For some soccer stars, tattoos function as a visual autobiography. Over the past three decades, ink has migrated from the fringes of sports culture to the center of it, and nowhere is that shift more visible than on the pitch. When players pull off their jerseys after a goal, what’s underneath has become as much a part of their image as the number on their kit –– which is also often one of their tattoos. The global tattoo industry is now worth an estimated $2.66 billion, and some of soccer’s biggest stars are among its most visible ambassadors.
The ink that soccer’s biggest stars carry tends to go deeper than aesthetics: Family members rendered in portrait. Faith expressed in scripture and verse. Apex predators appointed to show what happens when that player crosses a white line. Career milestones — the time stamp of a winning goal, a tournament date, a trophy — made permanent because the memory alone isn’t enough. The tattoos of the world’s best players sit alongside match records to form a kind of second archive, one that tells a whole new story of the game.
Whatever the inspiration behind the ink, PLAYERS compiled a short list of some of the most meaningful and memorable tattoos on soccer players worldwide.
David Beckham
Years Active: 1992 – 2013
The first time the tattoo bug bit Beckham was after the 1999 birth of his first son. Beckham honored the occasion by getting the chosen name, “Brooklyn,” inscribed in a gothic font on his lower back. Now, over 60 tattoos later (or is it 88? Beckham himself isn’t sure), many are nods to his famous family: the names of all four of his children and multiple pieces honoring his wife, Victoria, including a portrait, her name in Hindi down his left arm and her Spice Girls moniker, “Posh,” on his finger. While Beckham isn’t the first soccer player to get serious ink (Vinnie Jones, the British actor and former defensive midfield hardman, is sometimes credited as one of the earliest notable players), the sheer extent of influence Becks possessed over fashion and soccer trends in the ’90s meant that once he got tattoos, everyone else wanted them too.
Zlatan Ibrahimović
Years Active: 1999 – 2023
The Swedish striker Zlatan Ibrahimović is covered in tattoos, including a mural featuring a tiger on his back and family members’ names in script on his arms. But in 2025 he revealed on Instagram that he had one of his most recognizable — script on his torso that read “Only God Can Judge Me” — removed via laser. It’s not the first time Ibrahimović has had disappearing ink; on February 14, 2015, after scoring a goal in the second minute of his match against Caen, Ibrahimović took off his shirt to reveal 15 temporary tattoos of the names that became known as the “805 million.” Part of a United Nations World Food Programme campaign to raise awareness for global hunger, each name represented one of the 805 million individuals facing starvation worldwide. Ibrahimović was the first player to explicitly use personal tattoos on the pitch to draw attention to a larger charitable cause.
Jermaine Jones
Years Active: 2000 – 2018
The German-American midfielder has acquired quite the collection of body art over the years, but nothing’s been more notable, and perhaps painful, than the American flag on his left knee. The tattoo depicts an American flag in the shape of a star, but due to its peculiar placement — squarely on Jones’ kneecap — the design is prone to warp, and the experience of getting the ink, in his own words, was “hurtful.” The 2014 piece was done to remind Jones of his American roots during his time on the Turkish Besiktas J.K. Club. Whether or not it reminds him of the place is unclear, but for others, the tattoo is a reminder that you can get too creative. Fox Sports called it “either the best or worst red, white and blue tattoo we’ve ever seen.”
Ricardo Quaresma
Years Active: 2001 – 2022
Ricardo Quaresmas, the Portuguese right winger, is best known for his signature “trivela” technique: a way of hitting the lower-outside half of the ball with the outside of the laces to induce a bend in the pass or shot. He’s also known for one of the most controversial tattoos to ever hit the pitch –– teardrops on his face. Though he’s never publicly stated the meaning behind the ink, across many cultures, teardrop tattoos are symbolic of a gang affiliation or having committed murder. Quaresma’s were so frequently interpreted as such that it appears he removed them sometime between 2017 and 2018.
Sergio Ramos
Years Active: 2003 – Present
Sergio Ramos’ ink includes a massive back collage, two patchwork-style arm sleeves and a list of every time he has won the champions’ league tattooed on his leg. But given their unique placement, it’s his head tattoos that stand out. On one side of his scalp, Ramos has “93” –– the exact minute of an iconic Champions’ League goal on May 24, 2014, against Atlético Madrid, considered his magnum opus on the field. And on the other side, in complementary ink, he has “15,” Ramos’ jersey number when he competes for Spain, a gesture in honor of his friend, the Spanish soccer player Antonio Puerta, who died in 2007 and wore the number before Ramos did.
Lionel Messi
Years Active: 2004 – Present
The Argentine superstar’s tattoos narrate his incredible soccer journey from 1992 to the present. They also cover almost his entire body. His right arm sleeve opens with a window from La Sagrada Família — a nod to Barcelona, the city where his career was built. His left leg has been redone. Formerly a collage of the handprints of his eldest son, Thiago, flowers, a sword, and angel wings, he decided to cover it up, as he explained in an interview with Migue Granados, because “I had gotten them at a time when I was getting it done for the sake of getting it done. It was the typical thing of going to the tattoo artist: ‘Tell me what I can get done.’” Everything went save for the tiny hands, in favor of a solid black rectangle featuring the number 10 — his jersey number — and a soccer ball, done by Argentine tattoo artist Roberto López. Messi returned the favor to López by tattooing a 10 on the artist’s wrist.
Arturo Vidal
Years Active: 2005 – Present
Chilean midfielder Arturo Vidal is practically coated in tattoos. Pieces that accentuate his massive physique stretch all the way from his chest to his fingers, creating an imposing figure on the field, especially when he lifts his right hand to his mouth, making the skeletal ink blend seamlessly into the lower half of his face. But among the imposing ink and swirling designs is a softer touch. Vidal’s youngest son, Alonso ‘Monito’ Vidal, a popular YouTuber and budding soccer player, lives with type 1 diabetes and requires an insulin pump. In a display of family solidarity, Vidal got an insulin pump tattooed on his lower torso, a gesture that shows a devotion that runs deep even in the seemingly toughest players.
Sebastian Sosa
Years Active: 2007 – Present
Lions are one of the most popular motifs among tattooed soccer stars, partially because the beast serves as the official mascot for 10-plus professional soccer clubs worldwide. But Sebatian Sosa just might have the most original placement. Instead of going with a fully tattooed portrait, Sosa took a more creative approach by blending mediums. The lion is tattooed from the nape of his neck up to his mid-scalp, where the design meets his hairline and his own locks become the lion’s mane. Intimidating and innovative all at once, the art is some of the most jaw-dropping in the game.
Nicolás Otamendi
Years Active: 2009 – Present
Plenty of soccer stars have a tattoo of the king of the jungle tattooed; fewer have kings of on-screen antiheroes. Argentine center back Nicolás Otamendi took the road-to-intimidation less traveled when he got the faces of some of the most infamous villains inked across his back, including Peaky Blinders’ gang leader Tommy Shelby and Breaking Bad’s ruthless drug kingpin Walter White, who is featured not once in Otamendi’s tattoo, but twice.
Memphis Depay
Years Active: 2011 – Present
Memphis Depay symbolized the transition from his rough, at-times abusive childhood in Ghana to a dominant force on the pitch with the portrait of a lion on his back. Depay’s lion, he has said, honors the feeling of having been brought up in a jungle. “I was always outside. I’ve been to rough areas, and I’ve been through rough times … The lion is for me, ‘the king of the jungle,’” he told Unscriptd UK in 2017. “I always stayed on my feet even though it was rough.” The piece, which reportedly took around 24 hours to complete, is polysemic: In addition to honoring Depay’s history, the lion nods to the mascot of the Dutch national team, where he has played for 12 years, and Olympique Lyon, where he spent four seasons. In 2020, he spent an afternoon of his COVID-19 lockdown having a photo shoot with a real liger (a lion/tiger hybrid) and shared a comparison between his back tattoo and (almost) the real thing on social media.
Richarlison
Years Active: 2015 – Present
Richarlison de Andrade, known simply as Richarlison, flamboyantly immortalized the soccer greats he sees as his peers with a massive back tattoo featuring the faces of Neymar, Ronaldo Nazário — and his own — beneath the signature of Pelé. Essentially a Mount Rushmore of Brazilian soccer players beneath a Brazilian flag, it’s an ode to his roots and the country he proudly represents, as well as a striking declaration: He wants to be one of the greats, whether or not history deems him worthy of the title.
Vinicius Júnior
Years Active: 2017 – Present
PLAYERS cover star Vinícius Júnior, or Vini Jr., has one of the most statement-making tattoos in sports. Inked in 2023 by L.A.-based artist Ganga, who’s also tattooed LeBron James, a sprawling back mural features legends like Pelé, Muhammad Ali and Kobe Bryant rising above the word “mentality,” reflecting Vini’s own dedication to the mindset that has led others to greatness. As one of just five players to record 30-plus goals and 30-plus assists in Champions League history, Júnior has shown that like the legends on his back, he knows how to bring it when the pressure is on. And for a bit of behind-the-scenes knowledge: The image of Michael Jordan on Vini’s back shows the Hall of Famer shooting with his left hand, though the shooting guard was famously right handed. The image used for the tattoo had to be mirrored for composition of the piece.
Yamila Rodríguez
Years Active: 2018 – Present
Argentine forward Yamila Rodríguez faced scrutiny during the 2023 Women’s World Cup for her tattoo of Christiano Ronaldo on her calf. Because of the intense fan rivalry between fellow Argentine Messi and the Portuguese-born Ronaldo, supporters of the former declared Rodríguez “anti-Messi” and “anti-Argentina,” never mind that accompanying the portrait of Messi was a tattoo of the legendary Argentine midfielder Diego Maradona. Rodríguez defended her ink, saying “We are not all obliged to only love the players from our country.” While some fans supported Rodríguez’s right to choose her own body art, the incident still highlights the dark side of heated soccer rivalries and the impact on those caught in the crossfire.
Enzo Fernandez
Years Active: 2019 – Present