Shirt numbers have become a great staple in a vast number of sporting leagues and competitions and are now almost tailored to the most prestigious athletes with them being a major role in their brand and overall figure, with football being no exception.
These are the most recognisable and fortuitus football shirt numbers that have since become illustrious, given the names that have made such a numerical figure a major part of their identity, both on and off the pitch.
Number Seven
Arguably the most famous shirt number in all of world football given that it is still currently worn by an athlete that has since turned this into one of sports most definitive brands.
Cristiano Ronaldo has made the number seven a staple and a global icon for all future shirt sales and for his own welfare in his monumental brand ‘CR7’ which is now a world-renowned commodity that is further representative of one of the greatest names to ever play the game.
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Ronaldo’s shirt number has become such a substantial part of his name that after returning back to Manchester United this summer, the Red Devils were forced to strip striker Edison Cavani of the number seven and present it back to Ronaldo, as he hopes to bring Premier League stardom back to Old Trafford who previously sat at 33/1 to win the league in the betting odds before his return.
While Ronaldo’s name has become synonymous with the number seven, the likes of David Beckham, George Best, Eric Cantona and Bryan Robson have all donned the now prestigious number seven shirt that has since been dubbed the ‘luckiest number’ and is still frequently picked by a number of players in today’s game.
Number Ten
Perhaps the most commonly used shirt number in football as it is a digit that is profusely known for being accustomed to a team’s main first choice striker, which certainly means that this number has seen its fair share of sublime talent over the years.
Arguably the most famous player to ever play in number ten is Lionel Messi whose name became compatible with such a figure while playing for Barcelona, making it all the stranger to see him wear number thirty while playing for Paris Saint-Germain.
This number has also seen two fellow all-time greats in Pele and Diego Maradona also wear the coveted shirt number with the likes of Francesco Totti, Zinedine Zidane, Wayne Rooney and Ronaldinho also being in cohesion with this number, not a bad list at all.
Number One
It may seem cliched to place a number on this list that is only ever worn by one position, especially if that position is a goalkeeper, but the number one jersey has become the most identifiable digit to all keepers.
Every legendary name who has ever stepped between the posts has worn the number one jersey which has included the likes of Oliver Kahn, Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon to name a few with a near endless selection of some of the game’s greatest ever shot stoppers.
If there is ever a number that is seen as the most definitive for a specific position on the pitch, number one is without a doubt that choice and seen as being a near immovable and almost religious part of playing as a goalkeeper.
Number Nine
Much like number ten, nine is often associated with the striker position and has seen a tremendous array of talent over the years with the best likely being the Brazilian Ronaldo who was later nicknamed as ‘R9’ which remains one of the most beloved labels in world football.
Along with Ronaldo, we have had the pleasure of identifying the likes of Alan Shearer, Marco Van Basten, Alfredo Di Stefano and Hugo Sanchez to the number nine across the games long withstanding history as more modern players have since taken inspiration behind such names to choose this digit as their number for the foreseeable future.
It’s a number that has become so recognisable in world football and is often chosen by a vast majority of fans who are interested in rooting for the games next star-studded talisman who could one day join the ranks of the legends listed above.
- Number three - Worn by Paolo Maldini, Roberto Carlos and Ashley Cole.
- Number five – Worn by Franz Beckenbauer, Carlos Puyol and Fabio Cannavaro.
- Number eight – Worn by Andres Iniesta, Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard.
- Number eleven – Worn by Ryan Giggs, Didier Drogba and Romario.
It’s hard to fathom on what football and sport as a whole would be like without jersey numbers given their unique identification with a range of athletes and the resulting success that most have brought with them.
Fans can debate on which numbers are seen as being the most fortunate to a star’s name or most influential to their brands, yet they are now key parts of a variety of beloved sports, and we could not imagine football without them.