It’s less ubiquitous than it once was, but the target man remains one of football’s great specialisms.
Usually – though not always – a big man, they provide an attacking focal point, hold the ball up to bring others into play, and tend to be more than a little bit handy in the air.
Here, we’ve picked out some of the game’s great target men from throughout history...
Preben Elkjaer
Runner-up to Michel Platini for the 1985 Ballon d’Or, Preben Elkjaer is undoubtedly one of Denmark’s best-ever players, scoring 38 goals for his country.
A 1984/85 Serie A champion at Verona, in the late 80s he excelled as the target man in an effective strike partnership for the national team alongside Michael Laudrup.
Adebayo Akinfenwa
Unlike the rest of the great target men on this list, Adebayo Akinfenwa never played at the highest level – but he was such a unique player that we couldn’t not include him.
An absolute icon of the English lower leagues, turning out for the likes of AFC Wimbledon and Wycombe Wanderers, ‘The Beast’ – such was his build, more like that of an NFL player – really did have good feet for a big man and scored over 200 career goals (an ample chunk of them with his head).
Miroslav Klose
The top scorer in World Cup history with 16 goals across four tournaments, lifting the trophy in 2014, Germany legend Miroslav Klose was a well-rounded target man in his prime.
An instinctive finisher who bagged his fair share of headers, Klose finished as the Bundesliga’s leading marksmen with Werder Bremen in 2006 and notched 124 goals in the German top flight overall.
Dixie Dean
Holder of the surely never-to-be-broken record for the most goals in an English top-flight season – 60 for Everton in 1927/28 – Dixie Dean was an exceptional header of the ball.
The 16-cap England international – who netted 18 times for his country – did not have the typical dimensions of a target man, standing at five-foot-ten tall, but is regarded as one of the finest aerial exponents of all time.
Emile Heskey
A superb hold-up man renowned for his selflessness, Emile Heskey provided the perfect foil to Michael Owen for both Liverpool and England.
But the former Leicester City striker posed plenty of goal threat in his own right, registering 22 times as Liverpool won a treble of FA Cup, League Cup and UEFA Cup in the 2000/01 campaign.
He also famously notched the fifth in England’s 5-1 demolition of Germany during qualification for the 2002 World Cup.
Peter Crouch
A true Premier League cult hero, the distinctively gangly Peter Crouch proved his credentials as a top target man on some of the game’s biggest stages.
While not as strong in the air as might be expected from a six-foot-seven giant, Crouch more than made up with his excellent hold-up play and penchant for acrobatic finishes.
A 2005/06 FA Cup winner with Liverpool, he scored 22 England goals at an average of just over one every other game.
Edin Dzeko
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s all-time leading goalscorer by a country mile, Edin Dzeko was an elite target man at his peak, playing a key role in Manchester City’s first two Premier League title triumphs.
An imposing centre-forward who carried a great goal threat with his head and both feet, Dzeko headed in City’s equaliser against QPR on the final day of the 2011/12 campaign to set the stage for that Sergio Aguero goal.
Mario Mandzukic
One of the few players to score in both the World Cup and Champions League finals and among Croatia’s greatest of all time, Mario Mandzukic could operate as a target man through the middle or out wide.
An important member of Bayern Munich’s 2012/13 treble-winning side and a multiple Serie A champion with Juventus, the towering Mandzukic won plaudits for his immense work rate offensively and defensively.
Olivier Giroud
While he’s been unfairly pigeonholed by some as ‘just’ a target man, Olivier Giroud proved himself to be a world-class exponent of that aspect of being a centre-forward.
A robust and exceptionally hard-working player with a truly outrageous finish in his locker (look no further than the scorpion kick with which he scored for Arsenal against Crystal Palace in 2017), the 2018 World Cup winner overtook Thierry Henry as France’s record marksman in 2022.
Luca Toni
Luca Toni bloomed late but established himself among the game’s standout strikers of his era, starring in Italy’s 2006 World Cup victory.
Aerially strong and acrobatic with great hold-up play, Toni won two Bundesliga titles with Bayern Munich, finishing as the league’s top scorer with 24 goals in the 2007/08 campaign.
Christian Vieri
Growing up in Australia, Christian Vieri wanted to be a professional cricketer; instead, he became one of Europe’s most formidable strikers around the turn of the 21st century.
A wonderfully well-rounded target man, ‘Bobo’ – who starred most prominently for Inter and scored at two World Cups for Italy – set the record for the most headed goals in Serie A history.
Sandor Kocsis
Sandor Kocsis’ nickname of ‘Golden Head’ gives you a pretty good idea of how good he was in the air.
An instrumental member of Hungary’s ‘Magical Magyars’ who so famously beat England 6-3 at Wembley in 1953 and a two-time LaLiga champion with Barcelona, Kocsis was an immensely skilful striker who racked up well over 400 career goals – including 75 in 68 international caps alone.
Didier Drogba
A defender’s nightmare, Didier Drogba kept many a Premier League backline busy during his prolific Chelsea career.
The Ivory Coast’s record scorer with 65 goals, Drogba combined elite hold-up play with devastating finishing – which included some unstoppably powerful headers, none more crucial than his late equaliser to help Chelsea win the 2012 Champions League final against Bayern Munich.
John Charles
‘Gentle Giant’ John Charles was a world-class operator at centre-forward and centre-back, providing an immense outlet as a target man.
Undoubtedly one of the finest British players ever, the legendary Welshman combined strength, pace and superb aerial ability to stunning effect, amassing more than 150 goals for Leeds and over 100 for Juventus – where he finished as 1957/58 Serie A top scorer in winning his first Scudetto.
Geoff Hurst
Hat-trick hero for England in the 1966 World Cup final and one of West Ham’s all-time greats, Geoff Hurst was a hugely influential target man.
An ideal attacking focal point, Hurst’s defence-occupying, space-creating performances for Alf Ramsey’s ‘wingless wonders’ – as the national team was known due to its narrow four-man midfield – prompted something of a revolution in British football, paving the way for the next generation of target men.
Zlatan Ibrahimovic
To call Zlatan Ibrahimovic a target man feels somewhat reductive, but the imperious Swede did it better than anyone – and so much more besides.
Blessed with an agility belying his six-foot-five frame, Zlatan was as capable of scoring with his head as he was via an outrageously acrobatic effort (look no further than his Puskas Award-winning 35-yard overhead kick against England in 2013).
Performing at the top level into his 40s, the ex-Milan, Barcelona and Manchester United star chalked up the best part of 60 career goals.
