The Top 10 Smallest Players In Modern Football
Physical attributes play a huge role in modern football. The ability not to concede in a fight is just as important as other football qualities. This is especially true in the top leagues of Europe, where there is a tight schedule of matches, responsibility for the result, as well as high competition. All this forces every player to give 100 percent in every game.
But there are exceptions in football: players with a fairly low height, who consistently perform at a high level and, moreover, are leaders of their clubs.
We cannot fail to mention the seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi, who is also short in stature – only 169 cm. The Argentine was diagnosed with a growth hormone deficiency as a child, but Barcelona were able to help the young footballer by covering all the costs of the player’s treatment.
Just as football clubs recognize and reward the extraordinary talents of these players, gambling platforms like Stay casino no deposit bonus offer rewards that enhance the gaming experience without the initial deposit, drawing parallels between sports rewards and gaming incentives.
Today I want to highlight the 10 current footballers with the lowest height. Those who managed to make their way into big football despite their lack of natural data.
10. Maximiliano Morales – 159 cm
Country: Argentina
Club: New York City
Position: attacking midfielder
Maximiliano Morales is already at the sunset of his football career. The player is already 34 years old, but this does not prevent him from showing excellent performance in the championship of MLS. In 2021 Morales scored 4 goals and gave 12 assists in 34 matches for New York City.
The most significant team in the career of the Argentine was Italian Atalanta, where he played from 2011 to 2016, but he did not stand out with high performance – only 18 goals in 142 Serie A matches.
I note that in August 2007 Morales signed a contract with FC Moscow, but performances in Russia for the Argentine footballer did not go well. He played only 6 matches for the club, did not score and left to play in his homeland.
Also in the biography of the footballer is 1 match for the national team of Argentina. On 16 March 2011, one of the lowest players in the world played for the Blue and White in a friendly match against Venezuela.
9. Yeferson Soteldo – 159cm
Country: Venezuela
Club: Tigres
Position: extreme midfielder, striker
Yeferson Soteldo is the most expensive player in today’s top. Transfermarkt estimates the player in 7 million euros. In the winter of 2022, on the last day of the transfer window, one of the smallest players moved from ‘Toronto’ to ‘Tigres’, where he has already made his debut, coming on as a substitute in the championship of Mexico. In MLS player spent only 1 season, where in 24 league matches scored 3 goals and gave 10 assists.
For the Venezuelan national team Soteldo played 18 matches and scored 1 goal. Yeferson has not become an iron player of the national team yet, but in the last two matches of qualification for the World Cup 2022 against Bolivia (4:1) and Uruguay (1:4) he was in the base, but did not score.
8. Edinho – 158 cm
Country: Brazil
Club: Fortaleza
Position: attacking midfielder
By the age of 27, Brazilian Edinho has already managed to change 6 clubs within his country and once travelled to the championship of South Korea in the club ‘Daejeon Cityzen’. The most productive season in Edinho’s career – season 2020 in the same ‘Daejeon Cityzen’, where in 15 league matches the player scored 5 times and gave 1 assist.
At the moment the player returned to play in his homeland in the club ‘Fortaleza’. But the last season can not be called successful for Edinho. One of the youngest players appeared on the field in 13 matches of the Brazilian championship, where he did not make a single productive action.
7. Chanathip Songkrasin – 158 cm
Country: Thailand
Club: Kawasaki Frontale
Position: attacking midfielder
Besides being the shortest footballer from Thailand, Songkrasin is also the country’s most expensive player. Transfermarkt values him at €1.5 million. In the winter of 2022, Songkrasin moved from Japanese mid-table side Hokkaido Consadole Sapporo to Kawasaki Frontale for €3.5 million, who won the J-League in the 2021 season.
Songkrasin has yet to make his debut for the new club in official matches, but may do so in the near future in the Japan Super Cup match against Urawa Red Diamonds.
Songkrasin has been playing for the Thai national team since 2012. As part of the national team, the player played 68 matches and scored 14 goals.
In 2014, the footballer was invited for a viewing in German Hamburg. He could become the second Thai player in the history of the Bundesliga, but the screening in Hamburg did not pass and returned to play in his homeland.
6. Daniel Villalva – 158 cm
Country: Argentina
Club: Guarani Asunson
Position: striker
Daniel Villalva is an Argentine footballer, brought up in the capital club River Plate – one of the best clubs not only in Argentina, but in the whole of South America. In his native club Villalva spent 5 years. During this period in the asset of the Argentine 59 matches, in which he marked only 6 goals. Of the achievements Daniel has only the championship in Argentina in 2014.
At the moment Villalva plays in the championship of Paraguay for ‘Guarani Asunson’. Daniel is not a stable base player, alternating appearances in the starting line-up with appearances from the bench. Argentine striker is not famous for his high performance, last season one of the smallest players took part in 20 matches in the championship of Paraguay, where he scored twice and gave 1 assist.
5. Christian Techera – 157 cm
Country: Uruguay
Club: Ayacucho
Position: left winger, striker
Techera is from Montevideo-based club River Plate, and he opens the top 5 of the lowest-ranked players. He made his debut for the Cristian club in 2010 in a match against Cerro Largo. The player spent 6 seasons in the capital club, where he scored 18 goals in 74 matches.
In 2015, on loan Techera moved to the Canadian ‘Vancouver Whitecaps’. In the same year, the footballer helped his new club to win the Canadian championship and convinced the management of ‘Vancouver’ to fully buy his contract from ‘River Plate’.
At the moment Christian is playing in Peruvian club ‘Ayacucho’, where he moved in the winter of 2022. In his debut match for the club in the Peruvian championship Techera scored a double, but even that did not help his team to get points.
4. Nahuel Barrios – 156 cm
Country: Argentina
Club: San Lorenzo
Position: winger, striker
Barrios is a 23-year-old Argentine striker. He is a pupil of San Lorenzo, for which he currently plays. Nahuel has not yet become a foundation player and high performance does not stand out. In the last season 2021 the footballer played 15 matches, mostly coming on as a substitute, but did not make any productive actions. The player is only 23, perhaps in the future one of the youngest players will be able to fully develop his potential and benefit San Lorenzo.
3. Hiroto Nakagawa – 155 cm
Country: Japan
Club: Oita Trinita
Position: striker
Japanese Hiroto Nakagawa spent the last season in the second J-League with Kyoto Sanga. On the account of the striker 11 matches and not a single productive action. Nakagawa did not convince his previous club of his need, so in the winter of 2022 as a free agent moved to the club ‘Oita Trinita’.
Note that the previous club of the Japanese ‘Kyoto Sanga’ took second place in the championship, which secured the right to play in the first division of Japan, while ‘Oita Trinita’ on the contrary relegated. So for Nakagawa in the new season 2022 nothing much will change and one of the lowest players in the world will continue to play in the second Japanese division.
2. Marcin Garuch – 154 cm
Country: Poland
Club: Miedź Legnica
Position: right midfielder
The first and only European in our top of the shortest footballers is 33-year-old Pole Marcin Garuch. He is known as the shortest player in Europe. Garuch started his career at Polish club Medź Legnica, where he still plays.
Garuch’s career cannot be called stellar. By the age of 33 he managed to play in the lower leagues of Poland and Montenegro. In the current season Marcin played 12 matches in the second division of Poland, where he did not score. Given the age of the player, it can be assumed that in the next few years he will finish his professional career at his home club.
1. Jose Elton – 154 cm
Country: Brazil
Club: free agent
Position: left midfielder
Jose Elton is the shortest footballer in the world. The 35-year-old Brazilian midfielder is at the end of his football career. For 17 years in the professional club, the player changed as many as 14 clubs.
Although Elton’s football path was not so stellar, the best period in his career can be called performances in the only European club, namely FCSB, until 2017 the club was called Steaua from the city of Bucharest.
Although his performances in the Romanian club were quite short, the footballer managed to be liked by the local fans, impressing them with his technique and work with the ball. In 2009, Steaua fans even included Elton in the list of 11 best players of the club for the last 10 years.
The Brazilian midfielder’s last club was Al Hamriyah and United Arab Emirates first division club. In the summer of 2021, the player’s contract with the UAE club expired and at the moment the world’s smallest footballer Jose Elton is without a club.
