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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 goalkeepers have a greater reachTall goalkeepers have a greater reach

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 Belgium club Lommel.



Below 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

Rank Ht (cm) Ht (feet/inch) Player Nationality Position
1 210 6' 10.5" Simon Bloch Jorgensen Germany GK
2 208 6' 10" Kristof Van Hout Belgium GK
208 6' 10" Paul Miller Scotland FW
4 206 6' 9" Tonny Brogaard Denmark GK
5 206 6' 9" Tomáš Holý Czechia GK
6 206 6' 9" Kyle Hudlin England FW
7 205 6' 9" Vanja Iveša Croatia GK
205 6' 9" Yang Changpeng China FW
205 6' 9" Daniel Müller Germany GK
10 204 6' 8.5" Tor Hogne Aaroy Norway FW
204 6' 8.5" Jason Mooney Northern Ireland GK
12 203 6' 8" Lacina Traoré Ivory Coast FW
203 6' 8" Costel Pantilimon Romania GK
203 6' 8" Øyvind Hoås Norway FW
203 6' 8" Even Iversen Norway FW
203 6' 8" Kjell Petter Opheim Norway GK

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

Rank Ht (cm) Ht (feet/inch) Player Nationality Position Notes
1 203 6' 8" Lacina Traoré Ivory Coast FW national team 2012–2015
203 6' 8" Costel Pantilimon Romania GK national team 2008–2017
3 202 6' 7.5" Stefan Maierhofer Austria FW national team 2008–2011
202 6' 7.5" Nikola Žigić Serbia FW 2006 & 2010 World Cup
202 6' 7.5" Zeljko Kalac Australia GK 2006 World Cup, national team 1992–2006
202 6' 7.5" Jan Koller Czechia FW 2006 World Cup

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

Rank Ht (cm) Ht (feet/inch) Player Nationality Position World Cup
1 202 6 ' 7.5" Nikola Žigić Serbia FW 2006 & 2010
202 * 6 ' 7.5" Peter Crouch England FW 2010
202 6 ' 7.5" Zeljko Kalac Australia GK 2006
202 6 ' 7.5" Jan Koller Czechia FW 2006
5 201 6 ' 7" Lovre Kalinic Croatia GK 2018
201 6 ' 7" Fraser Forster England GK 2014
201 6 ' 7" Dennis Lawrence Trinidad & Tobago DF 2006
8 200 6 ' 6.5" Thibaut Courtois Belgium GK 2014, 2018

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.



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