Captain (association football)

The captain of an association football team is a special player chosen to lead the team on the field. This person is often one of the older or more experienced players. Captains are usually identified by wearing an armband, which shows that they are the leader of the team. In the 2024/25 edition of the Laws of the Game, it became a rule that every team must have a captain, and that captain must wear the traditional armband to be recognized.

Responsibilities

The main job of a captain in football is to take part in the coin toss before the game starts and before a penalty shoot-out. The captain cannot challenge the referee's decisions, but referees might talk to the captain about the team's behavior if needed.

After an important match, like a cup final, the captain leads the team to receive their medals and lifts the trophy first. The captain also leads the team out of the dressing room at the start of the match and helps keep the team's spirits up. Sometimes, the captain helps decide who plays and takes on extra tasks, especially in youth or recreational football.

Club

A club captain is chosen for a whole season. If the captain can't play, the vice-captain takes over.

The match captain is the first player to lift a trophy if the team wins, even if they are not the club captain. For example, in the 1999 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Peter Schmeichel lifted the trophy for Manchester United because club captain Roy Keane could not play. In the 2012 UEFA Champions League Final, match captain Frank Lampard lifted the trophy for Chelsea with club captain John Terry, who also could not play.

Some clubs have two roles: a club captain who speaks for the team, and another captain for games. Manchester United has had both types. Roy Keane was the club captain from 1997 to 2005 because he played most games, but Gary Neville was the club captain from 2005 to 2010 even though he did not play many games because of injuries. In his place, other players like Rio Ferdinand or vice-captain Ryan Giggs led the team during games.

Vice-captain

A vice-captain (or assistant captain) is a player who leads the team when the main captain is not playing or has to leave the game. Examples include Frenkie De Jong at Barcelona, Joshua Kimmich at Bayern Munich, and Federico Valverde at Real Madrid.

Some clubs also name a 3rd captain, 4th captain, or even 5th captain to lead when the main captain and vice-captain can't play. For example, Raphinha was a 3rd captain and Pedri was a 4th captain for Barcelona. In their 2015–16 season, Barcelona Femení had six named captains.

International

Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, and Sunil Chettri are shown wearing the special armband that shows they are the leaders of their teams for Portugal, Argentina, and India.

During the 1986 FIFA World Cup, when Bryan Robson got hurt, another player could not play, so Peter Shilton stepped in to lead England for the rest of the tournament.

In the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Germany had three leaders at different times. Michael Ballack was the main leader but couldn’t play because of an injury. Then Philipp Lahm took over, but he got sick just before the last game, so Bastian Schweinsteiger led the team for that match. The coach made it clear that Lahm was the leader for the World Cup.