Footballers come in all shapes and sizes, but one physical characteristic can come in handy while playing this game, which is height. Being a tall player is especially beneficial when you’re a goalkeeper, thanks to long arms and wide reach. Moreover, forwards and strikers who are gifted with superior height greatly utilize their long legs.
These colossal figures play an essential role in the game, particularly when it comes to aerial contests. Starting from the giant goalkeepers who effortlessly catch the ball in set-piece situations to towering strikers scoring headers with ease. Tall players are unique, and many clubs thrive when they have them in their teams.
In this review, I’ll cover football’s top 10 tallest players.
Delay aside, let’s find out who are these long-limbed footballers!
#10 – Costel Pantilimon ( 6’ 8” / 203 cm)
The 10th spot on this list goes to the Romanian goalkeeper Costel Pantilimon. This giant was a goalie for ten different clubs during his career. Some of them are Omonia Nikosia, Deportivo La Coruna, Watford, Poli Timisoara, Sunderland, etc. Costel also played for Manchester City from 2011 to 2014 and was highly praised for having 15 clean sheets in 29 matches for this Premier League club.
It’s also worth mentioning that Pantilimon appeared 27 times for Romania’s national football team, where he was the tallest player. In those 27 appearances, he didn’t concede a goal in 11 games.
He retired in 2021 as a player for a Turkish club called Denizlispor.
#9 – Tor Hogne Aaroy (6’ 8.5” / 204 cm)
Standing at 6’ 8.5”, Tor Hogne Aaroy is one of the tallest soccer players in history. Throughout his career, Tor played as a striker for numerous clubs, such as Spjelkavik, Frigg, Rosenborg, and JEF United Chiba, while his most memorable spell was at Aalesund. Tor played for Aalesund for 11 years, and in 227 appearances for the team, he scored an impressive number of 70 goals for this top-tier Norwegian football club.
Many football experts also praise him for his short, but successful stint at JEF United Chiba, a Japanese club that competes in J2 League, which is the second-best football league in Japan.
Tor also got a call from the head coach of the Norway national football team in 2009, but unfortunately couldn’t join the team, since he decided to be at home while he waited for the birth of his second child.
He hung up his football boots in 2014 as an Aalesund player.
#8 – Yang Changpeng (6’ 9” / 205 cm)
The next towering player is the Chinese 6’ 9” striker Yang Changpeng.
This forward was mainly known for his short spell at the famous Premier club, the Bolton Wanderers. Some football pundits even called him the “Chinese Peter Crouch.” Unfortunately, he failed to impress the Wanderers in his one-month trial and returned to play football in China.
He played for a number of Chinese clubs, like Meizhou Kejia, Yinchuan Helanshan, Chengdu Blades, and Shenzhen Fengpeng.
He wasn’t the most prolific striker since he only scored six goals in his career. Yang stopped playing professional football in 2021 after leaving Wuhan Jiangcheng.
#7 – Vanja Ivesa ( 6’ 9” / 205 cm)
Another goalkeeper on the list is the colossal Croatian, Vanja Ivesa, who stands at 6’ 9”. He utilized his long reach to stop shots for over twenty years as a professional footballer. He had successful spells at clubs like Eskisehirspor, Elazigspor, NK Opatija, Slaven Belupo, etc.
He broke a record at the age of 40 for being the oldest active football in Croatia’s no.1 football league. Thanks to his shot-stopping abilities, Vanja was a nightmare for numerous forwards over the years. The peak of his abilities was achieved at Eskisehirspor, where he had 46 clean sheets in 151 games for the club.
After 26 years as a goalkeeper, Ivesa retired in 2021 as an NK Opatija player.
#6 – Kyle Hudlin (6’ 9.5” / 206 cm)
The youngest tall player on this list is the English striker Kyle Hudlin, who was born in 2000.
This center-forward began his professional career at a club called Solihull Moors F.C. In a span of two years that he spent at this club, he bagged 15 goals.
Kyle is quite successful in using his height to score headers, and he is also really fast for being one of the tallest soccer players ever. The next club for Hudlin was AFC Wimbledon, where he scored 4 goals in 18 appearances.
In June 2023, he joined Huddersfield, hoping to fulfill his true potential.
#5 – Tomas Holy (6’ 9.5” / 206 cm)
Goalkeeper from the Czech Republic, Tomas Holy, is the fifth tallest soccer player on the planet. Standing at 6’ 9.5”, he’s a giant between the posts.
For a better part of his career, he was a Sparta Prague B player, but he was sent out on a couple of loans at low-tier Czech football clubs. Then, in 2017, he was transferred to Gillingham, where he spent two years as the starting goalkeeper. His career in England continued since he signed for Ipswich, where he found his proper form since he managed to have 28 clean sheets in 65 matches.
Holy was also a part of the U16, U17, and U18 youth football teams of the Czech Republic.
In 2022, he went to Carlisle United, a third-level English football club.
#4 – Tonny Brogaard (6’ 9.5” / 206 cm)
Tonny Brogaard, formerly named Tonny Nielsen, is a retired goalkeeper from Denmark. With a height of 6’ 9.5”, he was a towering shot-stopper. Throughout his short career that lasted over 5 years, Brogaard mostly played for clubs that competed in low-level Denmark football leagues like Fremad Amager, Greve If, and Avedore If.
The most known club where he played was Doncaster Rovers, but he was the third goalkeeper there and didn’t get much playing time.
The last club he played for was Frem, a club that competed in the second-highest football competition in Denmark.
#3 – Paul Millar (6’ 10” / 208 cm)
Paul Millar was a British striker known for his tall stature, who posed a real problem to the opposing sides thanks to his height. Standing at 6’ 10”, he was mainly recognized for his successful time at Elgin City, a Scottish football club. During his stint at this club, Paul was a stable contributor to his team, with 18 goals and nine assists in four seasons.
Besides the fact that he was once a footballer, Millar was also a full-time fireman in Scotland.
His less memorable spells were with Formartine United as well as Deveronvale, where he retired at the age of 28.
#2 – Kristof Van Hout (6’ 10” / 208 cm)
The second tallest soccer player in history is the Belgian colossal goalkeeper Kristof Van Hout.
Thanks to his physical characteristics, height, and long arms, Hout was a superb shot-stopper.
His professional career started at the Dutch club Willem II. Kristof mostly played for well-known Belgian clubs like Standard Liege, Kortrijk, Westerlo, and Genk, with whom he lifted the Belgian Cup trophy back in 2013. In 2012, while playing at Kortrijk, he was at the peak of his abilities, amassing 15 clean sheets in 41 games in all competitions.
He also had a short stint with Delhi Dynamos from India, where fans named him “The Belgian Giant.”
In 2023, this lanky Belgian goalkeeper retired at the age of 36 as a Lommel SK goalie.
#1 – Simon Bloch Jorgensen (6’ 10.5” / 210 cm)
The tallest soccer player and goalkeeper to ever grace the football pitch is the towering Dane, Simon Bloch Jorgensen. Although he wasn’t a world-class goalkeeper, he still successfully used his imposing size for shot-stopping.
In his career, Simon played for English and Danish football clubs such as Waltham Forrest, Accrington Stanley, Whitehawk, Waltham Abbey, Greve IF, Frem, Bronshoj, etc. The best season of his career was with Greve, where he didn’t concede a goal in 5 out of 10 matches he played for them.
Before retiring in 2022, he was the goalkeeper for Waltham Abbey, an English club that competes in the lower divisions.
Read next: Who Is The Shortest Football Player In History? – All-Time Top 10 List
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