Have you ever considered the possibilities of football players featured on money? You should be aware that the traditional design of banknotes in most countries is a portrait of their founding fathers or notable personalities.
But footballers are everywhere! Some of them have their faces imprinted on cash. The very same cash they used to buy dream cars and fancy houses.
Football players featured on money
From world cup winners to even Nobel prize laureates, here are 7 football players whose pictures have been featured on money
1. Lionel Messi
When Argentina faced back-breaking inflation in the year 2022, the government considered introducing two ‘higher denomination notes’ in the form of 5,000 and 10,000 pesos.
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But this time there would be no Argentinian President to see his face on the paper.
Because the new king, the king of football, was ready to entrench his name on the beautiful Argentinian currency notes.
There had been suggestions on the back of a memorable victory over France at Qatar 2022 that Messi would be further immortalized by seeing his face splashed across money in Argentina.
In fact, several mocked-up images surfaced on social media, with Messi apparently set to figure on a 1,000 Argentine peso with his signatures.
Well, what to expect next? Messi as President?
2. Zlatan Ibrahimović
If Zlatan wishes to rob a bank and get those money printing kits, he could easily do it. The Professor of Football. The real Money Heist man.
But does he really need it? Certainly not after hearing the news of his own currency notes.
Did you know that Zlatan Ibrahimovic has been immortalized in the most Zlatan way possible -by having his face printed on money.
Ibrahimovic’s face has been plastered on a 1000 Swedish Krona note. It included a textbook Ibrahimovic stare with a smaller version of the hitman celebrating a goal in the bottom corner. The note is equivalent to £93 – and is the highest denomination in the Scandinavian country.
And well he broke that news in his unique style. Ibrahimovic posted a picture of the large note on Instagram along with the caption:
“You have Benjamin Franklin and you have me.”
Unfortunately, the note is not legal tender and will not be used by Swedish members.
But Zlatan doesn’t care.
3. Johan Cruyff
Cruyff needs no introduction.
In the space of five years from 1989 to 1994, he led Barca to four European finals two European Cup Winners’ Cup finals, and two European Cup finals.
Cruyff’s track record also included one European Cup, 4 Liga championships, one Cup Winners’ Cup, one Copa del Rey, and four Supercopa de España.
And his international achievements for the Netherlands also spoke volumes about his talent. So, The Royal Dutch Mint issued a series of commemorative “Johan Cruyff Fivers” in 2017 to honor the legend. The coin had a worthy design with 3D of Cruyff.
On the back of the coin, there was an equally appealing portrait of King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands.
Well, for Cruyff, you could clearly say that if you had a ‘Cruyff coin’ for every time he dribbled past defenders, you could have been a millionaire by now.
4. Uganda commemorates Pele and Maradona.
Most of James Bond fans would have heard about ‘From Russia with Love’
But have you heard about From Uganda with Coins?
In 2006, Uganda issued a series of fifty six 2000 Shilling coins with “Hall of Fame” footballers on them.
There was a Maradona coin painted in silver with the legend raising his both hands towards the sky. The Pele one was even more captivating with the coin having a portrait of the Brazilian riding a bicycle.
The Ugandan government also issued the coins of Roberto Carlos, Ronaldo, and Roy Keane.
Well, it appears that with the pace with which Uganda is releasing the coins, we will not be far from seeing a Harry Maguire or Fernando Torres coinage.
5. Steven Gerrard
‘We can’t let this slip’ and ‘You never walk alone.’ are words being said all over the internet after
Well, so many of us try to lift our mood by making memes out of Steven Gerrard. But deep down we got to admit that he was an exceptional talent. An outstanding assist maker and an expert on set pieces.
On the international front, Gerrard won 114 England caps between 2000 and 2014, captaining the team 38 times and scoring 21 goals.
And as we were doing an immense amount of research for you to bring this video, we stumbled upon Steven Gerrard adorning a £5 coin issued by the State of Alderney in 2005.
The coin was a silver-plated one featuring Gerrard dribbling with the ball. Interesting.
Had the coin been made in 2014, would the picture be of Gerrard slipping and letting Demba Ba score the goal Maybe!!!
The next one on our list is a physicist and Nobel prize winner. Any guesses? Nope. he’s not Albert Einstein.
6. Niels Bohr
Bohr was the goalkeeper for the Danish team Akademisk Boldklub alongside his brother Harald. Harald went on to play for the Danish national team and won Olympic silver in 1908 but Niels never did play internationally.
Niels took an alternative route and went into the field of academics. He later won the Nobel prize for physics in 1922 and was awarded the Danish Order of the Elephant in 1947 by HM King Frederik IX.
As a commemoration, he appeared on Danish currency until 1993, with his image included on the 500 Kroner banknote.
7. George Best
He came to England and joined United at a turbulent time. Not so long ago, United had suffered the infamous Munich plane crash. But George came as a revelation.
In total Best made 470 appearances for Manchester United in all competitions from 1963 to 1974, and scored 179 goals.
And truly he deserved all the applause and credit. In 2006, to mark the first anniversary of George Best’s death, the Ulster Bank issued one million £5 notes with the Northern Ireland winger on them.
His famous words sum it up:
“I spent a lot of money on booze, birds, and fast cars. The rest I just squandered.”
Now it’s your turn to let me know in the comments what you think about these players being featured in currency notes and coins.
