At Hero Sports Data, we analysed the profiles of 55,000+ FIFA players to understand how height influences performance, positional fit and player development.
The biggest takeaway: Height matters in some roles — but in others, being smaller can be an advantage.
There is no single ideal football body type.
When people think about football and
height, they often focus on centre backs, strikers and goalkeepers.
But our data shows the story is much more nuanced. Height is more commonly rewarded in roles
involving:
This is why goalkeepers and centre backs are often taller than average.
Professional line-ups globally average around 181–182 cm (5ft 11in).
One of the most interesting findings in the dataset:
Midfielders and wingers are frequently not especially tall — and in many countries may sit around or below national male height averages.
That suggests these roles often reward traits other than size.
Smaller players can thrive due to:
In many football contexts, being smaller is not a weakness. It can be a competitive edge. Wider and attacking roles have long featured many elite shorter players for exactly these reasons.
Even though position matters most, national trends still appear. For example:
- German player pools are generally taller than Spanish player pools
- Northern European football trends taller than Southern European football
Club and national team averages broadly reflect population patterns
At Euro 2024, Spain had one of the shorter average squad heights, while taller nations sat at the other end of the range.
This means football selection influences height profiles — but does not erase national trends.
Another important finding from the FIFA dataset: there is no meaningful overall height gap between higher-rated and lower-rated FIFA players.
If height alone determined quality, top-rated players would be clearly taller than everyone else.
They are not. That tells us success depends far more on:
This matters enormously in junior development. Too often, coaches mistake early physical advantage for long-term potential.
A taller player may dominate at
12. A smaller midfielder or winger may dominate at 18.
The better questions are:
What role suits this player?
What traits do they already have?
How quickly are they improving?
What could they become in three years?
Our 55,000+ player dataset shows:
Height helps in some positions
Midfield and wing roles often reward smaller players
Country height trends still appear
Height does not separate the best players from the rest
Football is not won by centimetres alone.
It is won by skill, intelligence, movement and development.
