Top 10 Super Subs in Football History

Some of football’s most dramatic, emotional, and unforgettable moments were crafted not by the stars who walked out of the tunnel at kick-off, but by the men who ran on later to rescue a team, stun an opponent, or crown a season with immortality.

The beauty of the super sub lies in unpredictability: you never know when one touch, one sprint, or one instinctive finish could change everything.

So today, we’re ranking the Top 10 Super Subs of All Time, the footballers who turned substitution appearances into an art form.

10. Oliver Bierhoff

Oliver Bierhoff was the original archetype of the modern super sub. A late-game weapon with aerial dominance, timing, and ruthless finishing.

His defining moment came on the grandest stage of all, UEFA Euro ’96, where Germany turned to him in desperation during the final against the Czech Republic. Bierhoff delivered twice, scoring the equaliser and then famously striking the tournament’s first-ever golden goal to win the title.

Throughout his career, he developed a reputation for being the solution when Plan A wasn’t working. Managers trusted him because he didn’t need a rhythm; he needed one chance.

9. Günter Netzer

While known as one of the best playmakers Germany ever produced, Günter Netzer’s defining moment came as a substitute, and what an iconic moment it was.

In the 1973 DFB-Pokal final, Netzer famously brought himself on, telling his manager, “I’m going to play now.” Minutes later, with his very first meaningful involvement, he scored a stunning winning goal for Borussia Mönchengladbach.

That moment of brilliance became part of German football mythology. The superstar benched for disciplinary reasons, entering the field in extra time, and deciding the cup final with a single stroke of genius.

8. Daniel Sturridge

Daniel Sturridge had periods where injuries disrupted his momentum, but even in those stop-start years, he proved devastating as an impact player.

His technical quality, sharp movement, and knack for finding angles others couldn’t made him a constant late-game threat.

Arguably his most memorable super-sub moment came in 2019 against Chelsea in the Premier League. With Liverpool heading toward defeat at Stamford Bridge, Sturridge stepped off the bench and curled a sensational long-range equaliser into the top corner, a strike that preserved the Reds’ unbeaten start and reminded the world of his quality.

7. Nwankwo Kanu

Few players possessed the combination of flair, unpredictability, and composure that Nwankwo Kanu brought to the pitch, especially when introduced late.

At Arsenal, he achieved cult-hero status not just for his effortless skill, but for the timing of his goals. Whether it was Derby County, Sheffield Wednesday, Aston Villa, or Spurs feeling the sting, Kanu’s contributions as a substitute repeatedly shifted momentum during crucial periods.

Kanu scored 17 Premier League goals from the bench, many of them arriving during a period when Arsenal needed moments of magic to maintain title pushes. Even in his later years at Portsmouth, he continued the trend, scoring decisive late goals, including pivotal strikes in the run toward the club’s extraordinary 2008 FA Cup triumph.

Calm, creative, and clutch, Kanu was the definition of a super sub who never needed 90 minutes to leave his mark.

6. Javier “Chicharito” Hernández

There are poachers, then there is Chicharito. Few players in Premier League history have been as effective at entering a match and immediately smelling a goal.

His movement was extraordinary, his instincts razor-sharp, and his timing impeccable. Sir Alex Ferguson mastered using him as a weapon: send him on when defenders were tired, watch him appear between them like a ghost.

Hernández scored 21 Premier League goals as a substitute, placing him among the most prolific super subs in the league’s history.

5. Divock Origi

Divock Origi may not have been a weekly starter at Liverpool, but few players in the club’s modern history delivered more unforgettable, era-defining moments. He specialised in chaos, scoring late, scoring dramatically, and scoring when it mattered most.

The 2018 Merseyside derby winner after Jordan Pickford’s error. The brace in the historic 4–0 comeback against Barcelona. The clinching goal in the 2019 Champions League final.

Origi’s legacy is sealed not by quantity of goals, but by the enormity of them. When Jürgen Klopp needed a miracle, Origi often stepped forward from the bench and provided it. At Anfield, he’ll forever be remembered as the cult-hero super sub.

4. Olivier Giroud

Olivier Giroud has built an entire career on being the ultimate Plan B. His hold-up play, aerial prowess, and ability to bring others into the game make him a manager’s dream when chasing control late in matches.

At Arsenal, he became one of the Premier League’s most reliable late scorers, regularly arriving from the bench to rescue points. At Chelsea, he took the role even further, becoming a key weapon in their 2020 Champions League run with numerous crucial goals despite limited minutes.

3. Jermain Defoe

Jermain Defoe was pure instinct. A penalty-box predator with a lightning first step and one of the cleanest strikers of the ball the Premier League has ever seen, he built a stunning record as a substitute, scoring 22 Premier League goals from the bench, the third-highest in league history.

Whether at Tottenham, Portsmouth, Sunderland, or West Ham, Defoe’s trademark was the same: come on, take one touch, score with the second. He was devastating in late-game situations, especially when opponents dropped deeper.

His longevity combined with his super-sub record makes him one of England’s greatest impact players.

2. David Fairclough

Before the Premier League era coined the phrase “super sub,” David Fairclough defined it. The flame-haired Liverpool forward became a cult figure in the 1970s, producing one clutch cameo after another during the club’s rise under Bob Paisley.

The most famous of all came in the 1977 European Cup quarter-final, when Fairclough came off the bench and scored a stunning solo goal against St. Etienne, a moment still considered one of Anfield’s greatest nights.

1. Ole Gunnar Solskjær

No player embodies the art of the super sub more than Ole Gunnar Solskjær, the undisputed king of late drama.

Nicknamed the “Baby-faced Assassin,” Solskjær had an unmatched ability to read games from the sidelines, enter quietly, and then devastate opponents with ruthless precision.

His four-goal cameo against Nottingham Forest is Premier League mythology. But nothing tops the 1999 Champions League final, when Solskjær came off the bench to score the stoppage-time winner that delivered Manchester United’s Treble.

That single moment, the toe-poke into football immortality, made him the greatest super sub the game has ever seen.

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