It isn’t outrageous to suggest that footballers aren’t exactly one homogenous being, with each and every one being different from one another. It is also reasonably fair to say that taller players are always more likely to be selected to play in a team, especially in the likes of the Premier League, where physicality is seen as a key attribute.
Even so, short players have made it in clubs up and down the country as well as across the rest of the world, with many benefitting from their short stature thanks to the fact that it gives them a lower centre of gravity and therefore the ability to twist and turn at will.
Marcin Garuch (1.54 metres / 5 foot 1 inch)
If you want to see just how short someone can be and yet still make it as a professional player, Marcin Garuch may be the example you’re looking for. The Polish midfielder is just five foot one inch tall, which means he is tied for the honour of shortest player in history.
An attacking midfielder, his lower centre of gravity made him an excellent dribbler of the ball who possessed strong technical skill. Garuch made a name for himself playing for numerous teams across his native Poland, scoring goals and being a thorn in the side of opposition sides, even if he wasn’t great for corners.
Jafal Rashed Al-Kuwari (1.54 metres / 5 foot 1 inch)
The reason why Marcin Garuch doesn’t hold the world record for being the shortest professional footballer in history is that he actually shares the honour with two other players. Jafal Rashed Al-Kuwari played in midfield for the Qatari side Al Sadd, having joined the youth ranks in 1985 before breaking into the first team in 1990.
He became the captain of the national team, showing that height doesn’t necessarily need to be a barrier to your ability if you won’t let it be. He retired as a player in 2009, later becoming the Al Sadd manager for a brief period.
Élton José Xavier Gomes (1.54 metres / 5 foot 1 inch)
The third player who fits into our category of being the shortest players in the history of professional football is Élton José Xavier Gomes, sometimes known as either Élton Arábia or just Elton. Born in Brazil, he was bought by Steaua București in 2007 and also played matches in clubs around the likes of Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
As with Garuch, he played his games in the attacking midfield position, able to use his diminutive height to be able to cause opposition defenders all sorts of issues, as all but turned them into pretzels with his movement.
Benedict Vilakazi (1.57 metres / 5 foot 2 inches)
If you’re a short player, then you know that you’re going to be on the receiving end of some stick from your fellow professionals. That might well explain why it was that Benedict Vilakazi became known as ‘Little Napoleon’ by his teammates, putting forward a forceful personality that ensured few mocked him to his face. Born in South Africa, he spent most of his career playing in the country and even played for the national team 31 times.
His short stature was more than made up for by the combination of his physicality and his forceful presence on the football pitch.
Madson Formagini Caridade (1.57 metres / 5 foot 2 inches)
There might well be something in the water in Brazil, considering the fact that Madson Formagini Caridade and Élton José Xavier Gomes were both born there, both became professional footballers and both come in at only just over five foot tall.
As with most of the other shorter players on our list, Madson, as he is usually referred to, was an attacking midfielder who spent most of his early career moving around his native country but played more games for Qatari side Al-Khor than anywhere else. He eventually stopped playing in 2020 after a decent career as something of a journeyman.
Fanny Walden (1.57 metres / 5 foot 2 inches)
If you’re going to be known as Fanny, you best be good at what you do. Thankfully for Frederick Ingram Walden, he very much ticked that box. The outside right player was born on the first of March 1888 in Northampton and began his career at White Cross.
It was during his time at Tottenham Hotspur that he really impressed, however, even earning a call-up to the England squad. He played more than 200 times for Spurs, never letting his small stature hold him back from achieving what he wanted to achieve. In fact, he won the Second Division in 1920 and the Charity Shield a year later.