Unusual or Notable Numbers
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- From 1978 to 1986, the Argentina national football team's numbers for World Cups were mostly assigned alphabetically, leading to unusual numbers being assigned for goalies Ubaldo Fillol (number 5 in 1978 and 7 in 1982) and Héctor Baley (number 3 in 1978 and 2 in 1982), with number 1 being assigned to offensive players: Norberto Alonso in 1978, Osvaldo Ardiles in 1982 and Sergio Almirón in 1986.
- Hicham Zerouali was allowed to wear the number 0 for Scottish Premier League club Aberdeen after the fans nicknamed him "Zero".
- Though it is traditionally the goalkeeper's number, outfield players have occasionally worn the number 1 for their clubs, including Pantelis Kafes for Olympiacos and currently AEK, Charlton Athletic's Stuart Balmer in the 1990s, Partizan Belgrade's Simon Vukčević in 2004–05, Beşiktaş's Daniel Pancu in 2005–06 and Atlético Mineiro's Diego Souza in 2010.
- In 2001, Colombian Freddy Rincón wore number 3+5 in Santos F.C.. Due to the failure of the attempt to transfer to the Corinthians and the subsequent closing of entries, Rincón would not have more chances to act in Campeonato Paulista that year if not by Santos. The regulation of that year provided that the clubs could register up to 35 athletes. Then, the Colombian was entered with the #35.
- In 2003, FC Porto goalkeeper Vítor Baía became the first player to wear 99 in the final of a major European competition.
- Adolfo Bautista, when playing for Club Deportivo Guadalajara wore number 100 under special dispensation from the Mexican Football Federation (he wore 1 in CONCACAF competitions). Later, when he was traded to Chiapas, he received jersey number 1.
- Goalkeeper Rogério Ceni of São Paulo FC sports the 01 jersey for his club.
- Parma goalkeeper, Luca Bucci wore the numbers 7 (2005–06) and 5 (2006–07—2007-08) shirts.
- Iván Zamorano wore number 1+8, or number 18 with a plus symbol between the two digits, for Inter Milan from 1997 to 2000, after his number 9 was given to Ronaldo.
- Juan Pablo Sorín was allowed to use the number 1+2 for Villareal because the number 3 was taken. This was only used rarely.
- Derek Riordan was given squad number 01 by Hibernian. Number 10 had already been taken by Colin Nish, and none of the club's goalkeepers had been allocated number 1.
- In 2008, AC Milan's three new signings each chose a number indicating the year of his birth: 76 (Andriy Shevchenko, born 1976), 80 (Ronaldinho, born 1980), and 84 (Mathieu Flamini, born 1984).
- The Asian Football Confederation requires players to keep the same squad numbers throughout the preliminary rounds for the AFC Asian Cup, resulting in players with squad numbers of 100 or higher, including 121 worn by Thomas Oar of Australia in a 2011 AFC Asian Cup qualification match against Indonesia.
- Indonesian international Firman Utina wears 8+7 number in his club Persija Jakarta, because his signature number 15 has been taken by Aliyudin.
- Indonesian Club Deltras Sidoarjo Goalkeeper Usman Pribadi wears the number 2.
- Celtic F.C forward Gary Hooper wears number 88 for both the year he was born (1988) and the year Celtic was founded (1888).
- During the 2012–13 Liga MX season, Víctor Perales and Luis Ángel Morales of Guadalajara wore numbers 143 and 163, respectively.
Read more about this topic: Squad Number (association Football)
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