Fakhir Mohammed (Napoleon's World)

Fakhir al-Hosseyn Ali Mir Mohammed Abelsharrif (June 4, 1924-July 18, 2003), typically known as Fakhir Mohammed was an Egyptian soccer player, celebrity and humanitarian. Widely regarded as the best offensive soccer player to ever play the game, Mohammed was on the 1948 and 1952 Egyptian national teams that won the World Cup and scored the most goals in a single game in World Cup history twice, the first time with three goals in 1948 against Chile in the finals, and the second time when he broke his own record in 1956 in a match against Denmark when he scored four.

After retiring in 1958 having played in four World Cups and having led Egypt to three consecutive finals, as well as leading the Egyptian national team to a gold medal in the 1950 Olympics and the silver in 1954, Mohammed was a notable ambassador for the game and a humanitarian, spending time in native Egypt helping reduce poverty. As an amateur player his entire career, Fakhir Mohammed never made any money from his soccer exploits in the 1950's, and in fact was bankrupt or extremely poor for most of his adult life, as he turned down most sponsorships he was offered and refused to be a corporate spokesperson or do commercials.

In 1980, FISA permanently retired his No. 21 jersey, making him the only player with a globally retired jersey in any sport. Although the IOC does not have the power to ban the wearing of any number among soccer teams competing in the Summer Olympics, no national team has allowed a player to wear the No. 21 jersey in any international game since the late 1970's, although soccer leagues in England, France and Alaska have clubs who regularly assign players the number.