Welcome to CPL50, a series where we’ll reveal the top 50 players from the 2021 Canadian Premier League regular season, as voted on by a panel of coaches from all eight teams and media from OneSoccer and CanPL.ca.

For more information on the voting process and method, click here. 

After showing promising signs with Pacific FC in 2020 at the Island Games, Alejandro Díaz was a focal point in the league’s best attack in 2021, and comes in at number 18 in the CPL50.

The Mexican striker was one of just five players to score double-digit goals in 2021, finding the back of the net 10 times and taking part in every match. He finished one goal back of teammate Terran Campbell, and four back of eventual Golden Boot winner Joao Morelli. 

His most memorable performance from 2021 was a hat trick in The Kickoff bubble in Winnipeg against Atlético Ottawa. It was just the second hat trick in CPL history, and helped his side comeback from a 2-0 deficit to win 4-2.

Wero Diaz
– Hat-trick ✅
– Game-winner ✅
– Comeback ✅
– 3 Points ✅
– Man of the Match ✅

Our @Gatorade MOTM goes to the @Pacificfccpl striker, who notched just the 2nd hat-trick in #CanPL history ? pic.twitter.com/Qyy4OLycWH

— OneSoccer (@onesoccer) July 22, 2021

He also provided four assists, helping Pacific score the most goals in the league, 47 in just 28 games, eight more than the next-best team. 

A two-time Concacaf Champions League winner with Club América, Díaz is one of the best finishers in the CPL, and proved it in 2021. It was a season to remember for the 25-year-old, and Pacific would go on to pick up the North Star Shield.