The Tallest Football Players

While the majority of football experts believe that height is not at all necessary for a player to reach top levels, and they usually take Barcelona as an example as the best indicator of how violently a team with an average height of around 170 cm can act on the field, the opposite cases are increasingly common.

The discovery of what a player as tall as a basketball player can do in the opponent’s penalty area, as well as in his penalty area, and how many more strategic options a team with such a “pillar” in its composition than the average can have, becomes more and more interesting for managers, and tall and at the same time agile players are more and more appreciated. Thus, in today’s football, a few of them can boast of a height that puts them far above the football average.

Top 10 Tallest Football Players Ever

Player Name	Height cms	Height feet/inches	Country	Position
Øyvind Hoas	203cm	6 feet 8 inches	Norway	Striker
Even Iversen	203cm	6 feet 8 inches	Norway	Centre-back
Kjell Petter Opheim	203cm	6 feet 8 inches	Norway	Goalkeeper
Costel Pantilimon	203cm	6 feet 8 inches	Romania	Goalkeeper
Lacina Traore	203cm	6 feet 8 inches	Ivory Coast	Striker
Tor Hogne Aarøy	204cm	6 Feet 8 1/2 Inches	Norway	Striker
Yang Changpeng	205cm	6 Feet 8 1/2 Inches	China	Striker
Vanja Ivesa	205cm	6 Feet 9 Inches	Croatia	Goalkeeper
Paul Millar	208cm	6 Feet 10 Inches	Scotland	Striker
Kristof Van Hout	208cm	6 Feet 10 Inches	Belgium	Goalkeeper

10. Øyvind Hoas

Hoas is a Norwegian football player, that played as a striker. He spent all of his career in Norway, playing for several teams in the first and second divisions. He started his career in his hometown Molde from where he moved to Fredrikstad. After a few seasons there he made a transfer to Sarpsborg 08, before joining Honefoss. His last club was Kristiansund where he played for one season and in 2016, he decided to retire. Hoas also was a member of the Norway U 21 national team.

9. Even Iversen

Iversen is yet another Norwegian player that never left the country. Although it’s usually a good thing for a defender to be tall and dominant in the box, Iversen never made some significant transfer in a bigger team. But, he was part of Bode/Glimt squad that competes in the first Norwegian league and will be remembered as one of the tallest football players in the history of this team and the world.

8. Kjell Petter Opheim

Opheim is another Norwegian player on this list. Maybe he played in the most natural position for a tall player, as a goalkeeper. However, he same like the other Norwegians above never made significant success during his career. During his career, he played for several teams in the lower Norwegian leagues and, the best matches he played during his time in Stryn Football. He was also a member of a once famous team and Norway champion Lyn Football and Norwegian Cup winners Moss FK. He was great goalkeeper in the lower leagues and it’s really strange how he never got a chance to try his skills in some bigger club on a higher level. Opheim retired in 2010 and his last club was Stryn Football.

7. Costel Pantilimon

Finally, someone who isn’t from Norway. Romanian goalkeeper Pantilimon besides his height can be very proud of his rich career. His first professional club was the Romanian side P.Timisoara from where he made a surprising and huge move to Manchester City in 2010. On several occasions he was loaned to Timisoara and back to Manchester City before moving to Sunderland. Then Pantilimon spent some time in Watford before joining Spanish team Deportivo La Coruna. After one season in Spain, he moved back to England, to Watford. He played for Watford and was loaned to Nottingham Forest a few times. In 2020 his career was obviously near the end and he moved to Cyprus to Omonia Nicosia. He ended his career in 2021 in Turkey playing for Denizlispor. Pantilimon will be remembered as one of the tallest soccer players in football history and in English Premier League. During his career, he won the English Premier League which is his biggest success.

6. Lacina Traore

Lacina Traore is a player that besides his height was very talented with the ball, and he was using his height to dominate the opponent box. It was expected of him to use his talent and to rich for the stars, maybe even to repeat the successes of his countryman Drogba. However, it didn’t happen, mostly because Traore had several bad injuries. He started his career in Stade d’Abidjan before moving to Romanian team Cluj, where he had the biggest success, winning the league and the cup. He also played for some bigger clubs like Monaco and Everton where he had a bad injury and it stopped him from going up in the career. Traore is still active and plays in the Portuguese 3rd league for Varzim. In 2013 he won the most precious trophy in his career, the Africa Cup of Nations.

5. Tor Hogne Aarøy

Tor Hogne Aarøy most of his career spent at the Norwegian team Aalesund, and he was known for scoring some really impressive and unique goals. He was also a member of the champions squad of Rosenborg in 1999, and with this team he won the Norwegian cup. Unlike other tall Norwegian players above, Tor Hogne Aarøy tried to play in another foreign league as he was a member of Japanese J2 League team JEF United Chiba. After 2 seasons in Japan, he came back to Aalesund where in 2015 he retired. In 2009 he was called up for the national team of Norway, but due to personal reasons, he decided to reject the coach Egil Olsen.

4. Yang Changpeng

With this height Yang Changpeng could easily play in the position of center in some basketball team, but his favorite sport is football and he followed his dream despite the opinions and advices from others. But there were many who predicted that Changpeng will make a huge career and he was on trial in Bolton in England. Then he was called “The new Peter Crouch”, but he failed to adapt to England and English football and he went back to China. He spent his entire career playing for several teams in China: Wuhan FC, Chengdu Blades, Shenzhen, Meizhou, Henan, etc. Changpeng will be remembered as the tallest football player from China in the history.

3. Vanja Ivesa

He started his career in NK Istria. In 1997, Ivesa moved to Rijeka. In four years, the goalkeeper played one game for the team of Rijeka. After Rijeka, he signed a contract with Novalja. He played over 20 games for Novalja. Playing for Novalja, he attracted the attention of the Australian football club Sydney United. In the summer of 2002, Ivesa went to Australia and signed a contract with the club of Croatian roots, Sydney United. After one season in Sydney, Ivesa returns to his homeland. He spent one year in NK Zminj, and then played for the club from his hometown, Istra 1961.

He played over 80 matches in Pula. NK Slaven Belupo brought him into their squad in 2007. However, he didn’t stay long in Koprivnica either, because a new episode in his club career abroad soon began. The Turkish club Eskisehirspor buys him for 150,000 euros. Ivesa spent a total of eight years in Turkey and defended over 200 games in the Super Liga. Then, he became a new member of NK Opatija. In the summer of 2015, he returned to NK Istria 1961.

A year later, Ivesa extended his contract with NK Istria 1961 for one year. Ivesa’s career lasted at a high level for a very long time, at the age of 41 he defended for the first league team Istra 1961 in the qualification for remaining in the first league against Varazdin. However, this tallest Croatian goalkeeper now is retired and works as coach in Rijeka.

2. Paul Millar

Millar is Scottish striker for whom we can now say that didn’t reach all his potential. He mostly played for lower league teams like Deveronvale and Elgin City CF. It’s interesting that during his time in Elgin City the entrance to the pitch had to be heightened because of him. The main reason why Millar didn’t reach all his potential as a footballer, is because he worked as a fireman. Because of his height many were predicting that he will easily play for some Premier League team, since the football in Scotland is mostly played with assists toward the box, and certainly the tallest Scottish footballer should have done better.

1. Kristof Van Hout

The tallest football player in the world is Kristof Van Hout from Belgium, and the tallest goalkeeper in the world. He started his professional career in Netherlands in Willem II, but he is playing most of his career for Belgian teams. He is now part of FC Lommel in Belgium 2^nd division, but he was part of some of the biggest Belgium teams like Genk and Standard Liege with whom he won the Belgian Cup, once with each team. Hout has some really decent reflexes considering his height, but the most interesting part is that for most of the ball coming into his box he doesn’t have to jump to catch them.

Top 5 Tallest World Cup Football Players

The Serbian national team was the highest at the World Cup in Qatar! With an average height of 187.12 centimeters, the “eagles” have no equal when it came to tall players in the squad. The Serbs were the highest in 2010 in the Republic of South Africa and in 2018 in Russia, while in 2014 they did not qualify for the tournament in Brazil. So, it’s not unusual that there are 2 Serbian players on this list.

Player Name	Height cms	Height feet/inches	Country	Position
Andries Noppert	203cm	6 feet 6 inches	Netherlands	Goalkeeper
Vanja Milenkovic – Savic	202cm	6 feet 6 inches	Serbia	Goalkeeper
Nikola Zigic	202cm	6 feet 6 inches	Serbia	Forward
Peter Crouch	202cm	6 feet 6 inches	England	Forward
Jan Koller	202cm	6 feet 6 inches	Czech Republic	Forward

The tallest football player on the World Cups ever is Andries Noppert, 30 Years years old goalkeeper that plays for Heerenveen and Netherlands national team.

The Dutch giant was born 28 years ago in Heerenveen, and he started his career in the club of the same name. However, he had to leave the club in 2014 without making a single appearance for the first team. He moved to NAC Breda, but his career was not promising, as he made only seven appearances in four years. He tried in the Italian Serie B, but was relegated with Foggia. He played eight games there.

He later tried in Dodrecht, but was fired after only two matches. His wife and other family members begged him to give up football and take a job in the police. However, he did not want to give up on his dream. He didn’t listen to them, even though he couldn’t find a club for the whole season. In January last year, he finally got his chance at Go Ahed Eagles. He took advantage of the opportunity and soon received a call from Heerenveen, the club where he started his career. The public was shocked when the experienced Louis Van Gaal invited him to defend the colors of the Netherlands at the World Cup in Qatar.

Two years ago, he didn’t have a club and his career was falling apart, and on the last World Cup he made his debut for the national team at the biggest football show in the world. He impressed in his first match for the national team. He was the best player of the match and received a rating of 8 in his first appearance. Now he is known as the tallest player in the history of World Cups.

Top 5 Tallest Premier League Players Right Now

Player Name	Height cms	Height feet/inches	Country	Position
Fraser Forster	201cm	6 feet 5 inches	England	Goalkeeper
Dan Burn	201cm	6 feet 5 inches	England	Defender
Paul Onuachu	201cm	6 feet	Nigeria	Striker
Jannik Vestergaard	199cm	6 feet	Denmark	Defender
Nick Pope	198	6 feet	England	Goalkeeper

The tallest football player in the Premier League now is Fraser Forster who plays for Tottenham Hotspurs. Forster began his career in Newcastle but his first major success in professional football he had at Norwich. He helped the popular Canaries win League One and thus enabled the club to get promoted to the Championship. The best period of his career was in Scotland when he played for Celtic. He won the league 3 times, FA Cup 2 times and League Cup once. In 2014 he joined English side Southampton where he spent 6 years.

He became an icon at St. Marry stadium and for his good performances he was also called up for the national team. Since then, he is always part of the Premier League except for the 2020/21 season when he was again loaned to Celtic. Since July 2022 he was a free agent, but Tottenham have agreed a two-year deal with Fraser Forster. The experienced English goalkeeper arrived as a free agent, as his contract with the Saints, to whom he arrived eight years ago from Celtic for 12,500,000 euros, expired on July 1st. Last season, he was a reserve until the end of December, but he got a chance in the second part of the championship due to Alex McCarthy’s injury.

It was an opportunity for Forster to earn a new contract at the club, but he clearly didn’t deserve it (conceding 35 goals in 19 games). Although he won’t regret it considering the next destination in his career. At Tottenham he came to be 2nd goalkeeper after Lloris, but since the Frenchmen got injury Forster is again in the first squad in one Premier League team.

Top 5 Tallest Bundesliga Players Right Now

Player Name	Height cms	Height feet/inches	Country	Position
Florian Schock	200cm	6 feet 5 inches	Germany	Goalkeeper
Michael Esser	198cm	6 feet	Germany	Goalkeeper
Silas Ostrzinski	198cm	6 feet	Germany/Poland	Goalkeeper
Koen Casteels	197cm	6 feet	Belgium	Goalkeeper
Ralf Fahrmann	197cm	6 feet	Germany	Goalkeeper

The tallest football player in German Bundesliga now is Stuttgart goalkeeper Florian Schock. This 21 years old talented goalkeeper joined Stuttgart when he was 15 years old. He is considered as one of the most talented young goalkeepers in Germany at the moment. Right now, he doesn’t get many chances to play in the first squad in Stuttgart, but this team is serios about him since he went through all young squads in the team with huge success. For now, Schock is 3^rd goalkeeper in the squad and officialy the highest player in the Bundesliga at the moment.

Top 5 Tallest La Liga Players Right Now

Player Name	Height cms	Height feet/inches	Country	Position
Thibaut Courtois	200cm	6 feet 5 inches	Belgium	Goalkeeper
Egoitz Arana	197cm	6 feet	Spain	Goalkeeper
Dominik Greif	197cm	6 feet	Slovakia	Goalkeeper
Giorgi Mamardashvili	197cm	6 feet	Georgia	Goalkeeper
Diego Lopez	196cm	6 feet	Spain	Goalkeeper

The tallest football player in LaLiga now is Thibaut Courtois. He is member of Real Madrid and Belgian national team. Thibault Curtois has already played more than three hundred games for the main teams of London “Chelsea”, of Madrid Atletico and Real and his native club Genk In addition, the player has more than 100 games for the Belgian national team. It is important to note that in junior football, Thibault Curtois started playing as a defender and, he was already a player of one of the leaders of the Belgian championship Genk. His debut in big football was somewhat the result of curiosity. In the summer of 2009, Genk traditionally sold its players to leading European clubs. Among other things, there were two goalkeepers, and the other two guards at the gate were injured.

It’s a very rare situation in football, but they had to put a very young defender from the youth team as goalkeeper. At that time, the guy was only 16 years old. Ever since than he plays on position goalkeeper and he is doing it at the top level. In his career, Thibaut Courtois has achieved a lot. He became the champion of the Pro League and the winner of the Belgian Cup with Genk. In England with Chelsea, he won the Premier League twice, FA Cup and League Cup. Then, playing for Atletico Madrid, he won the Spanish Primera with the club. Then he became the winner of the Europa League and the winner of the UEFA Super Cup.

He won both the team and the Spanish Cup. But then he returned to Chelsea, where he never managed to play before the loan. However, despite this, he helped the London club on the run to win the Premier League and the Football League Cup. Courtois also became the best goalkeeper of the Belgian Pro League in 2011, as well as the owner of the Zamora trophy (twice). In addition, he received the award for the best goalkeeper of Spanish examples and the status of sportsman of the year in Belgium. With Real Madrid he won LaLiga twice but with Real he won something that he was missing a lot and it is UEFA Champions league trophy.

Top 5 Tallest Serie A Players Right Now

Player Name	Height cms	Height feet/inches	Country	Position
Vanja Milenkovic-Savic	202cm	6 feet 6 inches	Serbia	Goalkeeper
Milan Djuric	198cm	6 feet	Bosnia-Herzegovina	Striker
Ciprian Tatarusanu	198cm	6 feet	Romania	Goalkeeper
Edoardo Piana	197cm	6 feet	Italy	Goalkeeper
Nikolaos Botis	196cm	6 feet	Greece	Goalkeeper

The tallest football player in Serie A now is the best Serbian goalkeeper Vanja Milenkovic-Savic. Milinković Savić played every minute in Serie A this season in the Torino jersey. In 32 games, he conceded 38 goals and kept a clean sheet on seven occasions. At the last World Championship in Qatar, he was one of the few bright spots of the Serbian national team, whose net he saved twice this spring at the start of the qualification for the 2024 European Championship in Germany.

The Serbian national team is going through probably the best period in Turin. At the end of last season, the Serbian goalkeeper found himself on the sidelines of the team, and now he is one of the leaders of the team, and besides the bad form of the Serbian national team on the World Cup in Qatar he was one of the best goalkeepers on the competition.

The fact that Vanja Milinkovic Savic was the busiest goalkeeper in the group phase of the tournament speaks best! Although Keylor Navas took the ball out of the net more times than the Serbian goalkeeper (11:8), Milenkovic Savis saved his team from conceding a goal more times than the Costa Rican. The statistics of the first phase say that Vanja and Wojciech Szczesny, the goalkeeper of Poland, collected the most saves during the three games – 16 each. With the fact that the Serbian “number one” had as many as 24 shots on goal, while the Pole had the task of taming 20. He was also one of the tallest players on the World Cup and he is the tallest players in Italian Serie A.