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),[4][5] 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.

[13] In the summer of 2006, press speculation linked Guardado to several Serie A teams[14] as well as Real Madrid,[15] but Deportivo de La Coruña moved quickly and made an offer of €7 million for 75% of his rights.

An offer was accepted and the transfer was finalised on 7 July 2007, making him the most expensive ever Mexican player at the time; Atlas retained a 25% sell-on-fee as long as it held the remaining 25% of his rights.

[16] Guardado played his final match at the Estadio Jalisco in a friendly against the Argentine champions San Lorenzo de Almagro, featuring 30 minutes.

[18] He made his La Liga debut on 26 August in a 3–0 home loss to UD Almería[19] and on 16 September scored his first goal against Real Betis, attacking a long throw-in at the back post, in which his attempt was described as "karate style" finish, in a 1–0 victory.

[28] On 15 May 2011, he made his 100th La Liga appearance in a scoreless draw at FC Barcelona, the third Mexican to achieve this feat behind Rafael Márquez and Hugo Sánchez.

[31] On 27 March 2012 he confirmed that he would leave the Estadio Riazor on 30 June,[32] and contributed career-bests of 11 goals and 12 assists as his team returned to the top level as champions.

[33][34] At the end of the campaign he was again voted by fans as best player,[35] and was also named the competition's best attacking midfielder;[36] additionally, he eventually surpassed Juan Carlos Valerón as the highest provider of assists.

[38][39] He made his debut on 19 August, playing 66 minutes in a 1–1 away draw against Real Madrid;[40] two days later, following his five-year residence in the country, he attained his Spanish citizenship.

[41] His debut appearance in the UEFA Champions League took place on 12 September, in a 2–1 group stage loss at eventual winners Bayern Munich.

[59] On 18 April 2015, with three matches to spare, the team won the league championship after a 4–1 win over SC Heerenveen, with Guardado playing the full 90 minutes.

[49] He played a pivotal part as they qualified to the Champions League round of 16 for the first time since the 2006–07 edition,[66][67] and was also listed on Football Oranje's team of the season.

[76] On 4 July 2020 he made his 100th official appearance for the Andalusians, captaining the side in their 1–1 league draw to RC Celta de Vigo[77] and becoming the first Mexican to reach that mark for three European clubs in the process.

[82] On 17 January 2021, after recovering for nearly two weeks from COVID-19,[83][84] Guardado returned to the field, coming on as a second-half substitute in the Copa del Rey round of 32 match against Sporting de Gijón, winning 2–0.

[85] On 11 January 2022, following his appearance in the league match against Rayo Vallecano, Guardado became the Mexican player with the most games in Europe with 496, surpassing the record held by Hugo Sánchez.

[97] He was then called up to represent his country at the 2006 FIFA World Cup in Germany,[98] where he appeared in the 2–1 loss to Argentina in the round of 16, starting as a shifting attacking midfielder/wing-back alongside Ramón Morales[99] but was replaced by Gonzalo Pineda after picking up an injury in the second half;[100][101][102] after the departure of manager Ricardo La Volpe, his replacement Hugo Sánchez kept the player in his squad.

During the second half he collided head-on with Jonathan Spector while both attempted to head the ball, but recovered to play the rest of the match, which ended in a 2–1 loss;[107] he was listed as an Honorable Mention for the competition's All-Tournament Team.

[120][121] Selected by Miguel Herrera for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil,[122] he started all the games as a left midfielder, and scored in the last group phase fixture, a 3–1 win against Croatia.

[137] Picked for the Copa América Centenario squad by Juan Carlos Osorio,[138] Guardado provided a cross in the opening fixture against Uruguay that led to an own goal in an eventual 3–1 victory, but was also sent off for two bookable offences.

[144] Following an injury scare that required medical intervention that was picked up while playing with Betis,[145] Guardado was selected in the final 23-man squad for the 2018 World Cup,[146] his first as captain.

[155] In a friendly match against Sweden prior to the World Cup, Guardado made his 178th appearance for Mexico as a half-time substitute, and became the most capped player in the history of the national side, surpassing Claudio Suárez.

[163][164] At PSV, manager Phillip Cocu facilitated his positional change as injuries hampered his speed,[165][166][167] as the latter began to operate as a central midfielder with box-to-box[168][169] and deep-lying playmaker qualities;[170][171][172] he later took on more defensive duties.

He also possesses a powerful and accurate shot from distance, and is also capable of aiding his team defensively due to his work rate and stamina;[173][178][179][180] additionally, he was described as playing closer to the "Iberian midfielder archetype," focused on possession in the center of the field, winning the ball back with smart positioning instead of tackles and then pushing it forward.

[185][186] Much of Guardado's first year at Betis' Estadio Benito Villamarín was captured in the Amazon Prime television documentary series Six Dreams, in which he was one of the stars.