cup final where a 1-2 loss to Manchester City once again barred the club from winning either domestic cup. Nonetheless, a dramatic 7-6 win on aggregate against La Liga giants Real Madrid, followed by a firm 4-1 win over Manchester City in which a brace from Harry Kane that complemented Gareth Bale's goal and an Aymeric Laporte own-goal saw Tottenham Hotspur mark an unprecedented back-to-back UEFA Champions League glory while also being just one domestic cup short of achieving an equally historic domestic treble. With this, the club then faced UEFA Europa League winners Arsenal in the UEFA Super Cup, thereby pitting Carter against his younger brother Richard in a cup final for the first time. To that end, Tottenham Hotspur ended up defeating their North London rivals 5-3 on penalties following a 3-3 draw, followed by a 1-0 win over Brazilian side Palmeiras in the FIFA Club World Cup and a 0-1 loss to Leicester City in the William Carter Shield.

In the ensuing 2021-22 season, despite an initial loss to Leicester City in the William Carter Shield, traditionally considered to be the new season's curtain-raiser, Carter's Tottenham Hotspur otherwise made a rather promising start, defeating Manchester City 1-0 in the opening match and Crystal Palace 3-2. However, on September 19th, Carter's club was dealt with a heavy 1-4 defeat to Chelsea, by a 1-1 draw with Arsenal and a 2-1 win over Aston Villa and a 3-1 win over West Ham United in which Harry Kane scored all three penalties to mark a hat-trick in the process. In the meantime, the club also snatched a narrow 2-1 win over Carter's former club Manchester United despite the return of club legend and Carter's former teammate Cristiano Ronaldo to Old Trafford along with a 3-0 win over Norwich City. However, Tottenham Hotspur were then met with a 0-2 defeat to Liverpool which instead preceded a 3-0 comeback win over Crystal Palace and an ensuing 4-0 win over Southampton. Further down the road, in addition to a dominant 5-0 win over Burnley, the club also defeated the likes of Manchester City and Manchester United 3-2 and 3-1 respectively to make it twelve matches unbeaten which they only extended via dominant 5-1 and 4-0 wins over Newcastle United and Aston Villa to then make it sixteen unbeaten before a 0-2 loss to Brighton & Hove Albion brought an end to the streak. Nonetheless, over the last few days remaining, Spurs promptly rebounded with a 2-1 win over Brentford, a 3-1 win over Leicester City, and a 3-0 win over Arsenal before eventually concluding the season with a dominant 5-0 win over Norwich City at which point the club once again emerged Premier League champions with a record 99 points. At the same time, Tottenham Hotspur also proved successful in winning both domestic cups that year, for which they defeated Liverpool 1-0 in both the FA Cup and EFL Cup finals, thereby winning their first titles in both regards since 1990-91 and 1998-99 respectively. In the meantime, after defeating the likes of Inter Milan, Benfica, and Villareal, a lone goal by Lucas Moura in a 1-0 win over La Liga giants Real Madrid in the finals saw Tottenham Hotspur clinch a third straight European title, a feat followed by separate 2-0 wins over Eintracht Frankfurt and Al Hilal, with the latter particularly falling to two goals by Harry Kane. Following this, as both Premier League and FA Cup champions, Tottenham Hotspur subsequently contested the ensuing William Carter Shield with league runners-up Liverpool. In this, after both Harry Kane and Mohamed Salah scored once each to ultimately end the match in a 1-1 draw, an ensuing penalty shootout took place to determine the winner and Tottenham Hotspur, courtesy of a final 5-4 scoreline, emerged victorious, thereby making Carter one of only two Premier League managers and three overall alongside his former managers Sir Alex Ferguson and Diego Simeone to achieve a sextuple.

On 6th August 2022, Carter started his final season as Tottenham Hotspur manager rather promisingly, grabbing a 4-0 win over Southampton on the opening day. Then, a 1-1 draw against Chelsea on the second day, followed by several further victories along the way including a dominant 6-1 win over West Ham United, saw Carter make it seven matches unbeaten straight while major victories afterward over both Arsenal and former club Manchester United extended it further to eleven matches unbeaten with a 1-3 loss to Newcastle United on October 23rd bringing an end to the streak. Then, on January 1st 2023, Carter began the new year with a dominant 4-0 win over Aston Villa which he quickly followed up on just three days later with an equally dominant 4-0 win over Crystal Palace although the new years' momentum was quickly cut short by subsequent defeats to Manchester City and Arsenal respectively. Then, amidst a 0-0 draw against Leicester City and a 2-3 loss to Wolverhampton Wanderers, a 3-1 win over Nottingham Forest and a 4-2 win over Everton saw the club under Carter rediscover their winning ways by the last few months during which they recorded a dominant 4-0 win over Bournemouth and a 3-0 win over Newcastle United although this was then followed by a 1-3 loss to Manchester United and a 0-1 loss to Liverpool respectively. Nonetheless, a draw against Aston Villa and a 3-0 win over Brentford in the closing days ensured that Tottenham Hotspur would finish the season with no further defeats as a 4-1 win over Leeds United on the final day ensured a third-place finish with just one point behind runners-up Manchester City while Arsenal secured their first league title in almost two decades. Meanwhile, after previous unsuccessful attempts, a dramatic 3-2 win over Manchester United at Wembley Stadium saw Carter successfully defend the club's FA Cup title. Otherwise, despite recording a shock 3-1 win on aggregate over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals, a lone goal from Naby Keïta resulted in Tottenham Hotspur's elimination from the UEFA Champions League and thus the end of their title defence although Carter's half-brother Prince Richard later avenged the former's defeat by scoring a hat-trick to defeat Liverpool in the finals and deliver Arsenal's first-ever UEFA Champions League trophy. In any case, as was intended, Carter later announced the end of his time as head coach with Tottenham Hotspur, stating, "After several undeniably eventful and challenging years with a remarkable football club like Tottenham Hotspur, it is only right that I should reward myself with some well-deserved rest after all was said and done".

"Even if it's just for four years long, I undoubtedly won and did things that others before me couldn't, and by all means, it was certainly a hundred times better than spending twenty years and winning nothing in the process."

Carter on his time with Tottenham Hotspur

In the aftermath of his retirement, the ensuing pre-season matches were overseen by former player Ryan Mason who took over as interim coach until the club subsequently appointed former Celtic manager Ange Postecoglou in time for the later 2023-24 season. Prior to his appointment, Postecoglou had also previously managed the Australia men's national team from 2013 to 2017 as well as A-League sides Melbourne Victory and Brisbane Roar and J1 League side Yokohama F. Marinos. Meanwhile, as the most decorated and successful Tottenham Hotspur manager of recent times, supporters of the club initially launched a proposal to have the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium renamed after Carter himself, citing the decision of Atlético Madrid to name their new stadium after Carter and head coach Diego Simeone. However, the proposal itself was never fully implemented with an eventual compromise instead having the stadium's "North Stand" renamed to "Sir William Carter Stand" in his honour while a bronze statue depicting the likeness of him and former star player Harry Kane, who subsequently transferred to Bayern Munich, was erected in front of the stadium's entrance. Meanwhile, on 19 August 2023, for the opening to Tottenham Hotspur's first home match since Carter's departure, a commemorative montage was played prior to kick-off depicting the club's notable victories under his past tenure along with several of his memorable public moments before later concluding with the phrase "Thank You For Everything, Boss". Ironically, the club then went on to defeat Manchester United, Carter's former club, 2-0 to secure their first win of the season. Following this, while ultimately finishing fifth in the league, Tottenham Hotspur went on to reach their fourth UEFA Champions League final, their first under Postecoglou, where they faced derby rivals and defending champions Arsenal at Wembley Stadium but were otherwise defeated 1-3 with Ivan Perišić scoring the club's only goal in the match.

Personal Life

Main article: Personal Life (William Carter)

Since 2014, Carter has been married to the American actress Anne Hathaway, with whom he has four children, including a pair of fraternal twins named William and Anne. The couple was said to have first met during the premiere of The Devil Wears Prada which starred Anne Hathaway alongside the likes of Emily Blunt, Meryl Streep, and Stanley Tucci. After subsequently leaving their respective romantic partners, the couple began a discreet romantic relationship that eventually culminated in their wedding on 21 July 2014 at Oheka Castle in New York, United States, a private estate belonging to the British royal family.

Prior to his relationship with Hathaway, Carter was in a relationship with the Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen, his romantic partner from 2004 to 2007. The couple first met at the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final in Yokohama, Japan where Bündchen personally witnessed Brazil's infamous 0-5 loss to the United States that was captained by Carter himself. A similarly secretive and discreet affair, the couple's relationship lasted for several years long before they eventually decided to part ways with Carter later marrying the actress Anne Hathaway while Bündchen married the American football quarterback Tom Brady, whom she later divorced in 2022. Somewhat coincidentally, Brady, regarded as among the best football quarterbacks, spent much of his career in the National Football League with the New England Patriots, a franchise owned by Carter's father, although subsequent reports indicate that the two men only occasionally crossed paths and are said to have maintained generally lukewarm relations despite them being considered as top athletes in their respective sports and their shared history through Brazilian supermodel Gisele Bündchen.

Style of Play

"Almost immediately, with the way he played and the way he conducted himself both on and off the pitch, I knew that he was destined for something remarkable and that right in front of my eyes stood someone special and entirely different from the other players around him."

Former head coach Octavio Zambrano on Carter's early years at LA Galaxy

Considered to be one of the greatest and most complete strikers of all time, Carter is known for several qualities that defined his reputation which includes an exceptional pace, high work-rate, remarkable dribbling skills, an unmatched goalscoring prowess, as well as excellent overall vision and creativity, with former Manchester United head coach Sir Alex Ferguson describing Carter as "the most complete of all the strikers I've had", adding, "From what I've seen, some strikers can only do a certain set of things while others can do their own set of things only and there's Carter who can essentially do almost everything a striker needs to in one go". In addition, with a height of 1.80 metres, his relatively tall stature also allowed Carter to occasionally function as a "target man" with a knack for scoring close-range headers and in spite of his physical attributes Carter nonetheless proved to be a quick and agile striker able to both outrun his opponents and place himself in ideal positions. Moreover, Carter is also widely regarded for his excellent first touches and perfect composure, both of which made him a very press-resistant player who rarely loses the ball to opponents who tend to man-mark him rather often. Former Brazil and Bayern Munich defender Lúcio, who faced Carter in the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final, described him as one of his most difficult opponents ever, stating, "He is always on the move and you never really know when he was about to shoot the ball or not. Quite simply, he's very unpredictable and to even counter him you always have to think many steps ahead which is already a lot to do in itself". A dedicated student of the Total Football system and philosophy, despite being mostly known for his role as a forward, Carter also occasionally experimented as a winger, a second striker, an attacking midfielder, or even as a deep-lying playmaker in a more central position.

Having scored a season's average of an impressive forty goals while also playing a season's average of thirty-four matches over the course of his later playing years, Carter has also received much applause and credit for his longevity especially given he was able to almost match the goalscoring rates of rivals Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi with both players being at least several years younger than Carter who by then was already into his thirties. Regarding this, Carter has credited a mix of an "appropriate and efficient training regimen" and a "strict but healthy diet" that allowed him to maintain an almost consistent performance at the highest level even as he aged into his late thirties, a period where most elite strikers normally saw a noticeable decline in their performances. In addition, playing under the somewhat defensive and counter-attacking style of Diego Simeone crucially allowed Carter to conserve his energy as he aged while otherwise utilising most of it in short bursts hence his ability to score the usual amount of goals even in his later years. In this, his preference for walking rather slowly on the pitch before suddenly sprinting with rapid pace led some pundits to liken his playing style at Atlético Madrid to a cheetah, a comparison that head coach Diego Simeone even supported, having once said, "If the pitch is a jungle, Guillermo (William) would be our cheetah silently walking and prowling about before suddenly bursting into life almost immediately once he saw his prey who will find it really hard to outrun him. For us, a goal from him is like a cheetah having finally captured its prey". In addition to his offensive capabilities, Carter has received much credit from teammates and pundits for his defensive work in spite of his traditional role as a forward whereby he would often make well-timed tackles and precise interceptions whenever the opposition team is in possession of the ball while also being actively involved in pressing opponents up high on the pitch in order to immediately win the ball back and create a goalscoring opportunity right away near the opposition's penalty area. Aside from this, Carter is also well-known for his tendency to drop deep into the midfield area where he usually establishes strong link-up plays with his teammates before proceeding to carry the ball forward past opposition defenders.

"From the years I spent with him together at Manchester United and England, he was undoubtedly one of the most committed and driven players that I've ever seen in my life. When necessary, he puts in a hundred percent and it's only natural that others follow suit as well."

Former England footballer Sir Rio Ferdinand on Carter's professionalism

Aside from his widely-acclaimed footballing prowess, Carter is perhaps most well known for his somewhat extreme sense of professionalism and exemplary work ethic, traits that would come to mark his footballing career along with his distinction of having a somewhat "clean" and relatively "unproblematic" reputation which Carter himself later admitted to be both natural and deliberate, stating, "When I realised that I have a younger sister who's really into football and who's definitely going to be looking up to me as inspiration, I knew that by all means necessary I have to set an example and be a good role model for her so that she could truly love and appreciate the game especially through someone familiar to her which is none other than her own older brother". In 2019, former Manchester United and England teammate Sir Wayne Rooney described Carter as "every bit of a perfectionist, a total disciplinarian, and a 100% type of an outstanding player", adding, "Whenever a big match comes up, out of all the eleven men on the field, he will definitely be the most focused and composed man of them all". Moreover, former England and Manchester United defender Sir Rio Ferdinand, who once publicly criticised the perceived laziness and laid-back attitude shown by the England internationals during the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany, has also heaped much praise on his former teammate, stating, "Out of all the guys that were in Germany back then for the World Cup, I think William was the only one that had the game 100% in his mind since not to mention, he had just won one four years back, and because of that, he had that unstoppable sense of drive and passion of winning a second one right afterward, meaning that he will never take a tournament like the World Cup rather lightly until it is over". Accordingly, former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson also recounted Carter's overall behaviour during the last few training sessions for the World Cup in Germany, adding how the former England star was "the first to come and the last to leave" during most training sessions and that the latter "always gave his 100%, or perhaps 105%, each time without fail".

In line with his most famous nickname of "The General", throughout much of his playing years, Carter came to acquire a well-known reputation for possessing a somewhat formidable and commanding presence on the pitch as well as a natural assertive leader with former England manager Sven-Göran Eriksson describing the former as "someone naturally born to be a leader with his own set of loyal followers and subordinates". In particular, during high stakes matches such as a World Cup final, Carter was known for his "calm and reasonable yet aggressive and uncompromising" demeanor during dressing room meetings with former England teammate Sir Wayne Rooney once stating, "In most cases, if you did well then you'll receive the most praises you'll ever get in your life but if you did badly then you'll get the most berating and scolding you'll ever get in your life instead". Similarly, former United States teammate Landon Donovan, recounting Carter's final dressing room speech just prior to the 2002 FIFA World Cup Final against Brazil, said, "For all the many years I spent with the national team, that dressing room speech was probably the only time I ever felt 100% sure about something in a very long time". In a 2017 BBC Sport interview, Carter admitted that his hardline approach as captain made him an "enemy of some guys who didn't take it too well" but asserted that the results, which included back-to-back World Cup and Euros triumph, were otherwise indicators for the success of his leadership style, stating, "People could argue all they want if my leadership style was the right way to go but the simple fact is that for forty years before I arrived, a lot of great players tried their hand in becoming the national team captain yet neither of them was able to win the World Cup again since 1966".

As of 2024, Carter is just one of only eight footballers in history to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League, and the Ballon d'Or. Others on the list include Johan Cruyff, Gerd Müller, Franz Beckenbauer, and Paolo Rossi, as well as fellow compatriots Bobby Charlton, Harry Kane, and his own half-brother Prince Richard. In this, Carter, Kane, and Richard, all three of whom are English, are the only ones still alive.

Managerial Style

Despite his relatively short time as a football manager, particularly compared to other great names including Sir Alex Ferguson, Carlo Ancelotti, Arsène Wenger, Pep Guardiola, and others, Carter has otherwise been recognised by most observers as a shrewd and tactically astute manager during his time as head coach of Tottenham Hotspur and, by some, one of the greatest managers given the success that he achieved within a relatively short time period and with a club not necessarily considered to be as historically dominant as the likes of Real Madrid, Manchester United, and Bayern Munich. In this, while his preferred formation was the fairly popular 4-3-2-1 with the talented playmaker and goalscorer Harry Kane up front, in one rare instance, Carter notably employed a 3-5-2 formation to defeat Manchester City 5-2 in the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final which saw both Son Heung-min and Lucas Moura pulled backward into the wide midfielder positions in favour of a two-man strike pair up front consisting of Harry Kane and Gareth Bale whose partnership proved extremely effective against the Manchester City defence, thereby leading to a dominant 4-1 win over their English opponents amidst initial predictions favouring the Manchester club.

In addition to his tactical knowledge, Carter is known for employing a variety of mind games against his opponents, particularly by often riling up club supporters and urging them to be as loud as they can in order to deliberately disorient or demotivate opposition players while also occasionally making deliberate provocations towards the opposition prior to a match. Regarding this, Carter said, "As someone who spent almost two decades in the sport, I know just how absolutely vital fans are to a match, especially the big ones between derby rivals or a cup final. For me, while both teams normally play with eleven players each, if the crowd is really on your side and is cheering your team on every step of the way, then it's no longer a contest between a team of eleven and another team of eleven but rather a team of a million against a team of eleven". Meanwhile, amidst criticism by some for the more "inflammatory" and "provocative" aspects of his "mind games", Carter replied, "Any of the controversial stuff about my mind games is no more violent than the average playground insult. At the same time, even when I am seemingly being very provocative, I always ensure that anything I do or say does not become too personal or touch on sensitive subjects like another person's health, family, or anything like that for I know my limits even in the heat of the moment. Ultimately, the mind games are not for my own benefit but for the team as a whole so they could at least have a slight edge against a stronger opponent".

Known for his "maverick" and occasionally "unfiltered" persona, during his four years as head coach, Carter gained a reputation for his willingness to publicly call out or criticise individuals, be it fellow managers or players that he did not like, particularly those from the English football club Manchester City, the longtime nemesis of his former club Manchester United. In this, while otherwise maintaining a seemingly indifferent or, at best, a cordial attitude towards other fellow managers, Carter is known for his somewhat "hostile" relationship with Manchester City head coach Pep Guardiola, whom he once infamously claimed should learn from the former England captain himself on how to win titles as a football manager, a sentiment that he later echoed following Tottenham Hotspur's 4-1 victory over Manchester City in the 2021 UEFA Champions League Final where Carter himself was the head coach for The Lilywhites. In addition, owing to his propensity for more pragmatic but attacking tactics as Tottenham Hotspur manager, Carter has also derided the tiki-taka style of football popularised by Guardiola during the early 2010s, describing it in one instance as "snoozefest football". Otherwise, Carter is known for his glowing public praise for Atlético Madrid head coach Diego Simeone, whom Carter has referred to as his "mentor" and credited for his successful tactics at Tottenham Hotspur, and former Manchester United head coach Sir Alex Ferguson, under whom he played for six seasons and achieved a historic sextuple. In this, given that the three of them are the only managers in Europe to have won the UEFA Champions League thrice in a row and achieved a sextuple, Carter has often included himself alongside Simeone and Ferguson as the "big three of European managers", stating, "A lot of managers in history have won the Champions League from time to time but how many of them exactly could claim to have won it thrice in a row and get a sextuple while they're at it? Not a lot of them can".

As the only English manager to have ever won the Premier League and the first in decades since Joe Fagan in 1984 to have won the UEFA Champions League, Carter is known for his utter rejection of what he perceived to be the "dinosaur-like and outdated English managerial style", having once said, "When you look at the major footballing powerhouses in Europe, there is no doubt that England produces players that are just as good if not better than German, Italian, and Spanish ones, able to adapt to different tactics and generally thrive at the highest levels. However, when it comes to producing managers, the fact is that the most recognisable English managers in recent years are all old-school, route-one types of men who teach nothing other than simply launching the ball forward and hoping that the striker would score. Ultimately, you don't really see this very simplistic and frankly amateurish style of play among the great non-English managers at all and there is surely a reason behind that". Consequently, although somewhat infrequently, Carter is known to have occasionally and publicly criticised "dinosaur" English managers such as the likes of Sam Allardyce, Harry Redknapp, and Sean Dyche, having once dubbed them "embarrassing relics of English managerial standards".

Honours

Player

LA Galaxy

• MLS Cup: 1998
• CONCACAF Champions Cup: 1999

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

• Bundesliga: 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02
• DFL-Ligapokal: 1999
• UEFA Champions League: 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02
• UEFA Super Cup: 2000, 2001, 2002

Manchester United

• Premier League: 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• FA Cup: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2008-09
• EFL Cup: 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• Community Shield: 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009
• UEFA Champions League: 2004-05, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• UEFA Super Cup: 2005, 2008, 2009
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2005, 2008, 2009

Atlético Madrid

• La Liga: 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19
• Copa del Rey: 2012-13, 2015-16, 2017-18, 2018-19
• Supercopa de España: 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• UEFA Champions League: 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19
• UEFA Europa League: 2010-11
• UEFA Super Cup: 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018

United States U20

• FIFA World Youth Championship: 1999

United States

• FIFA World Cup: 2002
• FIFA Confederations Cup: 2001, 2003
• CONCACAF Gold Cup: 2000, 2002

England

• FIFA World Cup: 2006, 2010, 2014
• UEFA European Championship: 2008, 2012, 2016

Manager

Tottenham Hotspur

• Premier League: 2020-21, 2021-22
• FA Cup: 2021-22, 2022-23
• EFL Cup: 2021-22
• William Carter Shield: 2022
• UEFA Champions League: 2019-20, 2020-21, 2021-22
• UEFA Super Cup: 2020, 2021, 2022
• FIFA Club World Cup: 2020, 2021, 2022

Individual

• Ultra Ballon d'Or: 2019
• FIFA Ballon d'Or/Ballon d'Or: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019
• FIFA World Player of the Year: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009
• The Best FIFA Men's Player: 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019
• The Best FIFA Special Award for Outstanding Career Achievement: 2010, 2014, 2016
• FIFA World Cup Golden Ball: 2002, 2006, 2014
• FIFA World Cup Golden Boot: 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
• FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Ball: 2001, 2003, 2009, 2013
• FIFA Confederations Cup Golden Boot: 2001, 2003, 2009, 2013
• FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Ball: 1999
• FIFA U-20 World Cup Golden Boot: 1999
• UEFA European Championship Player of the Tournament: 2008, 2012
• UEFA European Championship Golden Boot: 2004, 2008, 2012
• UEFA European Championship Team of the Tournament: 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016
• Premier League Golden Boot: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10
• Pichichi Trophy: 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16
• Kicker-Torjägerkanone: 1999-2000, 2001-02
• European Golden Shoe: 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16
• La Liga Best Player: 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16
• Bundesliga Player of the Season: 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02
• Laureus World Sportsman of the Year: 2002, 2006, 2010, 2014
• The FA's Senior Men's Player of the Year: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016
• PFA Players' Player of the Year: 2004-05, 2007-08, 2008-09
• PFA Fans' Player of the Year: 2004-05, 2007-08, 2008-09
• PFA Team of the Year: 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• Premier League Player of the Season: 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• Premier League Player of the Month: April 2004, August 2004, October 2004, December 2004, March 2005, August 2005, September 2005, November 2005, October 2006, February 2007, April 2007, May 2007, August 2007, October 2007, December 2007, January 2008, March 2008, April 2008, August 2008, October 2008, November 2008, December 2008, January 2009, February 2009, May 2009, August 2009, December 2009, April 2010, May 2010, August 2010, September 2010
• UEFA Club Footballer of the Year: 1999-2000, 2000-01, 2001-02, 2004-05, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• UEFA Men's Player of the Year Award: 2011-12, 2012-13, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17, 2017-18, 2018-19
• FWA Footballer of the Year: 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• BBC Sports Personality of the Year Award: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016
• Sir Matt Busby Player of the Year: 2004-05, 2007-08, 2008-09, 2009-10
• UEFA Men's Coach of the Year Award: 2020, 2021, 2022
• LMA Manager of the Year: 2020, 2021, 2022
• The Best FIFA Men's Coach: 2020, 2021, 2022
• Onze d'Or Coach of the Year: 2020, 2021, 2022
• IFFHS World's Best Club Coach: 2020, 2021, 2022