Ruiz began his professional career at 18, making his debut forAlajuelense on 30 November 2003 againstPérez Zeledón,[4] in Costa Rica's top division. He formed a trio with two strikers,Rolando Fonseca andFroylán Ledezma, with whom he built a reputation as a goalscorer and a play maker.
In the summer of 2006, Ruiz was signed byGent in a four-year deal along with Alajuelense teammateRoy Myrie, as well asRandall Azofeifa from rivalsSaprissa. He scored his first hat-trick playing on 8 December 2007 againstLokeren. In that season in the Belgian League, he was the captain and top scorer for the team.[6]
On 15 July 2009, the Dutch clubFC Twente announced that they had signed Ruiz for a fee of around€5 million, and agreed to receive a percentage of a subsequent transfer. He signed a four-year deal with theEredivisie side.[7]
Ruiz made his debut for the new club by scoring the second goal of the match, with anassist from another newcomer,Miroslav Stoch, in an away defeat ofSparta Rotterdam.[8][9] His goal against NAC Breda on 12 December 2009 marked the tenth consecutive match in which he had scored.[10] On 27 March 2010, Ruiz made one of the quickesthat-tricks ever[11] against Sparta, with goals in the 46th, 49th and 50th minutes.[12]
On 2 May 2010, FC Twente were crowned champions ofEredivisie for the first time in their history, with a 2–0 win at NAC Breda; Ruiz scored the first goal of the match during the 23rd minute of play. He finished the season as top scorer for Twente with 24 goals inEredivisie play.
In August 2011, Ruiz was being watched by scouts fromArsenal andTottenham Hotspur; however, on 18 August 2011 Ruiz claimed thatFulham was in talks with him. He stated to a local source "Fulham is a serious option for me. "That is also a Premier League side and it is a fantastic league. "Fulham already contacted my agent. If Fulham does become serious, we will definitely talk."
On 31 August 2011, the last day of the Premier League summer transfer window, Fulham announced signing Ruiz for an undisclosed fee.[13] His début was on Sunday, 11 September 2011 at home toBlackburn Rovers[14] and he scored his first goal for Fulham in a 3–1 home defeat againstEverton on 23 October 2011.[15][16]
In the fixture againstBolton at theReebok Stadium on 7 April 2012, Ruiz broke a bone in his foot, leading to a stretcher taking him off and him needing an operation, which sidelined him for 10 weeks.[17]
On 18 August 2012, Ruiz started Fulham's first Premier League game of the season, a 5–0 win againstNorwich and assistedMladen Petrić in scoring his second goal in his debut match.[18] He finished the 2012–13 season making 31 first-team appearances and scoring five goals.[19]
He made his debut on 19 January 2014 in a 1–0 loss toAjax[21] and scored his first goal for the club on 14 February with a 63rd-minute winner againstHeracles Almelo.[22]
On 1 October 2015, Ruiz scored his first goal for Sporting againstBeşiktaş in the group stage of theUEFA Europa League.[25] His first goal in thePrimeira Liga came in a 3–0 Lisbon derby defeat of Benfica at theEstádio da Luz on 25 October.[26] In another derby, on 5 March 2016, he missed an open goal, and Benfica won the match 1–0 atEstádio José Alvalade, knocking out Sporting to second place in theleague.[27]
On 11 July 2018,free agent Ruiz signed a two-and-a-half-year contract withSantos FC.[28] He made his debut for the club on 8 August, replacingDiego Pituca at half-time in a 1–1 away draw againstCeará.
After only 12 league matches duringhis first season, Ruiz failed to appear a single minute duringhis second, underJorge Sampaoli. On 13 July 2020, after again failing to play underJesualdo Ferreira, he terminated his contract with the club after alleging "wage breaches and moral damage".[29]
On 23 July 2020, Ruiz announced his return to Alajuelense.[30] In December 2022, he officially retired from the professional game, and marked the occasion by participating in a friendly between Alajuelense and his former club Twente.[31][32]
In June 2014, Ruiz was named in Costa Rica's squad for the2014 FIFA World Cup.[34] In the team's opening match, hecaptainedLos Ticos to a 3–1 defeat ofUruguay inFortaleza.[35] On 20 June, Ruiz scored the only goal as Costa Rica upset four-time championsItaly 1–0 to qualify for theround of 16, while also confirmingEngland's elimination;[36] Ruiz played the entire match as Costa Rica went unbeaten in the group stage after a 0–0 draw with England in their final game.[37]
In the round of 16 match againstGreece, Ruiz scored the opening goal in a 1–1 draw after extra time, before successfully converting his kick as Costa Rica prevailed 5–3 in thepenalty shootout.[38] At the quarter-final stage, Ruiz was one of two Costa Ricans to have their kicks saved byTim Krul in a 4–3 penalty shootout loss to theNetherlands.[39]
In May 2018, he was named in Costa Rica's23-man squad for the2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia.[40] In the last group-stage match against Switzerland, he scored a last-minute equalizing goal from a penalty spot in 2–2 draw; however, the goal was credited as an own goal by Swiss goalkeeperYann Sommer.[41]
In November 2022, Ruiz was named to the 26-man squad for the2022 FIFA World Cup,[42] his final tournament for Costa Rica as he retired after the tournament.[43]
Ruiz has two brothers; one of them,Yendrick, is also a football player. Both Bryan and Yendrick were teammates in Alajuelense for a period of two weeks before Bryan signed for Gent. It was not until 14 August 2013, when both played together for the first time, in a friendly that Costa Rica played againstDominican Republic.[59][60]
Ruiz worked as a columnist for Costa Rican sports newspaperAl Día from 2011 until the journal's ceasing in 2014.[61]
^"¡Vuelvo donde todo comenzó!" [I came back to where it all started!] (in Spanish). Bryan Ruiz's official twitter account. 23 July 2020. Retrieved23 July 2020.