A remarkable 39-centimeter height gap separated Serbia and Montenegro striker Nikola Zigic, standing at 2.02 meters, from Ivory Coast winger Bakary Kone, who measured just 1.63 meters, when they faced off at the 2006 Germany World Cup. This remains the largest height difference between opposing players ever recorded in World Cup history.
Curiously, the next three biggest height gaps also occurred at that same tournament. Zigic additionally had a 36-centimeter difference with Arthur Boka in the same match. Similarly notable gaps existed between Trinidad and Tobago’s Dennis Lawrence and England’s Aaron Lennon, and between Germany’s Per Mertesacker and Ecuador’s Christian Lara, who at 1.62 meters is the shortest player to appear in a World Cup this century.
