Football Positions Explained: Roles, numbers and famous players

Over the years as football has evolved, positions have evolved with it, and long gone are the days of 'wing-halves' and 'outside forwards'.

Although many archaic positions do still exist in the modern game, many are under different names with somewhat different roles.

Below we look at the positions commonly used on a football pitch.

Goalkeeper

Also referred to as a 'goalie' or 'keeper', or abbreviated to GK, the goalkeeper is the most unique position on a football pitch and typically wears the #1 shirt.

Their role is ultimately to stop opposition shots to prevent goals being scored, and they are the only player on a pitch who can legally use their hands in play (but only inside the penalty area).

Famous goalkeepers from the game's history include Lev Yashin, Peter Schmeichel, Oliver Kahn, Iker Casillas and Gianluigi Buffon.

Famous goalkeepers in the modern game include Manuel Neuer, Alisson, Hugo Lloris, Ederson, Gianluigi Donnarumma, Thibaut Courtois and Emiliano Martinez.

Key skills include strong reflexes and agility to react quickly to shots, and good handling to catch crosses and shots, while being tall helps with catching and clearing crosses. As football continues to evolve, more managers want to build out from the back, using the goalkeeper as part of the build-up play. As such, goalkeepers in this system also need to be capable with the ball at their feet.

Defenders

Full-back

The full-back, abbreviated to FB (or LB or RB for left-back and right-back), plays in defence on the outside of the centre-back(s) with right-backs commonly wearing the #2 shirt and left-backs wearing #3.

Initially, as in rugby league and rugby union, the full-back represented the deepest player on the pitch and the last line of defence, but as the centre-half (formerly more of a midfield role), dropped deeper and joined the defence, full-backs essentially acted as wide defenders.

As the game has evolved, full-backs were encouraged to join opposition attacks and share similar responsibilities to wing-backs, albeit with less attacking emphasis.

Players at full-back often started out at centre-back, but were perhaps not tall enough, or strong enough defensively to be relied upon in the role, or had good enough pace and attacking skills to be deployed out wide. Alternatively, they may have been wingers who weren't good enough offensively, but possessed sufficient skills to play as full-backs.

Famous full-backs from the game's history include Carlos Alberto, Gary Neville, Paolo Maldini, and Lilian Thuram. Famous full-backs in the modern game include Josko Gvardiol, Dani Carvajal, Jurrien Timber and Ben White.

Key skills include good tackling, pace, positioning, awareness and crossing.

Wing-back

A wing-back, abbreviated to WB (or LWB or RWB for left-wing-back or right-wing-back), is essentially a more attacking version of a full-back.

In some footballing systems, managers want to use their full-backs further up the pitch to vary their attacking options. In a 3-5-2 formation, three centre-backs are usually deployed, with wing-backs used in lieu of more traditional wingers.

Wing-backs are still expected to contribute defensively, but have more onus in attack than traditional full-backs.

Famous wing-backs from the game's history include Roberto Carlos, Phillip Lahm, Cafu and Marcelo. Famous wing-backs in the modern game include Trent Alexander-Arnold, Kyle Walker, Jeremie Frimpong and Alphonso Davies.

Key skills include crossing, dribbling, tackling, positioning and passing, as well as high levels of stamina and pace.

Centre-back

Also known as a 'centre-half' or 'central defender' and abbreviated to CB, a centre-back's primarily role is stopping opposing attackers from scoring goals, and they typically wear #5 and one of #4 or #6.

While centre-halves played further up the field in the early 2-3-5 formations, the middle half, or centre-half, dropped deeper to provide more defensive stability as the game evolved. As they eventually joined the defence, they became centre-backs, but are still widely referred to as centre-halves.

Famous centre-backs from the game's history include Bobby Moore, Franz Beckenbauer, Franco Baresi, Alessandro Nesta, Fabio Cannavaro, Sergio Ramos, Rio Ferdinand and John Terry. Famous centre-backs in the modern game include Virgil van Dijk, Antonio Rudiger, Ruben Dias, Eder Militao, William Saliba, and Gabriel.

Key skills include proficient tackling to dispossess attackers, good positioning and awareness, good heading to clear crosses and long balls, while good passing is becoming increasingly important in the modern game with a number of managers looking to build attacks from the back. Because of the physical duties involved in the role, height and strength are important, with pace also useful.

Midfielders

Central midfielder

A central midfielder, occasionally referred to as a 'centre mid' and abbreviated to CM, is someone deployed in the middle of the pitch and they commonly wear either the #4, #6 or #8 shirt.

Arguably the most difficult position to play, a central midfielder requires a number of attributes to be able to contribute both offensively and defensively, although central midfielders commonly specialise in one aspect of the game (see below), with more attack-minded central midfielders often referred to as 'number 8s' and defence-minded central midfielders referred to as 'numbers 6s'.

Traditional central midfielders can be tasked with a variety of roles including winning possession, creating chances, scoring goals, and ultimately covering a lot of ground. These are often referred to as box-to-box midfielders, who don't necessarily specialise in any one part of the game, but are sufficiently good all-rounders that they're able to contribute all over the pitch.

Famous central midfielders from the game's history include Lothar Matthaus, Bastian Schweinsteiger, Clarence Seedorf, Michael Ballack, Roy Keane and Steven Gerrard. Famous central midfielders in the modern game include Federico Valverde, Leon Goretzka, Bruno Guimaraes, Declan Rice and Nicolo Barella.

Key skills to be a central midfielder include tackling, passing, awareness, positioning, strength and excellent stamina.

Defensive midfielder

A defensive midfielder, also known as a holding midfielder and sometimes referred to as a 'number 6' due to many players in the role wearing the #6 shirt (though many defensive midfielders have worn the #4 shirt instead).

Sometimes abbreviated to DM or CDM, a defensive midfielder, as the name suggests, is a midfielder whose primary responsibilities include defending.

However, some teams use defensive midfielders in playmaking roles, making the term 'defensive midfielder' somewhat misleading, with many observers referring to the position as a 'number 6'.

These typically play for better teams, with less requirement to defend and cover ground, and more of a requirement to be proficient on the ball. Players who previously played in more advanced positions often retreat to deep-lying midfield roles later in their career to compensate for their declining pace and physicality.

'Defensive midfielders' can broadly be split into ball-winning midfielders and playmaking midfielders.

Famous ball-winning defensive midfielders from the game's history include Frank Rijkaard, Didier Deschamps, Gennaro Gattuso, Javier Mascherano and Claude Makelele, with the position also occasionally being referred to as the 'Makelele role', after the former France, Real Madrid and Chelsea midfielder.

Famous ball-winning defensive midfielders in the current game include Aurelien Tchouameni, Joao Palhinha, Granit Xhaka, Manuel Ugarte and Casemiro.

Famous ball-playing defensive midfielders from the game's history include Andrea Pirlo, Xabi Alonso, Sergio Busquets and Toni Kroos. Famous ball-playing defensive midfielders in the modern game include Rodri, Martin Zubimendi and Luka Modric.

Key skills to be a ball-winning midfielder include position, strength, anticipation and tackling, whereas playmaking midfielders need good vision, passing, technique and movement off the ball.

Attacking midfielder

Often referred to as a 'number 10' or occasionally 'attacking mid' and abbreviated to AM, CAM or ACM, an attacking midfielder is usually a team's primary creative outlet, tasked with making chances for their forwards and linking the play between the midfielders and the forwards. In line with the position's nickname, attacking midfielders often wear the #10 shirt.

As well as being creative players, attacking midfielders are also tasked with scoring goals, and the role can be undertaken by centre forwards whose creative abilities allow them to drop deeper.

Famous attacking midfielders from the game's history include Michel Platini, Diego Maradona, Roberto Baggio, Andres Iniesta, Zinedine Zidane, Sir Bobby Charlton, Johan Cruyff, Zico and Kaka.

Famous attacking midfielders in the modern game include Kevin De Bruyne, Jude Bellingham, Florian Wirtz, Phil Foden, Cole Palmer, Jamal Musiala, Bruno Fernandes and Martin Odegaard.

Key skills include passing, vision, creativity, awareness, agility, balance, decision-making, as well as excellent technique, touch and close control.

Attackers

Wingers

While the prevalence of the 4-4-2 formation around the 1960s saw two wide midfielders deployed in a midfield four, the modern game now uses wingers in auxiliary forward roles, operating higher up the pitch as part of a front three. Right-wingers commonly wore the #7 shirt while left wingers often wore #11, though that's less common now.

Wingers used to need good stamina to get up and down the pitch, as well as good dribbling to get past their defender and good crossing to find centre-forwards, but as the role has evolved, wingers have fewer defensive responsibilities. It's common now to see left-footed players play on the right wing and vice versa, with wingers no longer beating defenders on the outside to cross the ball, but rather cutting inside the pitch on their favoured foot to shoot or pass.

As a result of the changing skill set, it's not uncommon to see wingers and centre-forwards change position throughout their career. For example, Cristiano Ronaldo started as a winger before moving to a central role, while Lionel Messi also started as a winger but was often deployed through the middle.

Famous wingers from the game include Stanley Matthews, David Beckham, Ryan Giggs, Luis Figo, George Best, Arjen Robben, Jairzinho, Gareth Bale and Paco Gento. Famous wingers in the modern game include Mohamed Salah, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Vinicius Jr, Lamine Yamal and Kylian Mbappe.

Key skills include excellent dribbling, pace, agility and finishing.

Centre forwards

Also referred to as a 'striker' or 'number 9', and abbreviated to 'CF' or 'ST', a centre forward's primary job is scoring goals, and they usually wear the #9 or #10 shirt.

The type of centre forward you need to be varies greatly depending on the manager's style of football. For example, if a manager prefers to use long balls, they might want a tall, strong, powerful centre forward who can out-muscle defenders, hold up the ball and bring other players into play. If a manager prefers to dominate possession, they might want quicker, more agile forwards who are better in tight spaces.

When teams used the 4-4-2 formation, it wasn't uncommon for the centre forwards to be a mix of the two - a taller, stronger forward complemented by a smaller, pacier forward.

Nowadays, it's rare to see teams play with more than one centre-forward, opting for more numbers in the midfield or defence.

Famous centre forwards from the game's history include Pele, Ferenc Puskas, Alfredo Di Stefano, Denis Law, Eusebio, Gerd Muller, Kenny Dalglish, Marco van Basten, Romario, Ronaldo, Raul, Alan Shearer, Thierry Henry, Didier Drogba, David Villa and Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Famous centre forwards in the modern game include Cristiano Ronaldo, Robert Lewandowski, Erling Haaland, Karim Benzema, Romelu Lukaku and Harry Kane.

Key skills to be a centre forward include pace, strength, agility, heading, finishing, dribbling, movement and anticipation.