Wanchope began his career with CS Herediano. Wanchope marked his debut for Derby scoring a memorable goal against Manchester United at Old Trafford. He scored 13 league goals in 1997–98. After scoring 28 goals in 83 games within 2 seasons for Derby, Wanchope was sold to West Ham United for £3.5 million on 28 July 1999. Wanchope made his debut for West Ham on 28 July 1999, at Upton Park, against Heerenveen in the Intertoto Cup. He scored 15 goals in 47 appearances in all competitions; his final game coming on 14 May 2000, at home to Leeds United. He was eventually sold to Manchester City at the start of the 2000-01 season. Wanchope earned a starting position at Manchester City, but was unable to help them survive immediate relegation back to Division One at the end of the 2000–01 season, despite scoring nine league goals. In August 2004, Wanchope was sold to Málaga CF of the Spanish La Liga for ₤500,000. He played 26 games for the club, scoring 6 goals. On 16 November 2007, after a 13 year career in football, Wanchope decided to put an end to his career, primarily based on how his old knee injury was affecting his performance on the field, the same injury that made him lose large parts of his career with Manchester City, making him unable to reach his best physical shape, an argument that was commonly criticized by the press during recent years in every club he played for. On 9 June 2006, he scored twice in the opening game of the 2006 World Cup, a 4–2 loss to Germany. Wanchope is now a manager in his native Costa Rica. He managed Club Sport Herediano from 2008 to 2009.