Who was (is) most fouled player ever at his peak? Who draw most fouls from opposing team? Candidates: Messi, Hazard, Maradona, Pele, Neymar, R9, maybe some others... Discuss.
Surely Neymar must rank high. The statistics are somewhat dated, but it was the largest sample size I could find for the modern era (fouls drawn in the top five European domestic leagues from 2016 to 2022). Diego Maradona | Most-fouled player | FIFA World Cup records I cannot speak for older players, but it would be interesting to track the fouls-drawn record for Diego Maradona during his time in Europe. Serie A Guerin Sportivo 1980-1991 every game with player ratings | Page 44 | BigSoccer Forum There seems to be at least one season where Diego Maradona ranked first in the league in terms of fouls-drawn (1986/1987), but I do not know if he had any other such seasons of this nature.
FIFA data on World Cups from 1962-2024: https://www.fifa.com/fifaplus/es/to...ugador-que-mas-infracciones-recibio-mundiales The records with the most fouls against Maradona - Gentile fouled Maradona 23 times in Spain 82. No other player has received more than seven fouls from the same opponent in the same match. If those 23 fouls are true, what madness. - Maradona is first, second and third on the list of players with the most fouls received in a tournament: 53 in 1986, 50 in 1990 and 36 in 1982. Ariel Ortega follows him with 33 in France 1998. - Pelusa won more than 10 free throws in a game four times. No other player did the same thing more than once. - Maradona received a record 152 fouls in the World Cup. He is followed by Messi (75), Jairzinho (64), Neymar (60), Cristiano Ronaldo (58), Ariel Ortega (57) and Gheorghe Hagi (56). # JUGADOR PAÍS PARTIDOS FALTAS RECIBIDAS POR PARTIDO 1 Diego Armando Maradona Argentina 20 152 7,60 2 Lionel Messi Argentina 26 75 2,88 3 Jairzinho Brazil 16 64 4,00 4 Neymar Brazil 13 60 4,62 5 Cristiano Ronaldo Portugal 22 58 2,64 6 Ariel Ortega Argentina 11 57 5,18 7 Gheorghe Hagi Romania 12 56 4,67 8 Roberto Baggio Italy 16 51 3,19 9 Lothar Matthäus Germany 25 50 2,00 10 Arjen Robben Netherlands 15 47 3,13 11 Miroslav Klose Germany 24 46 1,92 12 Roberto Rivelino Brazil 15 45 3,00 13 Osvaldo Ardiles Argentina 11 45 4,09 14 Mario Alberto Kempes Argentina 18 44 2,44 15 Daniel Bertoni Argentina 11 44 4,00 Maradona, more than double the number of fouls received than the second and having played fewer games. Many of the fouls seen in the FIFA video today would be a yellow or red card, but in the 80s many of those fouls did not receive any card.
This tweet refers to info about Pele receiving 16 fouls per game in Copa America 1959 apparently: Whimsy on X: "Didi potentially had 13 (pre) assists in the 1959 Copa América. That’s 2.17 per match! “Of the 17 goals that Brazil scored, 13 came out of Didi’s feet.” https://t.co/BcvM9gED5m" / X (twitter.com) Figo had about that in one game (Spanish Cup Final 1997), though by the looks of some other highlights he might've been receiving quite a few in some other games around that time I think.... https://www.bigsoccer.com/threads/l...s-league-career.2085719/page-12#post-37698812
Marco pacione Serie A 1986/87 125 fouls won 1991 minutes played 5.65 fouls won per 90 https://www.transfermarkt.com/marco...86&verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=&pos=&trainer_id= Diego maradona Serie A 1986/87 139 fouls won 2568 minutes 4.87 fouls won per 90 https://www.transfermarkt.com/diego-maradona/leistungsdaten/spieler/8024/saison/1986/wettbewerb/IT1
OptaJose on X: "79 - Vinícius Júnior has been fouled 79 times in LaLiga 2022/23, the most by a player in Europe's big five leagues and a the most by a Real Madrid player after the first 20 games of the league season since Luís Figo in 2003/04 (96). Danger. https://t.co/2bNXX025Je" / X (twitter.com) I think you might have singled out what could be a major omission. Do you have any personal insight as to which season might best showcase Luis Figo's ability to draw fouls? I personally think he was not at his physical peak during 2003/2004, so may have drawn more fouls in seasons prior.
I think in terms of 'ability to draw fouls' and also probably 'consequences of committing fouls' that the mid to late 90s is more likely probably to have seen more fouls on Figo (being faster/more agile, and with less use of red/yellow cards in La Liga then compared to a bit later I'm thinking). Of course his intention, the majority of the time, was probably to evade tackles rather than draw fouls, but yeah I'd say 96/97, possibly 97/98, maybe even 98/99 would be feasible ideas for where the highest foul tallies on him might have been (could be 95/96 was already a candidate in theory). I don't have data available about it, in terms of overall stats though, and several videos which were on Youtube are not there anymore (once vs Atletico Madrid in the 1996/97 Copa Del Rey would have been another good example IIRC, for instance). This one is still up, vs Fiorentina in 1996/97 too, and maybe gives an idea about the capabilities that would draw fouls (I don't recall it being one he was actually fouled in a big amount of times though necessarily, and it's not in La Liga or a Spanish competition of course):
I checked Cruyff via Sofascore (just one World Cup of course), and he had 4.3 fouls against per game (and perhaps might suggest a few extra in the final that weren't called?). 10 vs Sweden. 5 vs Uruguay, Bulgaria, Brazil. Another Dutch player Marco van Basten, is one that comes to mind as a contender in this topic I guess. Not to say this game was typical on average but it's an example:
I found this searching on the net: 1959 Copa América: Pele received 98 fouls in 6 games: 16.33 fouls received per game!!!!!!!! https://www.facebook.com/KodroMagaz...3753994/1448086712316713/?type=3&locale=es_ES Pelé en la Copa América de 1959:🕰 x90 minutos🏟 6 partidos (519 minutos)⚽️ 8 goles (1.39)🅰️ 4 asistencias (0.69)©️ 73% contribución G+A (12/17)⚠️ 98 faltas recibidas (17) 🤯Posiblemente la mejor actuación de Copa América en la historia. pic.twitter.com/GIv95FQcCw— Anamnesis del fútbol (@AnamnesisF) May 28, 2022
Yeah, that was the info I had intended to show before (I think the tweet is unavailable now though), but I didn't realise it was on that tweet as well - kudos to @anamnesis del fútbol and also to you for posting it. Looking at Sofascore Pele had 5 fouls on him per game in the 1966 World Cup, but 7 vs Bulgaria and only 3 vs Portugal I guess because after the 3rd he was hobbling and they didn't commit more fouls on him after that (so it was shaping up early in the game to be many more than 3 potentially). Funnily in 1970 he committed more fouls than the amount he received I see, but he was fouled 7 times in the final vs Italy (next up it's 4 times vs Romania and Uruguay, but it was only 2 vs Czechoslovakia when he played very well but I suppose taking players on less than in his younger days, and vs England where he had a couple of quality key moments but didn't do a lot else in the game; the Peruvians only fouled him once).
Maradona was a short player (1.63 or 5ft 4 ½), with a slight build, who looked for personal duels. I think he's number one, as FIFA's data attests Messi and Pelé weren't tall either (Messi 1.68 or 5ft 6 ½ , Pelé 1.73 or 5ft 8), but are stronger physically. Taller and more full-bodied. More resilient to tackles
Cristiano Ronaldo Premier league 2003/04-2008/09 First stint at Manchester United before he transferred to Real Madrid 500 fouls won 14541 minutes played 3.09 fouls won per 90 727 - Kevin Davies is the most fouled player in the last 10 Premier League seasons, ahead of @Cristiano 500. Bruised. #AskOpta @dclark0— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) October 5, 2012 https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/cri...in=985&liga=&wettbewerb=GB1&pos=&trainer_id=4 Eden hazard Premier league 2012/13 to 2018/19 634 fouls won 19468 minutes played 2.93 fouls won per 90 https://www.whoscored.com/Players/33404/History/Eden-Hazard C.Ronaldo was either as tough as nails or just experienced incredible good luck not sustaining any career halting/defining injuries or maybe both For me there is no doubt he is at minimum part of the conversation for most fouled player (in the modern era)
@Buyo I don’t know if those 1959 numbers for Pele are representative for his entire career(incredible as they are)but there is Ronaldo here notoriously being fouled 34 times in 3 matches when he was 24 years old(11~fouls won per match) https://www.echoroukonline.com/real...ger-suffers-knee-injury-scare#google_vignette his career best season(arguably) was played only weeks after these events (2009/10)
OptaJoe on X: "801 - The player with the most fouls won in the Premier League on record (since 2003-04) is Wilfried Zaha, with 801 across 291 appearances. Halted. #AskOptaJoe" / X (twitter.com) In terms of abuse taken within the English Premier League, Wilfried Zaha would be an interesting litmus test also. I'm not sure where to find the lists for the most fouled players of all-time within the English Premier League since 2003/2004, but it does seem like players like it is mostly composed of dribblers, and some strikers who enjoy physical duels within the penalty box. I would assume that Cristiano Ronaldo was more frequently taken-down during his more explosive dribbling years, but it seems quite difficult to establish his placing amongst his contemporary peers from overall numbers alone. Streaky strikers | Football News | Sky Sports Lion of Vienna on X: "Most fouled 03/04-10/11 RT @oilysailor: @LionOfViennaSte A Smith, D Huckerby, K Davies, M Arteta, D Bentley, K Davies, S Pienaar, A Young." / X (twitter.com) Most fouled players in the English Premier League (not sure, would like some confirmation from others): 2003/2004: Alan Smith? 2004/2005: Darren Huckerby (117) 2005/2006: Kevin Davies? 2006/2007: Mikel Arteta? (100?, his wikipedia page claims this number) 2007/2008: David Bentley (90) 2008/2009: Kevin Davies (105) It is difficult to accurately place Cristiano Ronaldo as someone who draws a lot of fouls based on statistics alone, because his playstyle changed so much throughout the years, and the data from his earlier years are much harder to find.
When the overall numbers(be it for fouls won,or dribbles,or goals or whatever else)are roughly similar then seeing how they fared on a Per 90 basis will be the tie breaker for example in the 2004/05 premiership Darren Huckerby(Norwich) was fouled 117 times in 3189 minutes 3.30 fouls won per 90 https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/dar...verein=&liga=&wettbewerb=GB1&pos=&trainer_id= Cristiano Ronaldo(Manchester United) was fouled 101 times in 2425 minutes 3.75 fouls won per 90 https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/cristiano-ronaldo/leistungsdaten/spieler/8198/saison/2004/plus/1 Something like this is not a fluke either https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/2.../3218/PlayerStatistics/Spain-LaLiga-2009-2010 https://www.whoscored.com/Regions/2...22176/PlayerStatistics/Spain-LaLiga-2023-2024 He had been the most fouled player in two different divisions and the overall numbers do indeed point towards him being in the conversation(which is what I said)
I cannot comment on the English Premier League records, because the number one player in terms of overall volume does not always rank as first in terms of per 90 minutes statistics, and I would need numbers from many potential candidates to check of all their fouls drawn per 90 minutes. To clarify, I cannot say a player has the highest fouls-drawn-per-90 minutes, just because he has superior fouls-drawn-per-90 minutes than the player with the highest overall fouls-drawn count (all I can comment is who has the superior statistic out of the two player sample size). As an example, if we talk about the 2015/2016 season, James Vardy had slightly superior goals per 90 minutes than Harry Kane (the overall top-scorer of 2015/2016 season), but I would need to check for the goals per 90 minutes statistics of Sergio Aguero before crowning James Vardy as the player with the highest goals scored per 90 minutes. Cristiano Ronaldo was not the most fouled player in the league, for the 2009/2010 La Liga season as far as I know. He ranked 6th in the league in terms of overall volume, and 3rd in terms of fouls-drawn-per-90 minutes once you limit the list to players who got fouled at least as many times as Cristiano Ronaldo. The screen capture you have posted is merely the statistics of players with the highest WhoScored average ratings, with their fouls-drawn-per-90 minutes being shown. Cristiano Ronaldo is not the first name that comes to my mind when it comes to this particular topic, but I do have memories of him being fouled an awful lot, especially during his more youthful years. I just think we need more statistics of players such as Kevin Davies for that specific time-frame, to truly see how marked the difference was for Cristiano Ronaldo and the rest of the field in terms of this particular topic. I do think OPTA has those records, but finding older OPTA records has always been a hassle for me.
Kevin Davies seems like someone who brought it on himself(was actively seeking confrontational situations as opposed to someone who was intentionally targeted for being a threat with the ball at his feet) 121 - Kevin Davies has just committed his 121st foul of the season; a PL record since Opta began analysis in the mid 1990s. Hatchet.— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) May 22, 2011 the first name that comes to mind when it comes to the modern era would probably be Neymar Jr after him Cristiano would definitely be part of the conversation In that group you would have Eden Hazard,Wilfred Zaha,Lionel Messi and maybe Jack grealish too Cristiano caught the end of the old school era of tough/no nonesense defending in the English game https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/22253531.amp And it must be said(overall numbers and VAR aside) not every foul drawn is equal A typical ‘foul’ drawn by the physically weak Neymar Jr in the modern day game was a routine/legitimate tackle in the early-mid 2000s premier league.
Has to be Pele and Maradona due to the eras they played in. Defenders could get away with a lot of fouls back then. Messi and Neymar get fouled less compared to them. Neymar however gets fouled more than Messi.
I cannot sleep tonight, LOL, and now with the 'down season' (more time, summer, holiday) I've found my passion for football back. What always amazes me is how Cruijff is rarely mentioned in these conversations, relative to other superstars (it can be doubted whether the top-top stars were really the most and harshest fouled of the lot). The 1970s La Liga was really vulgar, and so was the European Cup (think of the Celtic matches, but also the Spain vs Yugoslavia qualifier for 1978WC). Gunter Netzer, Paul Breitner, Mario Kempes, Simonsen can talk about this. In the early 1980s (1982 to be precise) the FIFA came with things like the red card for serious foul play, amid announcements by Havelange that "star players" (decided by himself I guess) would receive extra protection. Some of the tackles from the 1970 FA Cup Final replay… 👀 pic.twitter.com/nVwUPh4xKE— The Football History Boys (@TFHBs) October 11, 2023 Atlético Madrid's first visit to Celtic. European Cup semi-final, 1974. A match that became known as the Battle of Glasgow. Atlético had 3 red cards, 7 yellows. L'Equipe called on the European Union 'take action' on a 'hateful spectacle.' pic.twitter.com/CNRQnvbetY— Colin Millar (@Millar_Colin) October 25, 2023 (I'd say especially players/teams from smaller countries were sitting ducks) I mentioned it before but for example this study below shows the "category 4 fouls" (highest category) was at its worst in the 1974 and 1978 World Cups, and double the rate of 1986. Gerisch G., D. Sommer (1991) Fouls und Regelwidrigkeiten im Spitzenfußball. Leistungssport 21(3) Euro 1988 was also worse than 1982 WC, euro 1984 and 1986 WC in this respect. The 1974, 1978 and 1990 tournaments are according to OPTA the ones with the highest fouls per game, since 1966. Some of the fouls near the end of the West Germany vs Netherlands match in 1988 are downright criminal (with the assault on Erwin Koeman as low point). One reason why Gullit thinks (imho correctly - but others might think different) Van Basten was the better player is because he had all the defensive attention, with a sweeper behind if he'd break loose. Making galloping strides in midfield looks nice but someone has to score (or assist) the goals (I can also mention Albertini his comment in Football's Greatest). In 1990-91 MvB didn't score a lot as we know, but had an equal amount of assists and was still rated pretty well I saw. He is here in 1995 and here just this week full of praise. Either way (who was better is a different subject), with all the fouls from behind etc. when the referee wasn't watching and such he's a good mention yes. Despite that the most successful dribbles (per 90) in a euros final! (see the 'best performances at euros thread' with SofaScore/Opta data) Good to see you back!
Good luck with the sleep tonight then: I didn't have quite as much as I might've partly because I logged on here during Scotland vs Switzerland again, though seeing the links to those l'Equipe ratings for Champions League finals that had been posted caught my interest for sure. Yeah, you're right about the 1970s I'm sure, even if Cruyff slightly played things down in that Shoot interview I pointed you to recently from 1976 ("I was fouled in the Netherlands too" can point the other way though in a sense - if the Dutch league was not 'so far' behind La Liga in terms of fouling it would reflect in general that fouls were pretty common in the 1970s relative to other times indeed potentially - he didn't say he wasn't being fouled a lot in Spain as such, and the fact he was asked about it adds to the idea that he was anyway I suppose). Just to clarify (probably it is clear enough if I read it properly though anyway): Gullit said MvB is better than himself I think you mean (not better than Cruyff)? I remember guessing Gullit might've had Van Basten in his France Football Players of the Century vote top 5, and even ahead of Cruyff, then discovering that in fact he had Cruyff first in that and no Van Basten (but with Gordillo in 3rd as an interesting/intriguing vote, and Maradona lower than he may have suggested at other times; Van Basten also putting Pele over Maradona in his vote at that moment of course). But I remember we discussed a Gullit interview where he said indeed something about Van Basten having all the skills (maybe mentioning 'like Messi' or something?) as well as being over 6 ft tall etc, and in that Portuguese Brazilian interview Wiliam posted recently (sorry that none of these references are on this thread lol: I guess you know about them all Puck and others could search or ask me if they are interested in the source/posts I suppose) he seemed like he was saying he placed Van Basten 1st among centre forwards (while talking, positively I think/assume, about Brazilian Ronaldo, Romario etc also).
Yes, better than himself. He also remembered this game recently. The first game of the 1986WC play-offs, for 86 minutes of the match playing with 10 men. Anyway, he merits a mention I think. For his own time (and Hazard for the 2010s for sure, no doubt).