José Andrés Guardado Hernández (Spanish pronunciation: [anˈdɾes ɣwaɾˈðaðo]; born 28 September 1986) is a Mexican professional footballer who plays as a midfielder for Liga MX club León. Popularly known as Principito (Spanish for Little Prince), Guardado came through the youth ranks at Atlas, making his professional debut in 2005 before signing with Spain's Deportivo two years later, where he spent five seasons. In 2012 he joined Valencia, with brief loan stints at Bayer Leverkusen and PSV, before permanently joining the latter club in 2015 and winning two Eredivisie titles and two Johan Cruyff Shield titles. He returned to Spain two years later with Real Betis, where he won a Copa del Rey and made 218 appearances before returning to his native Mexico in 2024. A Mexican international since 2005, Guardado represented the country in five World Cups, four Gold Cups – winning the 2011, 2015 and 2019 tournaments – two Copa Américas and two Confederations Cups. He is the most-capped player in the history of the national team with 179 appearances, and joint tenth on the all-time scorer list with 28 goals.
