More and more athletes are breaking down the walls and are showing fully who they are by coming out as gay. In 2021, Josh Cavallo came out as gay after a heartfelt video on social media got praised all over the world.

The world of sports, especially soccer, known for its macho dominance, the word gay has been somewhat tabu. More and more sports teams as organizations have done a lot to be all inclusive but active openly gay male sports stars is still not the norm.

Many of them continue to not disclose their personal information, while others, many after their careers had ended have come out and shown support for athletes going through the same experience. With the announcement of 27-year-old Jakub Jankto as gay, the Czech international is maybe the highest profile player to take such a step. Here is a list of other openly gay former and active soccer players.

Soccer players who have come out as gay

Jakub Jankto has played topflight soccer in Serie A, La Liga, and now on loan at Czech Republic playing for big time club Sparta Praga. Jankto has been capped 45 times by his national team and scored 4 goals, playing in the 2020 Euro’s.

Here is a list of other openly gay soccer players:

Thomas Beattie -England
Thomas Berling -Norway
Andy Brennan – Australia (Active)
Josh Cavallo – Australia (Active)
Jake Daniels – England (Active)
Justin Fashanu -England
Emerson Ferretti – Brazil
Thomas Hitzlsperger -Germany
Anton Hysén – Sweden (Active)
Stephen Laybutt – Australia
Phuti Lekoloane – South Africa (Active)
Liam Davis – England (Active)
Collin Martin – United States (Active)
Zander Murray – Scotland (Active)
Matt Pacifici – United States
Richarlyson – Brazil
Robbie Rogers- United States
Olivier Rouyer -France
David Testo -United States
Marcus Urban- Germany

There are 9 openly gay active soccer players in the world currently.

jakub jankto

Sparta Praga's Jakub Jankto comes out as gay: Other openly gay soccer players