Thursday, July 3, 2008

The Shortest Soccer Players in the World

This is a list of the shortest soccer players that are currently playing professionally around the world. The players listed range from 5ft 1in (1.55m) to a maximum of 5ft 5in (1.65m). For the majority of the list, I used the heights listed at the ESPNsoccernet player profile pages. If the player's height was not listed at ESPN, I generally used the official club pages. In the few cases where the height was not listed in either of those locations, I used the wikipedia height. All heights are listed in meters.


Diego Buonanotte - River Plate



Height (m) Player Club Nationality Position
1.55
Jafal Rashed Al Sadd (Qatar) Qatar
MF
1.58
Élton Jose Xavier Gomes Al Nasr (Saudi Arabia) Brazil
MF
1.60
Madson América de Natal (Brazil) Brazil
MF
1.60
Maximiliano Moralez Racing (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.60
Levi Porter Leicester City (England) England
MF
1.61
Diego Buonanotte River Plate (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.61
Elgabry Rangel Tecos (Mexico) Mexico
DF
1.62
Carlinhos Bala Sport Recife (Brazil) Brazil
FW
1.62
Christian Lara Barcelona SC (Ecuador) Ecuador
MF
1.62
Juan Cuevas Gimnasia (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.62
Franco Niell Argentinos Juniors (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.62
Joãozinho Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) Brazil
MF
1.63
Mohammad Al Shalhoub Al Hilal (Saudi Arabia) Saudi Arabia
MF
1.63
Pablo Piatti Estudiantes (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.63
Christian Bermúdez Atlante (Mexico) Mexico
MF
1.63
Zinha Toluca (Mexico) Brazil/Mexico
FM
1.63
Bakari Koné OGC Nice (France) Cote d'Ivoire
FW
1.64
Danilinho Atlético Mineiro (Brazil) Brazil
MF
1.64
Ludovic Giuly A.S.Roma (Italy) France
MF
1.64
Sebastian Giovinco Juventus (Italy) Italy
MF
1.64
José Joel González CF Monterrey (Mexico) Mexico
MF
1.64
Maximiliano Biancucchi Flamengo (Brazil) Argentina
MF/FW
1.64
Allan Alemán Liberia Mia (Costa Rica) Costa Rica
FW
1.64
Alejandro Gómez Arsenal da Sarandi (Argentina) Argentina
MF
1.64
Maximiliano Estévez Racing Club (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.65
Aaron Lennon Tottenham (England) England
MF
1.65
Emiliano Insúa Liverpool (England) Argentina
DF
1.65
Massimo Murdocca Queensland Roar (Australia) Australia
MF
1.65
Alex Nimo Real Salt Lake (USA) Liberia
FW
1.65
José Francisco Torres Pachuca (Mexico) Mexico/USA
MF
1.65
Luis Montes Pachuca (Mexico) Mexico
MF
1.65
Martín Bravo San Martin de San Juan (Argentina) Argentina
FW
1.65
Tita Ankaraspor (Turkey) Brazil
MF
1.65
Milton Núñez Olimpia (Honduras) Honduras
FW
1.65
Rodrigo Ruiz Tecos (Mexico) Chile
FW
1.65
Naji Majrashi Al Shabab (Saudi Arabia) Saudi Arabia
FW
1.65
Erivélton Atlético Paranaense (Brazil) Brazil
DF
1.65
Jadílson Curzeiro (Brazil) Brazil
DF
1.65
Paulinho Maccabi Haifa (Israel) Brazil
MF
1.65
Vitor Júnior Santos (Brazil) Brazil
MF
1.65
Boris Sagredo Colo-Colo (Chile) Chile
MF
1.65
Miroslav Ivanov Levski Sofia (Bulgaria) Bulgaria
MF



Depending on which number you believe, Élton Jose Xavier Gomes may be the shortest player. He is listed at 1.53m on wikipedia, 1.56m at this Corinthians site, and in this Reuters article he is listed at 1.58m.

I didn't find any goalkeepers that met the criteria for this list, but Oscar Perez Rojas of UANL Mexico came the closest at 1.69m (5ft7in).

Other famous short players who didn't quite make the list:
Lionel Messi (1.69m), Philip Lahm (1.70m), Freddy Adu (1.73m), Paul Scholes (1.70m), Shaun Wright-Phillips (1.66m), Javier Saviola (1.68m), Omar Bravo (1.69m), Edgar Davids (1.70m), Claude Makelele (1.70m), Michael Owen (1.72m)

Interesting that more than half of these short players are from Argentina, Brazil, or Mexico.

There are certainly discrepencies in these players listed heights, depending on what site you're looking at. If you have any corrections or additional players I can add to the list, please feel free to let me know.

30 comments:

  1. Thanks for the list very interesting. Any chance you might have the data for what the average height of players are in the English Premier league or La Liga or the Italian division one.

    Thanks

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  2. You missed a few players.

    http://thetwelfthmanblog.blogspot.com/2010/03/worlds-shortest-footballers.html

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  3. there is another one:jesus navas[sevilla fc]

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  4. hats off to you
    nice information

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  5. Nice job guy, but where do u put Andrei Arshavin (Arsenal FC)

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  6. Wayne Neville Anthony Routledge, Newcastle United (England)

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  7. Rui Barros was 1.60m hehe. he would get a top 5 on you rlist. i loved to watch him play

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  8. andik vermansyah, indonesian football player from Persebaya Surabaya, 162 cm..

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  9. Other shortest players;

    Full name Benedict Bongani Vilakazi
    Date of birth August 9, 1982 (1982-08-09) (age 29)
    Place of birth Soweto, South Africa
    Height 1.57 m (5 ft 2 in)
    Playing position Central midfielder


    Full name Oupa Matthews Manyisa
    Date of birth July 30, 1988 (1988-07-30) (age 23)
    Place of birth Mohlakeng, South Africa
    Height 1.63 m (5 ft 4 in)
    Playing position Central midfielder

    Sources; http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benedict_Vilakazi_(soccer)http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oupa_Manyisa

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  10. Daniel Villalva, 155cm / 5ft 1

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Villalva
    hahaaah

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  11. Alanzinho, 164 cm
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alanzinho

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  12. this player look short but seems that they have talent. my height is 169cm 5'7ft. i am a good player in forward. i am from Belize and i would like to play at any country with any team.

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  13. I am 5t 1 in,from Nigeria and Austine by name.I am a talented striker and 19 in age.i will like to play for any country or club.

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  14. I`m 171cm & 19 yrs.Good to see the heights.I ve realized I`m not too short,a bit taller than Messi.Thanks a lot...

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  15. what about Indian football players they are too short...

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  16. alexis sanchez of barcelona is around 5ft6 same height as me.

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  17. Ha ha. Im 181.5 cm and only fourteen. Would hate to be that short.

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  18. Wow tnx nice site I though shaun wright-phillips is the smallest player in world but now I see theres more.Im 194 cm

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  19. Full name: Jafal Rashed Al Kuwari
    Date of birth: September 27, 1972
    Place of birth: Qatar
    Height: 155 cm
    Playing position: Midfielder
    Nationality: Qatar

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  20. Even Santi Cazorla He is 1.65m

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  21. Marco Verratti, PSG midfielder is 1.65m, one of the shortest in French football, he's famous too; a good player

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  22. Matthew Balvuena?????

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  23. Marcin Garuch from Polish league, is 154 cm I believe

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  24. Alexis Sanchez is as short as Messi (169 cm).

    Gustavo Lorenzetti (U. de Chile), argentinian midfielder (164)

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  25. Federico Valentini

    Date of birth
    January 22, 1982 (age 31)

    Place of birth
    San Marino

    Height
    5 ft 5 in (1.65 m)

    Playing position
    Goalkeeper

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  26. Guissepi Rossi former Man utd, Sevilla and now I don't know


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  27. Funny thing is, the best players ever are Maradona and Romario with 1.65m and 1.67m.

    I think the reason why short players occur often in south America, is they get chances to prove themselves. In Europe you have a little chance to be a professional player, as they disqualify you simply based on length.

    But if you look at Maradona, Romario and Messie, these are the best players ever and yet they're shorter than 1.70 m.

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  28. but they really look dwarfish though on the field and on tv, esp. when their body is too built, like that pictured of 'diego buonanotte' above with towering giants. at least everyone is given a chance to play and get noticed based on talent and skills, and not discriminated because of lack of "average" height. that's why i love this sport!

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