5 most prolific shirt numbers in FIFA World Cup history

The 1954 FIFA World Cup in Switzerland was the fifth installment of the tournament and it was the first time shirt numbers were used.Here is a list of the most prolific World Cup shirt numbers.

#5 No. 8

133 goals

Not surprising that No. 8 comes in 5^th on this list. Usually assigned to central or box-to-box midfielders and in some rare cases strikers, the no. 8 shirt is worn by some of the finest players in the world right now.

Mesut Ozil, Xavi, Frank Lampard, Enzo Perez, Claudio Marchisio, Nigel De Jong and Paulinho among others will wear it at this year’s FIFA World Cup.

#4 No. 7

140 goals

Usually reserved for right midfielders or wingers who are typically dead-ball specialists, No. 7 comes at 4th in the list. Garrincha’s name stands out. Some forwards have also taken a liking to No.7 most notably Raul Gonzalez and David Villa of Spain, Andriy Shevchenko of Ukraine and Bebeto of Brazil.

Brazil’s Hulk, England’s Jack Wilshere and Argentina’s Angel Di Maria, Belgium’s Kevin De Bruyne along with Bastain Schweinsteiger and Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo should add to the No. 7 tally this time around.

#3 No. 11

201 goals

No.11 is the third highest scoring shirt with some of the best left midfielders and wingers having given the opposition right-backs sleepless nights.

Oscar, Arjen Robben, Pedro, Danny Welbeck, Griezmann and Cersi could add to the tally in this edition. All eyes though will be on Germany’s Miroslav Klose who is just 2 goals behind breaking Ronaldo’s all-time World Cup scoring record.

#2 No. 10

232 goals

Perhaps the most legendary Football shirt number of all time.

Pel, Diego Maradona, Zinedine Zidane, Michel Platini, Ferenc Pusks, Ronaldinho and Roberto Baggioand in modern day Messihave wornthe legendary number 10.

It is traditionally given to the most skillful player of the team

With Neymar, Wesley Sneijder, Cesc Fabregas, Shinji Kagawa, Wayne Rooney, Karim Benzema,Antonio Cassano, Lukas Podolski, Eden Hazardand Lionel Messi wearing No. 10 , we could see a prolific World Cup for the shirt.

#1 No. 9

255 goals

There is no shirt which has produced more goals than the No. 9 shirt.

The pure strikers who are deadly with their finishing are handed the no. 9 shirt though in recent years it has been given to the Trequartistas and the False 9s.

Romario, Gabriel Batistuta, Marco Van Basten, Samuel Eto’o and Alan Shearer have all worn the shirt, but none are any bigger than the legendary Ronaldo de Lima.

Fred, Robin van Persie, Daniel Sturridge, Mario Balotelli, Gonzalo Higuaín, Romelu Lukaku, Olivier Giroud, Fernando Torres will wear the shirt this time around