Due to the physical nature of football, teams often tend to sign taller and stronger players. The English football pyramid is filled with many examples of players who were told they were "too small" to succeed at the highest level. However, many short players have become household names thanks to their natural ability, with Lionel Messi the most successful short player in football history.
Shonan Bellmare duo Kazuki Yamaguchi and Hiroto Nakagawa are the shortest players in FIFA 20 at 5 ft 1 in or 1.55m. The Japanese attacking players are just one centimetre shorter than San Lorenzo winger Nahuel Barrios, who also measures 5 ft 1 in.
The shortest football player in the world is Elton Jose Xavier Gomes, but he is not in FIFA 20 as he plays in Brazil's Serie B for CRB and is less than 5 ft 1 in, coming in at 1.54m, which is shorter than both of Shonan Bellmare's attackers.
At 5 ft 7 in, Messi does not rank in the top 20 shortest players in FIFA 20, but the player known as the 'Thai Messi', Chanatip Songkrasin, is among the top 10 shortest players. Known as simply 'Jay', the Thailand international is 5 ft 2 in tall.
Napoli's Lorenzo Insigne is the shortest player at a major club, with the Italian forward measuring 5 ft 4 in. The Premier League's shortest player is Bournemouth and Scotland winger Ryan Fraser, who is the same height as Insigne.
| Rank | Player | Position | Club | Height |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | K Yamaguchi | CF | Shonan Bellmare | 5 ft 1 in / 1.55m |
| 2 | H Nakagawa | CAM | Shonan Bellmare | 5 ft 1 in / 1.55m |
| 3 | N Barrios | LM | San Lorenzo | 5 ft 1 in / 1.56m |
| 4 | J Plata | LW | Real Salt Lake | 5 ft 2 in |
| 5 | J Nisbet | CDM | Central Coast Mariners | 5 ft 2 in |
| 6 | M Moralez | CAM | New York City FC | 5 ft 2 in |
| 7 | C Songkrasin | CAM | Consadole Sapporo | 5 ft 2 in |
| 8 | J Romero | ST | Atletico Tucuman | 5 ft 3 in |
| 9 | D Villalva | LM | Veracruz | 5 ft 3 in |
| 10 | M Dominguez | LM | Cruz Azul | 5 ft 3 in |
| 11 | Kim Hyeon Wook | CM | Gangwon | 5 ft 3 in |
| 12 | V Hernandez | LM | Atletico Nacional | 5 ft 3 in |
| 13 | E Oztumer | CAM | Charlton | 5 ft 3 in |
| 14 | J Cuevas | RW | Everton de Vina del Mar | 5 ft 3 in |
| 15 | H Al Ghamdi | CM | Ettifaq | 5 ft 3 in |
| 16 | T Nakagawa | RM | Yokohama Marinos | 5 ft 3 in |
| 17 | L Acosta | CAM | DC United | 5 ft 3 in |
| 18 | D Bounanotte | CAM | Universidad Catolica | 5 ft 3 in |
*Heights shown are the measurements assigned to the players in the FIFA 20 database.