Soccer Stars Who Ventured Into Other Sports (And Succeeded!)
In the beautiful game of football, some of the most iconic soccer players have captivated fans with their talent, skill, and unforgettable moments—from a hat trick in the World Cup final to winning the Premier League with historic clubs like Manchester United or Manchester City. But what happens after the final whistle blows on their playing days?
For many soccer stars, retirement isn’t the end—it’s just the beginning of a new professional journey. From former goalkeepers like Petr Čech trading football gloves for ice hockey pads, to legends like Gareth Bale going into Golf, today’s multi-sport athletes are proving that talent and dedication can translate across different sports.
In this blog, we’ll explore soccer players who didn’t stop competing after their soccer careers ended—instead, they made surprising moves into other sports.
Soccer Stars who Played Other Sports
Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo
Soccer legends Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo are always a hot topic of debate for fans trying to determine who is the better player on the pitch. Most recently, the two superstars made headlines for an entirely different sport.
It may be hard to imagine Messi and Ronaldo excelling at a racket sport, but the two aren’t immune to the padel craze going on in the US. Even former tennis player Rafael Nadal was recently spotted playing on a padel court in Spain.
If you’re unfamiliar with the new sport, padel is played in doubles inside a cage smaller than a tennis court. The sport is a mash-up of tennis and squash, and players can hit the ball off the glass and metallic mesh walls surrounding the court.
The casual endorsement of the likes of Messi and Ronaldo has seemingly propelled the popularity of padel in the country and around the world. According to the International Padel Federation, the number of padel courts in the US has increased by 186% over the past two years, with more than 650 courts spread across 31 states.
Like many soccer players before them, Messi and Ronaldo aren’t the only ones known to play and excel at other sports. In fact, many soccer players and icons through the years have gone on to transition to other sports after their soccer careers. Below, we’ll take a look at some of the soccer stars who ventured into other sports — and succeeded:
Petr Cech
A former Czech goalkeeper, and one of the best goalkeepers of all time, Petr Čech retired in 2019 and went on to pursue a career as an ice hockey player. Before the move, Čech played for teams like Arsenal and Chelsea as well as the national Czech Republic team for the 2006 World Cup and European Championships. Today, Čech holds the record for the most Czech Footballer of the Year and Czech Golden Ball wins.
Recently, the former goalkeeper re-signed with the ice hockey team, Belfast Giants, for its National Ice Hockey League side, Oxford City Stars. Previously, Čech helped the Giants beat the Glasgow Clan 5-1 in his professional ice hockey debut. The cameo debut was successful in front of a sell-out crowd of over 6,000 at the SSE Arena. Before his official debut with the team, Čech also guested for the Giants in 2024 against the Ukrainian team Dnipro Kherson in a charity game.
Neymar Jr.
Brazilian soccer star Neymar Jr., and one of the best players of the modern era, is known for his skills and style on the pitch. Over the years, the player has also shown a passion for poker, having been seen at various poker events and tournaments around the world. The Brazilian had started his poker journey in 2014, playing during his downtime between soccer matches.
In 2022, Neymar made his debut at the biggest poker tournament — the World Series of Poker (WSOP). The player had a seat at the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship table at the Paris Las Vegas Casino. Previously, Neymar had earned a place at a WSOP table in 2016 after winning a PokerStars preliminary tournament. Unfortunately, the soccer star was unable to participate due to being part of the national soccer team for the Olympic Games. Aside from the WSOP debut, the soccer superstar also joined PokerStars’ Winter Series 2022. Neymar finished third at the $10,300 No Limit Hold’em High Roller event, beating out some of the best poker players in the world.
David Levi
Levi is a former professional soccer player, having played for Israeli football club Hapoel Ramat Gan Givatayim F.C. Following a knee injury that cut his soccer career short, however, Levi moved to Los Angeles, California, where he developed a love for poker. Levi built his poker career by climbing the ranks of various poker events and tournaments, including the Commerce Poker Series main event in Los Angeles, where he came in fourth.
In 2019, Levi crossed his career milestone, reaching $4 million in poker winnings after a victory in Event 2 of the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open. Incidentally, 2003 WSOP Champion Chris Moneymaker, the man often credited for the online poker boom of the 2000s and part of online poker site Americas Cardroom’s team of ACR Pros, was also present at the tournament, albeit at a different event (Event 20). Today, Levi tops the list of soccer players with the highest poker winnings, beating out the likes of Spain’s Gerard Pique, who played at two EPT Barcelona events.
Lev Yashin
Considered one of the greatest goalkeepers in the history of soccer, Lev Yashin was a Soviet professional soccer player and was the first goalie to win a Ballon D’or – something no other goalkeeper has been able to accomplish today. Later, Yashin also became deputy chairman of the Football Federation of the Soviet Union. Between 1958 and 1966, Yashin appeared in three World Cups. The Yashin Trophy is named after him to honor the best goalkeeper of the year at the Ballon d’Or Ceremony, whose winners include Aston Villa and Argentinian goalkeeper, Emi Martinez.
Before claiming his legacy as goalkeeper, the legend was a goalie for Dynamo Moscow’s ice hockey team, winning a USSR ice hockey cup. Yashin has also spoken about his other athletic interests, including the discus, fencing, boxing, diving, wrestling, skating, and water polo.
Other Multi Sport Athletes
Here is a lot of other well known players and the sport that they liked to play.
- Eric Cantona – Beach Soccer
- Ilhan Mansiz – Figure Skating
- Tim Wiese – Professional Wrestler
- Curtis Woodhouse – Professional boxer
- Manfred Burgsmuller- National Football League Europe (American Football)
- Santiago Canizares- Rally Champion
- Ivan Perisic – Beach Volleyball
- Diego Maradona Tennis
Summary
Over the years, many players who made their name in soccer went on to pursue dreams in other sports, such as ice hockey, poker, or novel racket games like padel. Just as they had excelled on the pitch, many of these soccer stars were quick to find success in their new sport.
Whether it’s David Levi’s high-stakes poker winnings or Petr Čech’s goalkeeping skills transferring over to the ice hockey rink, it’s interesting to see what many soccer players get up to after their soccer careers.
Frequently asked questions
What are some of the popular sports that soccer stars venture into?
Many soccer superstars enjoy physically demanding sports where their skills or body builds from years of soccer experience can be useful. For example, great goalkeepers like Čech and Yashin were also good goaltenders for ice hockey.
Why do so many soccer stars go into other sports?
Soccer players go into other sports because soccer is already one of the sports that requires the most athleticism, so learning other sports is easy—especially since the foundation of any sport is footwork. Playing other sports is also one of the ways to develop your talent, highlighted in our blog Hard Work vs Talent, because it directly makes you more athletic and improves coordination, reaction time, and spatial awareness—skills that are transferable across multiple sports.
Have any soccer players succeeded in other Olympic sports like high jump, fencing, or beach volleyball after their professional career?
Yes, several soccer players have found success in Olympic or Olympic-style sports after their playing days. For example, Croatian winger Ivan Perišić competed in the 2017 Poreč Major beach volleyball event, and Lev Yashin was known to train in fencing, boxing, and diving alongside his football career.
