AS Roma has completed a historic European football record by using every squad number from 1 to 99 following the signing of midfielder Rodrigo Mora.
The 19-year-old Portuguese player arrived from Porto and selected shirt number 86. AS Roma confirmed that number 86 was the only number between 1 and 99 that had never been assigned to a player in the club's history.
The arrival of the attacking midfielder generated great expectation among supporters of the Italian Serie A club. By assigning the final unassigned jersey, Roma became the first club in European football history to complete the entire sequence of numbers.
Career history at Porto
Mora developed a reputation for remarkable precocity in Portuguese football. He began his youth career at Portuguese club Custoias (Dragon Force) before moving to Porto's youth categories in the summer of 2016.
During his time with Porto, the midfielder made 80 appearances for the first team and scored 16 goals. He established himself as a major talent after becoming the youngest debutant in the history of Portuguese football, making his debut at 15 years, 8 months and 10 days old.
Squad numbers in Italian football
Selecting squad numbers is traditionally influenced by position on the pitch, club tradition or player preference. At Roma, completing the full sequence of numbers became a statistical milestone built over several decades of squad registration.
The use of high squad numbers is a recognized feature of Italian football. Players in Italy frequently select higher numbers based on personal preferences, birth years or their transition from youth academies to first teams.
Brazilian forward Ronaldinho wore number 80 during his period at AC Milan to match his birth year of 1980. Roma has also formed part of this trend over recent decades with several unusual choices.
Among the most notable numbers used by Roma are the number 92 worn by Stephan El Shaarawy, the number 94 carried by Jérémy Ménez, and the number 99 used by goalkeeper Mile Svilar.
Those previous selections gradually left number 86 as the sole unassigned figure in the club's history. Mora's arrival and choice of number 86 officially filled the final remaining gap in Roma's collection from 1 to 99.
