Who wore number 28 in football?

The best players to wear 28 as their jersey numbers are sprinkled across all major leagues. It has been a popular jersey number for decades with success of footballers across the board. Cristiano Ronaldo wore it at Sporting Lisbon, but was given 7 upon his arrival at Manchester United.

Mads Bidstrup

Mads Bidstrup is a Danish professional footballer who is known as a midfielder for Premier League club Brentford. He is a product of the F.C. Copenhagen academy and has been capped by Denmark at youth level.

Bidstrup won 22 caps and scored one goal for Denmark between U16 and U19 level. He was called into the U20 squad for two friendlies in June 2021, but later withdrew. Bidstrup won his maiden U21 call-up for a pair of matches in September 2021 and he appeared in both.

César Azpilicueta

César Azpilicueta Tanco is a Spanish professional footballer who is known as a captain and right-back or centre-back for Premier League club Chelsea, and the Spain national team.

A youth product of Osasuna, Azpilicueta spent three seasons in La Liga before switching to Marseille, winning four major honours with the French club. In the summer of 2012, he moved to Chelsea, winning the Europa League in his first season and a domestic double two years later. He has made one of the highest appearance numbers on their all-time list. He captained Chelsea to win the Europa League in 2019 and the Champions League in 2021.

Azpilicueta earned 55 caps for Spain at youth level in all age groups, and represented the under-21s in two European Championships, winning the 2011 edition. He made his first appearance with the full side in 2013 and was selected for two World Cups as well as Euro 2016 and Euro 2020.

Cenk Tosun

Cenk Tosun is a Turkish professional footballer who is known as a striker for Premier League club Everton and the Turkey national team.

After making one Bundesliga appearance for Eintracht Frankfurt, he transferred to Gaziantepspor in January 2011, where he won the Spor Toto Cup in 2012. In 2014, he was signed by Beşiktaş and won two Süper Lig titles before transferring to Everton in January 2018 for a reported £27 million transfer fee.

Tosun was born in Germany and represented the country from under-16 to under-21 level. He then changed his allegiance to Turkey, for whom he made his senior international debut with in 2013, and played at UEFA Euro 2016.

Joe Willock

Joseph George Willock is an English professional footballer who is known as a midfielder for Premier League club Newcastle United.

Willock scored for the England under-16 team against Scotland in the 2014 Victory Shield. He also represented the England under-19 team but was one of a number of players withdrawn from selection for the 2018 UEFA European Under-19 Championship by their club.

Willock represented the England under-20 team in the 2018–19 Under 20 Elite League and scored the winning goals in games against Italy and Germany. Willock was a member of an England Under-20 side at the 2019 Toulon Tournament and scored in group stage defeats against Portugal and Chile.

On 30 August 2019, Willock was included in the England under-21 squad for the first time but had to withdraw due to injury. He eventually made his U21 debut on 11 October 2019 during a 2–2 with Slovenia in Maribor.

Angus Gunn

Angus Fraser James Gunn is an English professional footballer who is known as a goalkeeper for Premier League club Norwich City. He represented England at under-21 level.

Gunn began his career at his hometown club Norwich City, before joining Manchester City in 2011, signing his first professional contract in 2013. After spending the 2017–18 season on loan at Norwich, Gunn signed for Southampton in the summer of 2018, for a transfer fee of £13.5 million. After a return to the Championship with Stoke City for the 2020–21 season, he returned to Norwich on a permanent basis, now a newly-promoted Premier League team.

Despite his father Bryan’s representing Scotland at international level, Angus represented the country of his birth England at various youth levels.

Gunn received his first call up to the England national team in November 2017 for a friendly match against Brazil, after Jack Butland withdrew from the squad with an injury. In March 2018, Gunn was offered the opportunity by Scotland manager Alex McLeish to switch allegiances to Scotland, but decided to stay with the England national team, and was called up by Gareth Southgate to their training camp ahead of the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Tanguy Ndombélé

Tanguy Ndombele Alvaro is a French professional footballer who is known as a midfielder for Premier League club Tottenham Hotspur and the France national team.

On 11 October 2018, Ndombele made his senior France debut by coming on as a substitute for Paul Pogba in the 67th minute of the friendly match against Iceland at the Stade du Roudourou in Guingamp that ended in a 2–2 draw.

A quick, powerful and versatile player, Ndombele is generally characterized as a box-to-box midfielder but can also play in various other positions like an attacking midfielder or a defensive midfielder. He is known for his dribbling ability, body balance and passing ability.

Tomas Soucek

Tomáš Souček is a Czech professional footballer who is known as a defensive midfielder for Premier League club West Ham United and captain of the Czech Republic national team.

After representing the Czech Republic in several youth categories, Souček made his debut for the senior side on 15 November 2016 in a friendly match against Denmark. He made his competitive debut on 10 June 2017, in Czech Republic’s 1–1 away draw against Norway in a 2018 World Cup qualifier. Souček appeared in all three matches of the Czech Republic under-21 team in the 2017 UEFA Under-21 Championship.

On 24 March 2021, Souček scored a hat-trick in a 6–2 World Cup qualifying win against Estonia. He was a member of the Czech Republic squad for Euro 2020 which was eliminated in the quarter-finals by Denmark. Following the tournament, Souček was confirmed as the new captain of the Czech Republic, after Vladimír Darida’s retirement from international football.

Souček has built a reputation as an energetic box-to-box midfielder with both defensive and attacking qualities. He is also known for his strong physical presence thanks to his 1.92 m (6 ft 4 in) frame. He was likened to Marouane Fellaini by José Mourinho due to his heading ability from set-pieces.

Axel Witsel

Axel Laurent Angel Lambert Witsel is a Belgian professional footballer who is known for playing for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Belgian national team. Witsel broke into Belgium’s first team as a right-winger, and can also play attacking midfielder, though his natural position is as a central midfielder.

He began his career at hometown club Standard Liège, making 183 appearances and scoring 42 goals while winning five domestic trophies. He was awarded the Belgian Golden Shoe in 2008. After a season in Portugal with Benfica, he signed for Zenit Saint Petersburg for a €40 million fee in 2012. Witsel won four honours during his time in Russia, before leaving for Tianjin Quanjian in January 2017. He returned to Europe with Borussia Dortmund in August 2018.

Witsel made his senior international debut in 2008 and earned his 100th cap for Belgium on 15 November 2018. He represented the country at the FIFA World Cup in 2014 and 2018, and the UEFA European Championship in 2016 and 2020, helping them to third place in the 2018 tournament.

Dodi Lukébakio

Dodi Lukebakio Ngandoli is a Belgian footballer who is known as a midfielder for Bundesliga club VfL Wolfsburg, on loan from Hertha BSC, and the Belgium national team.

Lukebakio was born in Belgium to parents of Congolese descent. Lukebakio made his debut for the DR Congo national football team in a friendly 1–0 loss to Kenya on 4 October 2016. He has since switched allegiance to represent the Belgium U21 side. In October 2020 he was called up the senior Belgium squad for the friendly against Ivory Coast and the UEFA Nations League matches against England and Iceland on 8, 11 and 14 October 2020, respectively.

Giorgi Mamardashvili

Giorgi Mamardashvili is a Georgian professional footballer who is known as a goalkeeper for La Liga club Valencia, on loan from Dinamo Tbilisi, and the Georgia national team.

After making 3 appearances for the Georgia U21 team, he made his senior debut against Bulgaria in a 1-4 friendly defeat on 8 September 2021.

André Anderson

André Anderson Pomilio Lima da Silva, or just André Anderson, is a footballer who is known as a forward for Italian club Lazio. Born in Brazil, André Anderson is a former youth international for Italy.

Although born in Brazil, André Anderson is eligible to Italy due to his ancestry. On 4 February 2019, he was called up to the latter’s under-20s.