PEOPLE KNOWN FOR: football (soccer)
Argentine-born football player
Lionel Messi Argentine-born football (soccer) player who received a record-setting eight Ballon d’Or awards as the world’s top male player (2009–12, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2023). In 2022 he helped Argentina...
Portuguese football player
Cristiano Ronaldo Portuguese football (soccer) forward who was one of the greatest players of his generation. Ronaldo’s father, José Dinis Aveiro, was the equipment manager for the local club Andorinha....
Ivorian football player
Didier Drogba Ivorian professional football (soccer) player who was Côte d’Ivoire’s all-time leader in goals scored in international matches and was twice named the African Footballer of the Year (2006,...
American soccer player
Landon Donovan American professional football (soccer) player, widely regarded as the greatest American male player in the history of the sport. Donovan was a star player in high school in Redlands, California,...
British football player
Wayne Rooney English professional football (soccer) player who rose to international football stardom as a teenager while playing with the English Premier League powerhouse Manchester United. Rooney made...
Brazilian football player
Neymar Brazilian football (soccer) player who is one of the most prolific scorers in his country’s storied football history. Neymar began playing football as a boy in São Vicente, under the guidance of...
German football player and coach
Jürgen Klinsmann German football (soccer) player and coach who helped West Germany win the 1990 World Cup and was twice named his country’s Footballer of the Year. A prolific goal scorer as a young boy,...
Brazilian football player and politician
Romário Brazilian football (soccer) player and politician who was one of the most prolific goal scorers in the sport’s history. He won the Golden Ball as most outstanding performer in the 1994 World Cup...
Cameroonian athlete
Samuel Eto’o Cameroonian professional football (soccer) player who is considered one of the greatest African footballers of all time. Eto’o attended the Kadji Sports Academy in Douala, Cameroon, and first...
Brazilian association football player
Marta Brazilian athlete who is widely considered the greatest female football (soccer) player of all time. Marta was a six-time winner of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World...
Argentine soccer player
Diego Maradona Argentine football (soccer) player who is generally regarded as the top footballer of the 1980s and one of the greatest of all time. Renowned for his ability to control the ball and create...
president of Liberia
George Weah is a Liberian politician and a former football (soccer) player who served as president of Liberia from 2018 to 2024. Before entering politics, his impressive football career included being...
French football player and manager
Thierry Henry French football (soccer) player and manager who scored more international goals (51) than any other player in France’s history and who is considered one of the most prolific goal scorers...
British athlete
David Beckham English football (soccer) player who gained international fame for his on-field play as well as for his highly publicized personal life. At age 11 Beckham won a football contest, and as a...
Brazilian athlete
Pelé Brazilian football (soccer) player, in his time probably the most famous and possibly the best-paid athlete in the world. He was part of the Brazilian national teams that won three World Cup championships...
English football player
Steven Gerrard English professional football (soccer) player and manager who was considered one of the most-complete footballers in the world in the early 2000s. Gerrard was discovered by his local upper-division...
Scottish football player and manager
Alex Ferguson Scottish football (soccer) player and manager who was best known for managing Manchester United (1986–2013). Ferguson was the longest-tenured manager in “Man U” history and led the club to...
Senegalese athlete
El Hadji Diouf Senegalese football (soccer) player who was named African Football Confederation (Confédération Africaine de Football; CAF) Player of the Year for 2001 and 2002. He was a fiery, controversial...
Ghanaian athlete
Michael Essien Ghanaian professional football (soccer) player who rose to international stardom as a midfielder for the English football club Chelsea FC in the 2000s. Essien was raised in Awutu Breku,...
president of Chile
Sebastián Piñera was a Chilean businessman and politician who served two terms as president of Chile (2010–14; 2018–22). He was the first conservative to lead the country since the end of the dictatorial...
British athlete
Justin Fashanu British football (soccer) player who was the first professional footballer to come out as gay. Fashanu was initially raised in the London area of Hackney, where his Nigerian father was a...
French football player
Eric Cantona French football (soccer) player who was one of the sport’s biggest stars in the 1990s and is best known for his key role in reviving the English powerhouse club Manchester United and for his...
Brazilian football player
Kaká Brazilian football (soccer) player who was named the World Player of the Year by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in 2007. Kaká owed his nickname to his younger brother...
French football player
Zinedine Zidane French football (soccer) player who led his country to victories in the 1998 World Cup and the 2000 European Championship. He later found success as a manager. After playing for the junior...
Spanish athlete
Xavi Spanish football (soccer) player and manager who was widely regarded as one of the best midfielders in the world in the early 21st century. At age 11 Xavi joined the youth squad of FC Barcelona, a...
German football player
Michael Ballack German professional football (soccer) midfielder who was named the German Footballer of the Year three times (2002, 2003, 2005). Ballack grew up in Chemnitz in East Germany during the era...
Argentine soccer player
Gabriel Batistuta Argentine professional football (soccer) player whose prolific scoring made him an icon of both the Italian Serie A league and the Argentine national team. Batistuta made his professional...
Brazilian athlete
Ronaldo is a former football (soccer) player who led Brazil to a World Cup title in 2002 and who received three Player of the Year awards (1996–97 and 2002) from the Fédération Internationale de Football...
Uruguayan football player
Diego Forlán Uruguayan football (soccer) player who was awarded the Golden Ball as the standout player at the 2010 World Cup. His father, Pablo Forlán, had played for Uruguay in the 1966 and 1974 World...
Japanese businessman
Kawabuchi Saburō Japanese businessman who played a significant role in the launch of Japan’s first professional football (soccer) league. Kawabuchi began playing football in high school because he wanted...
Italian football player
Roberto Baggio Italian professional football (soccer) player who is widely considered one of the greatest forwards in his country’s storied football history. He won the Fédération Internationale de Football...
British association football player and manager
Bobby Robson British football (soccer) player and manager who was one of England’s most respected players and managers. At the height of his professional career, Robson played 20 matches with the national...
Bulgarian football player
Hristo Stoichkov Bulgarian football (soccer) player who was an explosive striker, noted for his fierce competitiveness. Stoichkov began his soccer career early. By age 12 he was playing for Maritza Plovdiv...
German football player
Gerd Müller German professional football (soccer) player who was one of the greatest goal scorers of all time. He netted 68 goals in 62 career international matches, a remarkable 1.1 goals per contest....
Spanish football player
Andrés Iniesta Spanish football (soccer) player who helped his country win the Euro title in 2008 and 2012 and the 2010 World Cup; it was the first time a national squad had captured three consecutive...
Dutch association football player and manager
Johan Cruyff was a Dutch football (soccer) forward renowned for his imaginative playmaking. He won numerous honours, including European Footballer of the Year (1971, 1973, and 1974). Cruyff joined the...
German football player
Birgit Prinz German football (soccer) player who was considered by many to be Europe’s finest female footballer of the 1990s and 2000s. Prinz was an all-around sports enthusiast as a young girl, with swimming,...
Japanese football player
Sawa Homare Japanese football (soccer) player who led Japan to victory in the 2011 Women’s World Cup. Sawa’s brother taught her the basics of football. By the time she was 12, she was playing in Japan’s...
Hungarian football player
Ferenc Puskás Hungarian professional football (soccer) player who was the sport’s first international superstar. Puskás scored 83 goals in 84 games with the Hungarian national team and was a member of...
Brazilian athlete
Rivaldo Brazilian football (soccer) player who was among the game’s most revered players in the 1990s and a vital component of the powerful Brazilian national team that included the similarly mono-monikered...
French football player and administrator
Michel Platini French professional football (soccer) player and administrator who was named the European Footballer of the Year three times (1983–85) and served as president of the Union of European Football...
Dutch football player
Marco van Basten Dutch football (soccer) player and coach who was a three-time European Player of the Year (1988, 1989, and 1992) and the 1992 Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World...
Cameroonian football player
Roger Milla Cameroonian football (soccer) player, renowned for his impeccable technique and grace under pressure. A forward, he starred on the Cameroon national team that became the first African squad...
Irish-born football player
George Best Irish-born football (soccer) player who was one of the premier forwards in the game’s history and a fashionable playboy off the field. The stylish Best became one of the iconic figures of “Swinging...
Italian football player
Fabio Cannavaro Italian professional football (soccer) player who led his country to a 2006 World Cup victory. At age 11 Cannavaro began playing on the junior team for the SSC Napoli (Naples) soccer club....
German football player
Oliver Kahn German football (soccer) player who is considered one of the greatest goalkeepers of all time. He was named world goalkeeper of the year on three occasions (1999, 2001, and 2002). Kahn began...
Argentine-born athlete
Alfredo Di Stéfano Argentine-born football (soccer) player and manager, regarded as one of the greatest centre forwards in football history. His reputation was based largely on his performance for the...
American athlete
Mia Hamm American football (soccer) player who became the first international star of the women’s game. Playing forward, she starred on the U.S. national team that won World Cup championships in 1991 and...
British football player and manager
Bobby Charlton was a football (soccer) player and manager who is regarded as one of the greatest English footballers. From 1957 to 1973 he made a total of 106 international appearances for England—a national...
British athlete
Bobby Moore English football (soccer) player known as the "golden boy of English football" and captain of the national side that defeated West Germany 4–2 in the 1966 World Cup final at Wembley Stadium...
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