Some athletes are simply built differently. A rare few have not just played two professional sports they have represented their country in both at World Cup level. From Ellyse Perry to Viv Richards, these football and cricket stars remain among the most remarkable multi-sport athletes in sporting history.
The Rare World of Dual Sports Stars
It is one thing to be talented at two sports as a child. It is an entirely different level of achievement to represent your country at the highest stage in both. Throughout history, a small but extraordinary group of football and cricket stars managed to do exactly that competing professionally in cricket and football simultaneously, or in some cases switching between them with ease.
These athletes did not just dabble in a second sport. Many of them won titles, earned international caps, and competed in World Cups. Their stories are not just impressive they are genuinely hard to believe.
Ellyse Perry The Greatest Dual Sport Athlete of the Modern Era
When people ask who played both a Football World Cup and a Cricket World Cup, there is one name that stands alone: Ellyse Perry.
Born on 3 November 1990 in Sydney, Perry made her international cricket debut on 22 July 2007 against New Zealand. She was just 16 years and 261 days old, making her the youngest Australian male or female ever to play international cricket. That achievement alone would be enough for most careers. What happened next is what makes Perry truly extraordinary.
Just 13 days later, on 4 August 2007, she made her debut for the Australian women’s football team, the Matildas, against Hong Kong and scored in the second minute. Perry then went on to represent Australia in both sports at World Cup level, earning 18 international football caps and scoring three international goals, including a stunning long-range effort against Sweden in the 2011 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter-final.
She remains the only athlete in history to have played in both an ICC Cricket World Cup and a FIFA Women’s World Cup. No man or woman has ever matched that specific achievement.
Perry played both sports simultaneously from 2007 to 2013 six full years of competing at international level in cricket and football at the same time. She was a defender for club sides including Canberra United and Sydney FC in the Australian W-League before finally stepping away from football to focus entirely on cricket.
And the cricket career she chose? It has been one of the greatest ever recorded. Perry became the first cricketer of either gender to score 1,000 runs and take 100 wickets in T20 internationals, achieving the milestone in 2019. In February 2024, she became the first woman to play 300 internationals for Australia. She has also been named ICC Women’s Cricketer of the Decade and won the prestigious Belinda Clark Award three times.
The question of which footballer likes cricket often gets asked in reverse when Perry’s name comes up because she was genuinely elite at both.
Viv Richards The Only Man to Play Both World Cups
In the men’s game, Sir Viv Richards of the West Indies holds the unique distinction of being the only man to have played in both a Cricket World Cup and a Football World Cup campaign.
Richards won the Cricket World Cup with West Indies in both 1975 and 1979, cementing his legacy as one of the most dominant batsmen in the sport’s history. He averaged 50.23 in Test cricket and 47 in ODIs, transforming the way batting was approached across the world.
What many fans do not know is that before dedicating himself to cricket, Richards represented Antigua in football. He was part of Antigua and Barbuda’s squad during the 1974 FIFA World Cup qualifying campaign, making him the only sportsman in recorded history to participate in both competition formats.
His football career never reached the heights of his cricket one Antigua finished bottom of their group but the fact that Richards played at international level in both sports is remarkable enough on its own. He gave up football to focus on cricket, and the world of sport is grateful that he did.
Denis Compton England’s Greatest Dual International
When the question of who played football and cricket for England is raised, Denis Compton is the most impressive answer in the history of both sports.
Compton was one of England’s finest ever cricketers, playing 78 Test matches and scoring 17 international centuries with a batting average above 50. He was stylish, instinctive, and beloved by fans across the country. But his sporting story did not end at the boundary rope.
As a professional footballer, Compton played as a winger for Arsenal FC, becoming a genuine star at one of England’s greatest clubs. He was part of the Arsenal side that won the First Division title in 1948 and the FA Cup in 1950 two of the most coveted prizes in English football. He also represented England in 12 wartime international matches.
His ability to compete at the elite level in both sports, winning major trophies in football while scoring centuries for England in cricket, has never been matched. His famous Brylcreem advertisements made him one of the most recognizable faces in 1950s Britain, and his dual sporting legacy has endured for generations.
Ian Botham England’s All-Rounder Who Played League Football
Few figures loom as large in English cricket as Ian Botham. His performances in the 1981 Ashes series remain the stuff of legend, and his 383 Test wickets and 5,200 runs made him one of the most complete cricketers England has ever produced.
What is less commonly known is that Botham was a legitimate professional footballer. He played as a centre-half for Yeovil Town between 1978 and 1980, and then for Scunthorpe United from 1980 to 1985, making 11 league appearances across his football career. He was not a casual participant he trained professionally and turned out regularly for both clubs during his cricketing off-seasons.
Botham was part of England cricket squads that reached the finals of the 1979 and 1992 Cricket World Cups. His combination of physical power, natural talent, and competitive fire was the same quality that made him dangerous whether he was holding a cricket bat or pulling on football boots.
Andy Goram Scotland’s Dual International Goalkeeper
Among the dual rugby and cricket internationals list, Andy Goram stands out as one of the most unusual cases in British sporting history. Known primarily as one of Scotland’s greatest-ever goalkeepers earning 43 international caps and helping Rangers dominate Scottish football throughout the 1990s Goram also represented Scotland at cricket.
He played as a right-arm medium-pace bowler in the 1989 and 1991 NatWest Trophy competitions, earning full international cricket recognition for Scotland. It made him one of only four dual cricket and football internationals in Scottish sporting history.
Goram was selected for Scotland’s squads at both the 1986 and 1990 FIFA World Cups, giving him a football World Cup profile to go alongside his cricket international status. His story is one of the most underappreciated in the history of multi-sport athletes.
Other Football and Cricket Stars Worth Knowing
The history of players who crossed between cricket and football is longer than most fans realize. Several other notable names deserve recognition:
Chris Balderstone played first-class cricket for Yorkshire and represented England in two Test matches, while simultaneously playing professional football for clubs including Carlisle United and Huddersfield Town. In September 1975, he famously played a county cricket match for Leicestershire in the afternoon before playing a league football match for Carlisle in the evening a feat that remains unique in British sport.
Jim Standen won the FA Cup with West Ham United in 1964 as their goalkeeper, and also claimed a County Championship title with Worcestershire as a first-class cricketer in the same era.
Arthur Milton is the last person to have been capped by England at both cricket and football. He made one football appearance for England in 1951 and went on to play six Test cricket matches for England between 1958 and 1959.
Jonty Rhodes, the South African fielding legend, was also selected for South Africa’s national hockey team for the 1992 Olympic Games proving that elite athleticism in cricket often translates across to other field sports.
Is Messi a Cricket Fan?
This is a question that surfaces frequently in sports conversation, and the honest answer is that there is no verified public record of Lionel Messi expressing a specific interest in or passion for cricket. Messi has consistently focused his public sporting comments on football, and cricket has limited reach in Argentina. He may have a passing awareness of the sport, but describing him as a cricket fan would not be supported by any credible public statement or interview.
What is true is that Messi is widely admired by cricket fans globally, including those in South Asia and the Caribbean where cricket holds enormous cultural weight. The crossover admiration between football and cricket audiences is well established.
Is Virat Kohli a Footballer?
Virat Kohli is one of the greatest batsmen in cricket history, but he is not a footballer in any professional or serious competitive sense. He has spoken openly about his love of football and has mentioned admiring Cristiano Ronaldo, making him one of the most notable examples of a cricket star who genuinely follows and appreciates football.
Kohli grew up watching football and has said that Ronaldo’s work ethic and physical dedication inspired his own approach to fitness and training. He has also been photographed playing casual football, and his connection to the sport is genuine but it exists entirely as a fan’s passion, not a professional one.
The crossover between cricket and football fandom in South Asia is enormous. Many of the most passionate football supporters in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh are also devoted cricket followers, making figures like Kohli natural bridges between the two sporting worlds.
Why Dual Sports Stars Are So Rare Today
The era of the true football and cricket star competing professionally in both sports has largely passed. The reason is straightforward: modern professional sport demands total commitment. Training regimes, fitness programs, contract obligations, and global broadcasting schedules leave almost no room for an elite athlete to compete in two separate professional sports simultaneously.
In the era when Denis Compton played football for Arsenal and cricket for Middlesex, both sports had shorter seasons, lower physical demands, and far less commercial pressure. Today, the scheduling conflicts alone would make it nearly impossible.
Ellyse Perry is widely cited as the last genuine example of a modern athlete competing at the highest international level in two major sports simultaneously and even she ultimately had to choose. She chose cricket. The rest is history.
FAQs
Which footballer likes cricket?
Several well-known footballers have spoken publicly about their love of cricket. Virat Kohli is perhaps the most prominent example from the cricket world who admires football, but in the reverse direction, former England football manager Gareth Southgate has spoken about following cricket, and many English footballers have grown up around the sport. In the era of dual athletes, Ian Botham was a professional footballer who was also one of England’s greatest ever cricketers, making him arguably the most credible answer to this question. More recently, former England and Chelsea midfielder Frank Lampard has been noted as a cricket admirer who regularly attends matches. The connection between cricket and football communities in England has always been closer than the rivalry between the two sports might suggest.
Is Messi a cricket fan?
There is no credible public record of Lionel Messi identifying himself as a cricket fan. Messi was born and raised in Rosario, Argentina, where football is the dominant cultural sport and cricket has virtually no presence. While Messi is universally admired across the sporting world including by cricket players and fans he has not made any notable public statements expressing personal interest in cricket. That said, in South Asia, where cricket is the dominant sport and Messi is one of the most celebrated footballers in history, his fanbase crosses both sporting cultures in a genuinely meaningful way. The 2022 FIFA World Cup final between Argentina and France generated extraordinary viewership in cricket-loving nations across Asia and the Caribbean.
Is Virat Kohli a footballer?
Virat Kohli is not a footballer in any competitive or professional sense — he is one of the greatest batsmen in the history of cricket, having scored over 8,000 Test runs and more than 13,000 ODI runs, including a record 50 ODI centuries. However, Kohli has spoken genuinely and enthusiastically about his passion for football and his admiration for Cristiano Ronaldo, whom he has credited with influencing his own approach to physical fitness and dedication to the sport. Kohli has described watching Ronaldo’s career as a source of motivation and has referred to football as his favourite sport after cricket. He has been photographed playing casual football on numerous occasions and has publicly supported football clubs. While he is not a footballer, his love for the game is well documented and sincere.
