Curated playlist

Men's association football forwards

Michael OwenBefore he turned twelve, footballer Michael Owen had broken Ian Rush's goalscoring record.
Lionel MessiLionel Messi's first Barcelona contract was written on a paper napkin. He was 13 at the time.
Sándor KocsisSándor Kocsis scored 11 goals at the 1954 World Cup but missed in the final. Hungary lost 3-2 to West Germany.
Wayne RooneyWayne Rooney was five days short of his 17th birthday when he scored the goal that made his name. On the 19th of October 2002, his last-minute strike for Everton beat Arsenal and ended their run of 30 matches without defeat. It also made…
Ronaldo (Brazilian footballer)Hours before the 1998 World Cup final, Ronaldo suffered a convulsive fit. He was dropped, then reinstated.
Oldřich NejedlýFIFA raised Oldřich Nejedlý's 1934 World Cup total from four goals to five in 2006.
Gerd MüllerGerd Müller scored 68 goals in 62 games for West Germany. He averaged more than one goal per game for eight years.
Davor ŠukerDavor Šuker won the 1998 World Cup Golden Boot in Croatia's first World Cup. He scored six goals in seven matches.
Helmut RahnHelmut Rahn scored the winning goal in the 1954 World Cup final with his weaker left foot.
NeymarOn the 3rd of August 2017, Neymar joined Paris Saint-Germain in a transfer worth 222 million euros, the most expensive in football history. Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior was born on the 5th of February 1992, and the world knows him by one…
Thierry HenryThierry Henry was thirteen years old in 1990 when a Monaco scout named Arnold Catalano went to watch him play. Henry's team won 6-0, and Henry scored every one of the six goals. Catalano did not ask for a trial. He asked the boy to join…
Romelu LukakuRomelu Lukaku was a schoolboy in 2009 when television cameras followed his class from Brussels to London. Standing inside Stamford Bridge, the teenager looked around and said, "What a stadium. If one day in my life I will cry, it will be…
Cristiano RonaldoCristiano Ronaldo's mother wanted to abort him, but her doctor refused. He became football's top goalscorer.
Kylian MbappéKylian Mbappé's famous arms-folded celebration was invented by his little brother.
Dražan JerkovićDražan Jerković scored twice as Yugoslavia beat France 5-4 in the 1960 European Championship semifinal.
Miroslav KloseMiroslav Klose arrived in West Germany at eight knowing only two words of German.
Thomas MüllerThomas Müller calls himself a Raumdeuter, a space interpreter. He lacks pace and dribbling, yet he beats defenders.
RonaldinhoRonaldinho scored his first La Liga goal for Barcelona at 1.30 in the morning on the 3rd of September 2003. The match against Sevilla had kicked off at five minutes past midnight. He took a pass from his own goalkeeper inside his own half,…
Diego MaradonaDiego Maradona punched in one World Cup goal, then dribbled past five English players for another.
Gary LinekerGary Lineker played 654 competitive games and never got a yellow or red card.
Landon DonovanLandon Donovan scored in the dying seconds to beat Algeria at the 2010 World Cup.
Paolo RossiPaolo Rossi won the 1982 World Cup after a two-year ban for a betting scandal. The press had written him off.
Leonel SánchezLeonel Sánchez knocked out an Italian defender with one punch at the 1962 World Cup.
Luis SuárezLuis Suárez, the Uruguayan striker born on the 24th of January 1987, was sent off at the 2010 World Cup and still found a way to watch the penalty that followed. Late in extra time against Ghana, he had used his hands to stop a header that…
Arnold HillsA young Mahatma Gandhi served on a committee with Arnold Hills, first president of the London Vegetarian Society.
PeléAt 17, Pelé passed out on the field after scoring twice in the 1958 World Cup final. His teammate Garrincha revived him.
EusébioPortugal trailed North Korea 0-3, then Eusébio scored four goals. Portugal won that 1966 World Cup quarter-final 5-3.
GarrinchaA doctor certified Garrincha as crippled, yet he won two World Cups. His legs curved in opposite directions.
Just FontaineJust Fontaine scored thirteen goals in six matches at the 1958 World Cup.
Mário ZagalloMário Zagallo was the first person to win the World Cup as both a player and a manager. He led Brazil to the 1970 title.
RomárioRomário told reporters he would finish Uruguay, then scored both goals in a 2-0 win.
Diego ForlánDiego Forlán was 45 years old when he received a wildcard into the main doubles draw of the 2024 Uruguay Open in Montevideo. It was his first professional ATP tournament. The man walking onto the court had spent two decades as one of the…
Flórián AlbertFlórián Albert won the 1967 Ballon d'Or without ever leaving his Budapest club, Ferencváros.
James RodríguezJames Rodríguez chested down a high ball and volleyed it in at the 2014 World Cup. It won the FIFA Puskás Award.
Jürgen KlinsmannJürgen Klinsmann scored sixteen goals in one match at age eight. He later lifted a World Cup with West Germany.
Lukas PodolskiLukas Podolski bought control of Gornik Zabrze, the club he had always supported. He retired the next day.
Salvatore SchillaciSalvatore Schillaci, known to Italians as Totò, ended the 1990 World Cup ranked above Lothar Matthäus and Diego Maradona as the best player of the tournament. Almost nobody saw that coming. He was a striker from a poor family in Palermo,…
Vinícius JúniorVinícius Júnior scored the only goal of the Champions League final on the 28th of May 2022. Real Madrid beat Liverpool 1-0, and the club collected a record 14th European title. The scorer was a Brazilian forward born on the 12th of July…
Mohamed SalahMohamed Salah walked off the pitch in tears during the 2018 Champions League final. In the 30th minute against Real Madrid, a challenge from the defender Sergio Ramos wrenched his left shoulder. He tried to carry on, went to the ground a…
Gabriel BatistutaGabriel Batistuta, Argentina's top scorer, once asked a doctor to amputate his legs.
Hristo StoichkovHristo Stoichkov led an underdog Bulgaria past defending champions Germany at the 1994 World Cup.
Guillermo StábileGuillermo Stábile played in the 1930 World Cup because the starting striker had an anxiety attack.
Harry KaneArsenal's academy released Harry Kane at eight for being "a bit chubby". He became England's top goalscorer.
Leônidas (footballer, born 1913)On the 13th of November 1948, Leônidas da Silva scored a bicycle kick for São Paulo in an 8-0 rout of Juventus. A camera caught the play and the goal. That photograph is regarded as the most famous picture of him. Leônidas was a Brazilian…
Mario KempesMario Kempes scored the 105th-minute winner in the 1978 World Cup final against the Netherlands.
Oleg SalenkoOleg Salenko scored five goals in one World Cup match, at Stanford Stadium in the United States on the 28th of June 1994. No player before him had done it in the finals. Russia beat Cameroon 6-1 that day. Yet Salenko played only three…
VaváVavá scored in two World Cup finals in a row, and no one else did it for sixty years.
Jesús FerreiraJesús Ferreira scored four goals in one game against Grenada. The US forward earned a Caribbean pirate nickname.
Antoine GriezmannAntoine Griezmann was born on the 21st of March 1991 in Mâcon, a commune in the department of Saône-et-Loire. As a child he supported Lyon, and he went on several trials hoping to join one of its youth academies. Lyon turned him away. So…
Erling HaalandErling Haaland scored nine goals in a single match at the 2019 FIFA U-20 World Cup in Lublin, Poland, where Norway beat Honduras 12-0. No player had ever scored so many in one game at that tournament. The result was also the biggest win by…