Do the numbers of the players of a soccer team have any significance?

Significance of jersey numbers

Is there any other significance to the back numbers on soccer jerseys?

It depends on the history, in the early days of soccer there were no back numbers, after the back numbers became a culture, the numbers had a meaning, but in the recent evolution of soccer, the back numbers still had a meaning, but it was reduced.

The numbering was first tried in 1928, in Chelsea vs Arsenal in England's First Divsion League, and the custom was gradually adopted by many teams. In traditional soccer, there are no substitutions, so the number 11 on the coach's list of players is the 11 who will play, and traditional soccer customarily lists the players from the "back", starting with the goalkeeper, then the defenders, midfielders, and strikers. Therefore, many teams have the following numbers:

Goalkeeper: 1

Defenders/wing-backs: 2 - 6

Midfielders: 4, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, of which 10 and 11 are often used on the wings

Forwards: 9, 10, and 7, 8, 11

For the long history of soccer, which has changed a lot, the most common formation nowadays is the "back", which is the "back". There have been many variations, the most common nowadays being 442 or 433, but in the past the most common were 325 (or 323), 244 and 424, with different numbers of defenders/midfielders/strikers on the pitch. In the old days, when 325 was popular, numbers 2, 3 and 4 were defenders, 5 and 6 were midfielders, and numbers 7-11 were strikers. In the popular 532, numbers 2-6 were defenders, and only numbers 9 and 10 were strikers.

In principle, in the old days of soccer, numbers 1-6 were the defenders (defenders), and numbers 7-11 were the attackers (strikers). The position of midfield was developed later, so the speed of the midfield numbers was more flexible. Sometimes numbers 4, 5 and 6 are defenders, sometimes midfielders (in recent years defensive midfielders have become popular, and they are usually numbers 4, 5 and 6).

Over time, many fans have come to associate their favorite on-field heroes with their ball numbers, and in the case of historic teams, the numbers have come to mean something special because of their history. These are some of the more famous teams and players:

Brazil 10 - Pele, Zico, Rivaldo

Argentina 10 - Maradona

Man Utd 7 - Best, Cantona, Beckham

Milan 6 - Baresi, a player who was so good that he was forced to stop playing for Milan. Milan later discontinued number 6

Milan 3 - Maldini, number 3 will be discontinued when he retires, and his son (who is now 10) is the only player allowed to wear number 3 in the future

Holland 14 - Cryuff, the most famous number outside of 1-11

It seems like all goalkeepers are number 1s in every team?

Because no matter what the formation is, the only constant is that there is always only one goalkeeper, so the most common number for a goalkeeper is #1. Other numbers have different meanings depending on the era, team strategy, and team culture.

Since 1965, when the rules were changed to allow substitutions for more than eleven players, the numbering conventions were changed as well. At that time, the number 12 was for the first substitute, 13 for the goalkeeper in waiting and 14 for the second substitute. But generally speaking, numbers 14-22 have no special meaning.

The most famous case is that of the Dutch all-attacking priest Cryuff, who believed that the number of the ball is not defined, and insisted on wearing the number 14 in the national team, instead of the so-called starting numbers 7, 9, 10, etc. But he became too famous later on. But he became so famous that now the most famous number in Holland is 14, and even Henry of Arsenal in the English Premier League wears 14.

Because there are no rules about soccer numbers, it's sometimes interesting to note that - for example, in the 1978 World Cup, Argentina assigned numbers to players according to their surnames, so there was a player with the number 1 on his back who wasn't a goalkeeper.

It seems that players with numbers 7, 8, 9, 10 and 11 were all starters or captains or something?

Many coaches choose their team's strongest player to be the captain, and the strongest players on the team are usually the attacking players, so they usually wear numbers 7-11.

When I was a kid, I thought it was an honor to wear number 10

That's because two of the most famous players in the World Cup wore number 10, Brazil's Pele (who won the 1958, 1962, and 1970 World Cups) and Argentina's Maradona (who won the 1986 World Cup). Current players Joe Cole of Chelsea, Ronaldinho of Barcelona, Del Piero of Juventus, Adriano of Inter and van Nistelrooy of Man Utd are also number 10.

Other famous players/numbers have already been mentioned, so I won't go into that. As for the significance of numbers nowadays, it is less important than 30 years ago, because numbers can be used freely. In Turkey, Greece, and Spain there have been rare numbers such as 77, 99, and so on.

In short, modern soccer is about the whole team (23 players), not just the 11/14 players, and numbers are not as significant as they used to be, but the famous numbers are still significant.