Maldini, Zidane, Ronaldo, Pele: The most iconic player to wear every shirt number | OneFootball

Numbers can become synonymous with the footballing legends that wear them.

Very occasionally in football, it can reach a point where one man has put in so many impressive performances using one shirt number, and often at one club, that they become a pair in the hearts and minds of fans.

It’s why we see clubs retiring shirt numbers when legends move on or call time on their career – it’s a matter of respect and appreciation.

We’ve seen it with players like Paolo Maldini at AC Milan, Diego Maradona at Napoli, and erm, Jude Bellingham at Birmingham… yikes!

Well, FourFourTwo have had the crazy idea of listing which player they believe is the best match for each number and you can check it out below – all numbers are between 1-99, although don’t worry they haven’t used every selection possible!

The most iconic player to wear each shirt

Number 1: Lev YashinNumber 2: Cafu Number 3: Paolo MaldiniNumber 4: Pep Guardiola Number 5: Zinedine Zidane

Numbers one and four could easily be up for debate here, however the remaining selections in this category have their numbers on lockdown for eternity.

As mentioned earlier, Maldini’s number three shirt has been retired by AC Milan and the only other person that could ever wear it must bare the iconic second name – something which isn’t entirely out of the question given his son is amidst the Rossoneri ranks right now.

Meanwhile, Zidane’s number five shirt at Real Madrid left such an iconic image in its wake that Kylian Mbappe was planning on brandishing it as an ode of respect to his compatriot should his summer move to Spain have transpired.

France football wouldn’t consider players outside of Europe for the Ballon d’Or award until 1995, however in 2016 they decided to re-evaluate who would have won the award each year had it been a global competition.

The results? Well, let’s just say that from numbers 6-10 this bunch would have picked up a mighty 15 Ballon d’Or awards between them – seven for Pele, six for Cristiano and two for Brazilian Ronaldo.

Need any more be said?

We see FourFourTwo couldn’t decide between Henry and Cruyff for 14, and to be honest, you can’t blame them for that.

Van Basten and Muller, two of the finest finishers football has ever known, also find themselves in this category.

The Dutchman famously won three Ballon d’Or despite injuries cruelly forcing him into early retirement at the age of 28, whilst ‘Der Bomber’ bagged an astounding 531 goals for Bayern.

It seems like this is the Manchester category, with four of the inclusions spread across both sides of the city lines.

The infamous ‘Gazza’ also appears after making the no.19 shirt his own at the World Cup of 1990.

This must be the coldest category of them all if it includes Beckham and Pirlo.

The Englishmen is one of the most famous people on planet earth, whilst Pirlo amongst a host of other typically lavish moments, practically ended Joe Hart’s England career with the naughtiest of Panenka penalties.

Some of you may not know that Gerrard began his career at Liverpool donning the no.28. He then moved to no.17, before taking up his most famous shirt of all – the eight.

As a matter of fact, we think Gerrard’s more synonymous with the number than Iniesta is and maybe ought to be appearing slightly higher on this list.

Meanwhile, Messi makes the list after donning the number 30 for Paris-Saint Germain.

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Number 31: Basten Schweinsteiger Number 32: Carlos Tevez Number 34: Abdelhak NouriNumber 37: Adama Traore Number 39: Marcus Rashford

In 2017, Nouri sadly suffered a cardiac arrhythmia attack in a pre-season friendly whilst playing for Ajax. He was left with severe brain damage and unfortunately was unable to continue his football career.

The no.34 has never officially been retired by the Dutch club, but nobody has took it since. Many of his former teammates have also gone on to wear the number in tribute to him at other teams.

Plenty of Premier League representation here with Rice and Foden representing via their current squad numbers.

The iconic City duo of Toure and Balotelli also make the cut in the 40’s.

Number 66: Trent Alexander-Arnold Number 69: Bixente LizarazuNumber 80: Ronaldinho Number 99: Vitor Baia

Alexander-Arnold really could make the no.66 a unique aspect about his career if he keeps the slightly wacky number for the next decade or so.

Meanwhile, Ronaldinho’s famous no.80 shirt at AC Milan will live long in the memory of football fans across the globe.

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