Footballers who excelled at other sports: From Gareth Bale to Paolo Maldini

Tom Weber

• Updated: 25 Feb 2026 12:57 CST
• 14 min read

Analysis

Becoming a professional footballer requires years of intense training and physical exertion, as well as a healthy portion of luck, of course. One thing that isn’t necessarily needed is a love for the sport.

Plenty of players throughout the history of the game have viewed football as simply a job, while others were more passionate about different sports. Still others have somehow found the time to juggle two athletic careers simultaneously.

The 2026 Winter Olympics shone the spotlight on American cross-country skier Sammy Smith, who at just 20 years of age, is not only a world-class winter sports athlete, but she is also on course to become a professional footballer.

Having previously suited up for the US U17 and U23 national teams, when Smith is not on the piste, she is on the pitch. In December 2025, she played in the NCAA final with Stanford University before jetting off to Alaska, New York and Germany to qualify for the USA’s Olympic team.

Smith, however, is far from the only footballer to also compete in other sports. Below, FootballTransfers runs through a comprehensive list of players who have - or could have - played other sports at a high level...

Winter sports

Since we already mentioned Sammy Smith, we may as well start with winter sports. The American insists that there is not a huge difference between skiing and football.

“For the most part, the strength training we do as a team is very, very translatable to skiing,” she explained in early 2026. However, skiing is certainly not most footballers’ first choice when it comes to picking their favourite sport.

There have nevertheless been some high-profile footballers who loved the rush of blazing down a mountain in the winter.

Former Germany international Bastian Schweinsteiger is an avid skier and childhood friend of former world champion Felix Neureuther. Unlike his mate, though, the former Bayern Munich star ultimately chose to pursue a football career over his love of skiing.

Schweinsteiger’s former teammate Manuel Neuer is also a passionate skier. In late 2022, the goalkeeper infamously broke his leg during a skiing accident and missed almost a year of action for Bayern and Germany.

“For me, it was just like going to the bakery to pick up some bread,” he later recounted. “I think I’ve been skiing since I was six years old. I’ve been doing it for over 30 years, and nothing like this has ever happened. But unfortunately, there was something under the snow that blocked me. That meant I fell and hurt myself.”

Beyond skiing, several footballers have had professional ice hockey careers, most notably goalkeepers Petr Cech and Lev Yashin.

Chelsea legend Cech preferred ice hockey over football as a child, but the cost of the equipment forced him to pursue a career on the pitch instead. After his retirement, he played for the Guildford Phoenix, the Chelmsford Chieftains, the Oxford City Stars and the Belfast Giants.

Legendary Soviet goalkeeper Yashin spent his entire career with Dynamo Moscow, where he played for the ice hockey team before he established himself as an undisputed starter for the football side in 1953. That same year, he won the Soviet Cup on the rink.

Soviet striker Vsevolod Bobrov achieved the rare feat of attaining legendary status in football, ice hockey and bandy. In 1952, he appeared for the Soviet national football team at the Summer Olympics. Four years later, he won gold with the ice hockey team at the 1956 Winter Olympics.

Arvids Jurgens played for the Latvian national team in four different sports: football, ice hockey, bandy and basketball. He won numerous titles in football and ice hockey, competed at the 1936 Olympics and also won a Latvian championship in basketball.

Sven Bergqvist made over 200 appearances for Hammarby as a goalkeeper, but he also played at the highest Swedish level in bandy, handball and ice hockey. Like Jurgens, he, too, competed at the 1936 Olympics.

Former Romania international Elemer Hirsch was a professional ice hockey player and four-time national figure-skating champion.

Louis Van Hege, one of the greatest strikers in AC Milan history, competed for his native Belgium at the 1932 Winter Olympics in bobsleigh.

Motor sports

Footballers are often seen attending Formula 1 races. So far, no footballer has become an F1 driver, but several former players have had careers in motor sports.

Goalkeeper Jerzy Dudek, one of Liverpool’s heroes in their historic Champions League final comeback against AC Milan in 2005, became a race car driver after retiring in 2013.

He has since participated in numerous competitions and won the Class 2 Championship of the German Touring Car Masters series in 2013. He also claimed consecutive victories at Slovakia Ring in Bratislava in 2017 and 2018. If that wasn't enough, he is also a passionate golfer.

1998 World Cup winner Fabien Barthez embarked on a racing career in 2008, notably winning the French GT in 2013 and taking part in the 2014 24 Hours of Le Mans race.

In 2018, former Bundesliga star Max Kruse founded Max Kruse Racing. His team has been taking part in the Nürburgring Long-distance Series since 2023, with the ex-striker making his debut in 2024.

Former Romania international Florentin Petre won the Bulgarian rally championship in 2010 and finished third in the Romanian version two years later.

Ex-Real Madrid goalkeeper Santiago Canizares, capped 46 times by Spain, won the Rally de la Ceramica in 2017.

Although he was never a player, former Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas is known for his passion for racing. He started in the 2018 Dakar Rally and the WRC3 Category of the World Rally Championship. His uncle, Pedro Villas-Boas, made three appearances at the Dakar Rally between 1982 and 1984.

American football/Rugby/Aussie Rules/Gaelic football

Soccer players excel when it comes to running and kicking, so it should be no surprise that there have been crossovers with other team sports that require the same skills.

Former Major League Soccer draft picks Josh Lambo and Brandon Aubrey have gone on to have successful careers in the NFL. The latter has broken numerous records with the Dallas Cowboys, including the most field goals from 60+ yards.

Fellow NFL stars Jake Bates, Harrison Butker and Cairo Santos also previously played soccer. Ex-US youth international Devin Barclay became a placekicker for Ohio State after a four-year career with various teams in MLS.

USMNT midfielder Tanner Tessmann had the opportunity to pursue a career in American football, but he opted to go professional in soccer with FC Dallas instead.

Former England striker Clive Allen played as a placekicker for the London Monarchs in NFL Europe following his retirement from soccer. Current Three Lions captain Harry Kane has spoken of his desire to eventually become a kicker in the NFL.

Kane’s dream was previously lived by Toni Fritsch, Garo Yepremian, Morten Andersen, Jan Stenerud, Toni Linhart and Neil O'Donoghue, who all featured in the NFL after playing soccer in Europe.

Former Arsenal and Liverpool midfielder Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain was a talented rugby player in his youth and was even offered a trial by London Irish.

Man Utd legend Kevin Moran was implored by the club to end his successful Gaelic football career after he suffered an injury in the 1978 All-Ireland semi-final. It was perhaps for the better as he would help the Red Devils win two FA Cups in the 1980s.

Despite being a huge country, the world of professional sports is quite small in Australia, meaning that it is not unusual for talented athletes, particularly women, to be confronted with a lack of opportunities.

As a result, there has been plenty of overlap between Aussie rules and soccer in Australian women’s sports. Catherine Brown, Ellie Brush, Jenna McCormick and Sarah Rowe have all played both sports professionally. Ireland native Rowe played Gaelic football as well.

Cricket

A hugely popular sport in England and other English-speaking nations, it is no surprise that a host of footballers are passionate cricketers.

In England, the likes of Gary and Phil Neville, Joe Hart, Gary Lineker, Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain and James Milner were all talented cricketers in their youth and could have tried to play the sport professionally. Phil Neville even captained England’s U15 cricket national team.

1966 World Cup hero Geoff Hurst attempted to juggle a career in cricket and football, but he was eventually compelled to focus on the latter, which worked out quite well for him!

One of England’s greatest cricketers, Ian Botham, played for Scunthorpe in the Football League. Former Arsenal player Denis Compton is similarly better known for his cricket career. Chris Balderstone successfully juggled lengthy careers in both football and cricket.

Long-time Sunderland star Willie Watson and former Southampton player C.B. Fry featured for England in both sports. The latter also previously held a world record in the long jump. In total, some 13 Englishmen have represented their country in both.

Rangers legend Andy Goram represented Scotland in both cricket and football.

Viv Richards, one of the greatest batters of all time for the West Indies, is thought to have played for Antigua in 1974 World Cup qualifying, but the validity of this claim is disputed.

Italy legend Christian Vieri has made no secret of the fact that he would have rather become a professional cricketer than a footballer. Born in Bologna, the former striker spent his formative years in Sydney, where he developed his love for the sport and Australian legend Allan Border.

"I would have loved to have been a cricketer," Vieri said in 2003 during his time at Inter. "I was telling a friend last week that I would stop playing now to play cricket if I could get the same contract. I was a bit of an all-rounder at school."

Ellyse Perry achieved what Vieri couldn’t. She represented Australia in both football and cricket, making her debut for the national team in both sports aged 16. She went on to become the first player to feature in the ICC and FIFA World Cup, but the 35-year-old has been solely focusing on her country’s national sport since 2016, becoming one of the greatest female cricketers of all time.

Other ball games

To a lesser extent, numerous footballers also excelled at ball games not mentioned yet. Former US international Taylor Twellman hails from a family of veritable sports freaks, and he himself was a prodigy in multiple different games in high school.

He eventually settled on soccer, but Twellman could also have played baseball at the collegiate level. His grandfather Jim Delsing played for five different MLB teams in the 1950s.

US goalkeeping icon Tony Meola declined a contract with the New York Yankees after being drafted out of high school. He wanted to become an NFL placekicker after his soccer career, but didn’t make the cut.

Celtic legend Henrik Larsson played in the highest Swedish tier of floorball after his retirement.

Ivan Perisic has represented his country, Croatia, in beach volleyball at various times over the past decade despite still being an active footballer.

Uruguay legend Diego Forlan and Italy legend Paolo Maldini have famously become professional tennis players following their storied soccer careers.

Bruce Arena, a one-time US international and arguably the greatest coach in the history of US Soccer, also played lacrosse professionally.

Younis Mahmoud, Iraq’s most capped international, began his sports career as a basketball player before being persuaded to transition to football for financial reasons.

Fenerbahce legend Can Bartu played for his club in both football and basketball, and he also represented Turkey in both sports.

Long-time Bolivia goalkeeper Carlos Lampe has featured in the Liga Sudamericana de Basquetbol, while former Inter forward Rodrigo Palacio has been playing lower-league basketball in Italy since his retirement in 2022.

Gabriel Batistuta wanted to keep competing after his retirement, but because of persistent ankle pain, he was unable to do any running himself. As a result, he switched to polo and won the Copa Stella Artois in 2009.

It is hard to find a footballer who isn’t fond of golf, so for the sake of brevity, we will only name Andriy Shevchenko and Gareth Bale as players who have played the sport professionally. "Wales. Golf. Madrid. In that order," as the saying goes.

Combat sports

Combat sports are another favourite pastime of many footballers, although watching them and actually competing in them are two very different things, of course.

Who could forget when Rio Ferdinand retired from boxing, having not taken part in a single fight, because he was denied a professional license? Wayne Rooney, too, is a known boxing enthusiast.

Crystal Palace academy graduate Leon Mackenzie became a professional boxer after his retirement and fought for the English super-middleweight title in 2016.

Former Birmingham City midfielder Curtis Woodhouse became a British light-welterweight champion after falling out of love with football. He previously described boxing as his “first love” and would even spar after football training.

"A few times at Sheffield United, Neil Warnock would drag me in and say, 'I hear you've been boxing.' I'd be standing there with a big black eye and a fat lip and deny it," he once recounted.

1998 World Cup winner Bixente Lizarazu became a European champion in jiu-jitsu in 2008. He is also a surfing enthusiast, as is former Barcelona midfielder and current PSG coach Luis Enrique.

Former Germany international Tim Wiese became a viral sensation when he began bulking up towards the end of his playing career with the intent of becoming a professional wrestler. He made his WWE debut at a live show in Munich in 2016, but he stopped the following year.

Similarly, former Norwich City striker Grant Holt signed a deal with the UK-based World Association of Wrestling in 2018. He won all three of his matches but hasn’t wrestled since 2019.

Other sports

There are surely players we forgot to mention, but let’s finish with a few more footballers who competed in sports that don’t fall under any of the above categories.

Former Netherlands international Rafael van der Vaart embarked on a brief professional darts career in 2019. He won his first match at the Denmark Open, but lost the second, and that was that.

Long-time Molde defender Knut Anders Fostervold had his football career cut short by injury, so he transitioned to cycling in 2003. He has won bronze and silver medals in various competitions and twice represented Norway in the world championship time trial.

Lastly, the aforementioned Luis Enrique, an avid surfer, finished several marathons after his retirement and even finished the Frankfurt Ironman, a triathlon race, in 2007.

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