Born in England, McBreen moved to Australia with his family when he was six weeks old and started his career in local football with Toronto Awaba Stags and Edgeworth Eagles.

He earned a professional contract with National Soccer League club Newcastle United in 2000, where he played for two seasons before joining Universitatea Craiova of the Romanian Divizia A.

He played sporadically in their 2006–07 League One title-winning season, and was loaned to Conference Premier club York City in 2007 before having a short spell with St Johnstone in the Scottish First Division.

McBreen rejoined York permanently in 2008 and played one season for them, with his last match in Europe coming in their defeat in the 2009 FA Trophy Final at Wembley Stadium.

He returned to Australia to play in the A-League for North Queensland Fury, but mid-season agreed to join division rivals Central Coast Mariners for the next two seasons.

[5] He was raised in Newcastle, New South Wales[7] and started his career playing local football for Toronto Awaba Stags before joining Edgeworth Eagles in 1999.

[18] However, McBreen's wages were continually paid late throughout the season and he came close to a move to Norwegian Tippeligaen club Lillestrøm, only for Craiova to twice raise their asking price for him on transfer deadline day.

[15] He took his case to FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport with the help of Professional Footballers Australia, and only received the money he was owed after the club was given a three-point deduction and was threatened with automatic relegation.

[28] He scored his first goal of the 2005–06 season in the 83rd minute of a home match against Rangers on 10 September, with a header from Alan Gow's cross that secured Falkirk a 1–1 draw.

[29] McBreen scored the only goal in Falkirk's 1–0 win over Livingston on 6 May 2006 with a header from Gow's free kick, which was only the team's second victory at home all season.

[38] At the end of the season, McBreen was told by Scunthorpe manager Nigel Adkins that he was free to pursue a transfer to another club, despite having a year remaining on his contract.

[44] On 20 April, McBreen scored the opening goal with a back-post header from Paul Sheerin's cross in St Johnstone's Scottish Cup semi-final against Rangers at Hampden Park in extra time, which they eventually lost in a penalty shoot-out.

[52] His first match back at the club was a 1–0 away victory over Crawley Town and in his third appearance he scored his first goal of the 2008–09 season[53] with a left-footed shot from 17 yards in a 1–1 home draw with Histon.

[54] McBreen was played primarily as a lone striker in away matches during 2008–09, a decision which York manager Colin Walker defended in September;[55] Dave Flett of The Press commented that he "[led] the line lazily".

[56] During February 2009, it was reported in the Australian media that he had agreed join A-League newcomers North Queensland Fury, although York were unaware of any transfer taking place.

[62] He soon established himself in the starting line-up, and scored his first goal for the Fury after heading in a Fred Agius cross in the 87th minute of a 3–3 draw with Adelaide United on 28 August.

[64] McBreen was used mostly as a substitute after the move was announced,[62] before signing an interim contract with Perth Glory for the remainder of the 2009–10 season in a swap for Jimmy Downey on 12 January 2010.

[62] McBreen came on as a 72nd-minute substitute for Simon in the 2011 A-League Grand Final at Lang Park on 13 March 2011, and after a 2–2 extra time draw he missed one of the penalty kicks as the Mariners lost the shoot-out 4–2.

[86] His debut came a month later after starting Shanghai's 3–0 home defeat to Beijing Guoan on 7 July, and a week later scored his first goal in the 10th minute of a 3–0 away victory over Guizhou Renhe.

[92] McBreen debuted four days later as a 77th-minute substitute for Yuto Nakamura in a 4–2 away win over Sun Pegasus, before scoring twice in their 6–1 away victory against Global in the 2015 AFC Cup group stage on 25 February.

[62] McBreen scored both of the team's goals in their 2–0 victory over Eastern Sports Club in the AFC Cup play-off semi-final, and started their 1–1 extra time draw with YFCMD in the final, but was substituted before the 4–2 penalty shoot-out win.

[62] South China finished fourth in the 2014–15 Hong Kong Premier League table,[93] and McBreen scored 11 goals from 17 appearances[62] before his contract expired in May.

[94] Australia national team coach Pim Verbeek selected McBreen in an extended squad of 25 players for the 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualifier against Indonesia in Brisbane on 3 March 2010.

[97] North Queensland Fury coach Ian Ferguson commented on his physicality, describing him as "an aggressive player ... who will give centre halves a hard time".

[97] McBreen was appointed as the head coach of the Newcastle Jets under-15 team in October 2015,[98] and remained playing on a semi-professional basis with former club Edgeworth in the National Premier Leagues Northern NSW for the 2016 season.