Most species named after a footballer

The most species formally named after a soccer player is five, for the Argentinean striker Lionel Andrés Messi. They are: Liolaemus messii, an iguanian lizard from Argentina's Rosario de Lerma Department, named in 2021; Acanthogonatus messii, a mygalomorph burrowing spider from Argentinean Patagonia, named in 2023; Discinisca messi, a fossil species of brachiopod from the Miocene Epoch of Argentina, named in 2023; Vultur messii, a fossil species of condor from the Pliocene Epoch of Argentina, named in 2023; and Cercopemyces messii, a type of fungus discovered in the Andean cloud forest of Argentina and formally described in the journal Mycological Progress in May 2024.

Fellow Argentinean footballer Diego Armando Maradona (1960–2020) has four species of organism named after him. They are: Anaphes maradonae, a species of fairy wasp from southern Italy, named in 2003; Librelula maradoniana, a fossil species of damselfly from the Palaeocene Epoch of Argentina's Jujuy Province, named in 2020; Diegoglossidium maradonai, a species of fluke parasiting an armoured catfish species in Argentina's La Plata River basin, named in 2022; and Bogasonia maradoniana, a species of chalice bubble sea snail or cylichnid from the waters off Argentina, named in 2025. However, later studies revealed that Anaphes maradonae was conspecific with an earlier-named species, A. brevis, so technically is no longer valid.

The first animals scientifically named after soccer players are 12 species of microcaddisfly belonging to the genus Neotrichia. Tiny moth-like insects, the dozen microcaddisflies were all newly described species found in the Brazilian state of Amazonas that received their formal designations in a paper published in the journal Zoologia in December 2009. They were named after the 11 players and the coach from Brazil's victorious 1958 FIFA World Cup football squad including the legendary Brazilian forward Pelé, after whom Neotrichia pelei was named.