Cucho Hernandez's Europe move is frustrating for MLS

He wasn't done there. Cucho improved on his individual statistics in 2024 and led Columbus to the CONCACAF Champions Cup final—the biggest game in the North/Central American calendar. He leaves MLS as one of the league's all-time greats.

Many have speculated that Cucho's La Liga move was driven by his desire to play for Colombia at the next World Cup. It's easy to see why: Colombia is on an unprecedented hot streak. It put together a 28-game unbeaten run in 2023 and made it to the Copa America final in 2024.

Colombia coach Nestor Lorenzo is clearly building something great, and he's doing it just in time for the 2026 World Cup. But Lorenzo has a history of ignoring MLS's Colombian players in favor of their Europe-based counterparts. MLS features more Colombian players than any European league by far, but Lorenzo failed to bring a single one of them to the Copa last summer. His stance is clear: if you're going to represent Colombia in serious competition, you can't play your club soccer in North America.

It's an undeniably frustrating state of affairs for someone like Cucho. He spent last season competing with three Premier League-based Colombians for a spot in the national team—Liverpool's Luis Diaz, Bournemouth's Luis Sinisterra and Aston Villa's Jhon Duran—and on paper, he blew every single one of them out of the water. Cucho had more goals, more assists, more shots, more shot-to-goal efficiency and more goal-creating actions than any of his England-based competition last season. 

You could argue, perhaps correctly, that MLS is "easier" than the Premier League, but Cucho wipes the floor with his competition even with that caveat in mind. He scored 19 goals to Luis Diaz's 8 last season, and he did it in 500 fewer minutes of play.

Cucho has been in unimpeachable form. He deserved his shot with the Colombian national team. It's unfair to him—and to the rest of MLS's talented Colombian contingent—that Lorenzo and his scouts don't value soccer played in the States.

That's why Cucho's Columbus departure is so disheartening. It's not just because MLS will miss him. It's because the Colombian national team has so thoroughly missed MLS.