List of Tallest Football Players
While successful football (soccer) players can come in all shapes and sizes, certain physical attributes, such as height, can play an important part in their performance. Height and arm span reach are particularly important for goalkeepers. Around the pitch, taller players with a good leap and positional skills have an advantage in overhead contests.
Tall football players are generally goalkeepers or forwards. Comparing World Cup players (2002-2018), the goalies were on average the tallest, the midfielders the shortest. At the 2018 World Cup, the height of the goalkeepers ranged from 179 to 201cm.
The tallest player to play professional football is 2.1 meters (6 ft 10.5 in) tall German Simon Bloch Jorgensen, a goalkeeper in 2022 playing for Waltham Abbey in Essex. Another very tall player is Belgian Kristof Van Hout at 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in), who plays for the Belgium club, Lommel.
Tall goalkeepers have a greater reachBelow we have listed the tallest professional players, which includes players from club leagues around the world, also the tallest to represent their country, and the tallest to play at the World Cup. These heights are as listed online. We have tried to get the most reliable measure, but all the measurements may not be accurate.
See also our lists of the shortest footballers.
Tallest Professional Football Players
Data Source: the height data is taken from the player's profile on Wikipedia when listed, otherwise from other various sources online (Nov 2022)
Tallest International Football Players
Data Source: the height data is taken from the player's profile on Wikipedia when listed, otherwise from other sources online (Nov 2022)
Tallest Players at the World Cup
Data Source: the height data is retrieved from the World Cup player databases on www.worldfootball.net (Nov 2022)
Notes: Peter Crouch is listed at 202cm on this database, so he is left at that height on this list even though he is listed as 201cm elsewhere, including on Wikipedia.
References
- Wikipedia. (2022). "Player Profiles and Height Data." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved from https://www.wikipedia.org
- World Football. (2022). "FIFA World Cup Player Databases." WorldFootball.net. Retrieved from https://www.worldfootball.net
- Norton, K., & Olds, T. (2001). "Anthropometrica: A Textbook of Body Measurement for Sports and Health Courses." UNSW Press.
- Reilly, T., Bangsbo, J., & Franks, A. (2000). "Anthropometric and physiological predispositions for elite soccer." Journal of Sports Sciences. 18(9), 669-683.
- FIFA. (2002-2022). "FIFA World Cup Technical Reports." FIFA Official Publications.
- Lago-Peñas, C., Casais, L., Dellal, A., Rey, E., & Domínguez, E. (2011). "Anthropometric and physiological characteristics of young soccer players according to their playing positions." Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness. 51(4), 652-657.
- Bangsbo, J., Mohr, M., & Krustrup, P. (2006). "Physical and metabolic demands of training and match-play in the elite football player." Journal of Sports Sciences. 24(7), 665-674.
Related Pages
Football Anthropometry
Comprehensive guide to body measurements and physical characteristics important for football success
Learn More →Shortest Footballers
Explore the list of the shortest professional football players and how they succeeded despite their height
Learn More →World Cup Anthropometry
Analysis of height changes in Brazilian national team players across multiple FIFA World Cups
Learn More →Height Testing Procedures
Learn the proper protocols and techniques for accurately measuring athlete height in sports testing
Learn More →Tallest Olympic Athletes
Discover the tallest athletes across all Olympic sports and how height impacts performance
Learn More →Fitness Testing for Football
Complete guide to physical testing protocols used to evaluate soccer player fitness and performance
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