When one thinks of the number 10 jersey, it is much more than a number sewn onto a shirt; it symbolizes the ingenuity of soccer, the creativity, and the flair that leaves defenders in knots while fans look on in awe.
The number ten shirt undoubtedly holds the most prestigious jersey in world football. Steeped in history and mystique, those two emphatic digits on the back of a shirt somehow inflate the player deemed worthy to wear it.
The number 10 for FC Barcelona has borne the reputation of some of the most iconic and influential players the beautiful game has ever witnessed—a player who defines an era with the flair of dribbling or redefines it with his finishing and brings home copious amounts of silverware to Camp Nou.
But who among them is the greatest to ever don the famous Blaugrana number 10?
Let’s find out.
1. Lionel Messi
Well, Messi did not always walk in the shadow of that famous number 10 shirt.
His first big burst on the scene was wearing the number 30. He then changed to number 19 for two seasons. But he inherited the famous number 10 jersey from 2008-09 with the arrival of Pep Guardiola.
Barcelona won everything there was to be won; Messi cemented his status as the world’s best player.
Fast forward to today, and the stats are simply staggering: 778 appearances, 672 goals, 303 assists, and 34 honors. He’s not the best number 10 in Barça history; he’s the best number 10 that football history has seen.
So, who has the guts to wear the number 10 shirt, I know of Ansu Fati, his loan move here and there speaks volumes of how the number is a heavy burden.
However, just maybe, the impossibility of matching Messi will liberate whoever next wears the iconic jersey. After all, there is no greater iconic duo than Barcelona and the number 10 shirt.
2. Ronaldinho
He is the guy who inspired a generation of footballers around the world with his magical moves and style.
Again, it is no issue at all that he was the first to wear the prominent number 10 jersey for five years in a row for Barcelona.
He was to many the most skilled and talented player ever to play the game of football; for Ronaldinho, there was nothing impossible, but all looked possible, and even the hard defenses and defenders could do nothing with his pure brilliance.
He was the epitome of a modern-day number 10, a creative, skillful attacking midfielder with an eye for goals and a killer pass.
Ronaldinho is still the gold standard for so many even to this day, and his legacy is timeless in that respect; numbers, or no numbers, of some of the greatest to grace the Blaugrana shirt.
Stats are staggering but it is the memories of his sublime performances which make him stand out as a cut above the rest.
3. Rivaldo
From one legend to another, the baton of Barcelona’s iconic number 10 jersey was handed down to Rivaldo for the final two years of his magnificent five-year spell in Spain.
With a £20 million price tag on his back, having arrived from Deportivo, Rivaldo delivered in style. The season was nothing short of fabulous, with him scoring 28 goals in 51 matches to lead Barcelona to a Copa del Rey and La Liga double.
And to make up for this, they repeated their success in La Liga for the defending champions next year!
Rivaldo’s influence was such that in the very first season, he won the La Liga Best Foreign Player, and the world saluted his stellar form.
With FIFA World Player of the Year and World Soccer Player of the Year won in 1999, he continued his dominance.
He stamped his class as one of the top footballers on the planet then his excellent goal-scoring spree remained ongoing with 10 goals scored within 14 Champions League appearances again during the campaign of 1999/2000 period.
Not until 2002 did Rivaldo eventually bid goodbye to Barcelona, leaving behind his mark as the club’s fifth-highest scorer of all time.
4. Diego Maradona
(Photo by Alain De Martignac / Onze / Icon Sport via Getty Images)
When he moved to Barcelona from Boca Juniors for a then world-record fee of £5 million, he was immediately handed the famous number 10 shirt.
It was Maradona’s sweet skills and showmanship that got him a standing ovation from the notoriously tough Real Madrid fans at the Santiago Bernabeu – something only matched since by Andres Iniesta and Ronaldinho.
Maradona’s spell in Spain, however, was not short of trouble.
He contracted hepatitis, and his ankle had been brutally broken by the infamous Andoni Goikoetxea, also known as ‘the Butcher of Bilbao’. It was an injury that could have been career-destroying, but Maradona is not a man to retreat.
After three months of the season out, he returned with revenge, lighting a touchpaper to the mass brawl in the 1984 Copa del Rey final that would leave an impression on the 100,000-strong crowd – including the King of Spain – to this day.
Well, he did not earn much success in his life, but his transfer earnings were phenomenal. The transfer at last helped Barcelona to sell their prized asset to Napoli for another record fee of £6.9 million.
What a move it would be for Maradona, as he goes on to write his name in the history books of football. His stats in Spain may have been limited, but his impact was: 58 appearances, 38 goals, 23 assists, and 2 honors.
5. Hristo Stoichkov
The feisty Bulgarian may only have worn the iconic number 10 shirt for a single season with Barcelona, but he seemingly exuded the spirit of the number throughout his spell at Camp Nou.
An ever-present figure in Johan Cruyff’s legendary “Dream Team,” Stoichkov won four league titles on the bounce in Barcelona’s colors and helped them win their first European Cup in 1992.
Though he wore the number 10 shirt only for part of the 1993/1994 season, it was to be his most memorable campaign, scoring 24 times in 48 appearances and earning the nickname “El Pistolero.” What other legacy was to follow? 255 appearances, 117 goals, 26 assists, and 18 honors.
No wonder then that one of his former teammates, Lobo Carrasco, defined Stoichkov’s genius with these perfect words: “He could run like Carl Lewis, pass like Ronald Koeman, and finish every bit as well if not better than Gary Lineker.”
He is one of those legends who has made history in Barcelona, and to this day, his era wearing the number 10 jersey is considered a period worth high recognition for the jersey.
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6. Laszlo Kubala
Today, a statue of László Kubala stands proudly just outside Camp Nou, substantial evidence of the legend that helped to build the iconic stadium.
The story goes that he played so immensely at the Les Corts, Barcelona’s former home, that they needed a bigger venue to hold the numbers of people. Hence, Camp Nou was born—a 100,000-seater.
Kubala’s journey to the Catalan capital was no ordinary story. He fled the Cold War scene and reached Spain as a political refugee, but thanks to the law, he couldn’t be given citizenship if he needed to play.
Anyhow, talent has never been submerged for so long. In two friendly matches with Frankfurter S.V., Kubala got them in rapture, scoring six goals and completing five assists. It was just a tiny sign of what was turning up.
A year later, when he finally started playing in 1951, Kubala burst on the scene with 26 goals in just 19 matches, which included a record seven against Sporting De Gijon.
The record still stands to this day. He will go on to score 118 more in the next decade, leaving an imprint on Barcelona’s history.
And even after retiring from playing duties, Kubala returned to coach the team twice, sealing his status as a true Barça legend.
7. Luis Suárez
He was the first ever Luis Suarez Miramontes, the original ‘Luis Suarez’ to take Camp Nou by storm. Known also as ‘El Arquitecto’, as a winger he did his art with a sense of space, playing his magic between the lines of the opposition’s midfield and defense.
That Spanish midfielder was the real controller, including the 1960 Balon d’Or to his achievements, taking Barcelona in both La Liga and the Spanish Cups on two occasions each. But Suarez’s success wasn’t just about silverware. More a symbolic resistance against General Franco’s regime, making every triumph a humanities win for the people of Cataluña.
Under the leadership of manager Helenio Herrera, Suarez blossomed and became the side’s heartbeat. He followed Herrera over to Internazionale in 1961 and was soon instrumental in the legendary ‘Il Grande Inter’ side that overran European football.
Some call Suarez’s playing style closest to that of Xavi Hernandez, but the man cannot help but grin when he disdainfully rejects any simple comparison from among other players.
8. Romario
The Brazilian goal-scoring phenomenon who took the beautiful game by storm. With a staggering 690 career goals in 24 years, he comfortably is ranked among the highest scorers in the history of football. That isn’t all, though, add also his fantastic 55 goals in 70 appearances for Brazil!
So short, but oh so sweet, would be the career of Romario at Barcelona. He wore the iconic number 10 jersey for just two seasons, the 1993/1994 and the 1994/1995 seasons, splitting his debut season with his striking partner Stoichkov.
Yet a man who played little over a year is considered one of football’s greats. His first season at Barcelona turned out to be his most prolific at the club, as he managed 32 goals—matched only in his final season at PSV.
Impressive stats at Barcelona for Romario: 65 appearances, 39 goals, 15 assists, and one honor. But his influence went far beyond statistics.
9. Gary Lineker
After being the top scorer in the 1986 World Cup, he landed in Barcelona with a huge fee of £2.8 million and bigger expectations. And the predictions were proved right when he scored 21 goals in the first season itself, including a terrific hat-trick against arch-rivals Real Madrid.
His Barcelona career started with a bang when he scored a brace on his debut against Racing Santander.
He played a key role in the victories of his club: the Copa del Rey in 1988 and the European Cup Winners’ Cup in 1989. However, everything was not rosy because Lineker did not fit into the unconventional way of playing—especially on the right side of the midfield—which was unfathomably and forcefully entrenched by the then coach, Johan Cruyff.
Despite that, Lineker still managed to make his impact, as he would go on to become the highest-scoring British player ever in the history of La Liga until 2016, with 42 goals in 103 appearances, until Gareth Bale overtook him.
10. Evaristo
Last but not least, there may perhaps be no attacker who was more groundbreaking for the country of Brazil than Evaristo de Macedo Filho, and yet he would manufacture his legend at Barcelona.
Lured to Spain by sensational pay and a shiny new Mercedes-Benz, he would leave Flamengo for Barcelona in 1957, taking on the iconic number 10 shirt in his first campaign.
This talented forward holds a special place in the hearts of Barcelona fans; he was the first player to ever score in an official match at the Nou Camp and later netted the first hat-trick in the history of the stadium.
His blistering form continued in the second, scoring against arch-rivals Real Madrid to send Barcelona to their first league title in six years.
But Evaristo’s path in Barcelona derailed unexpectedly when foreign player limits influenced his exit. What followed was a surprise move; he joined Real Madrid, and this would leave a sour taste for the Barcelona fans.
