Who Is Queen Elizabeth’s Favorite Footballer?

Queen Elizabeth revealed her favorite football player to Liverpool and England legend Sven-Goran Eriksson.

The Queen is not the biggest football fan in the world; still, she is known to become quite high-spirited when following the England team on television. The British monarch hosted different teams over the years. She held a reception for England, Scotland and Jamaican-based football squads in Oct. 1998 at Buckingham Palace.

During the 75-strong England party, back-room staff, high-profile players, and management arrived at the Palace in three coaches back in Nov. 2002. The reception took place in the Blue Drawing Room at the Palace where FA chairman Geoffrey Thompson, along with then England manager Sven-Goran Erikkson and captain David Beckham were the first to meet the Queen.

The Queen later revealed that her favorite footballer is actually one of Beckham's England teammates. Eriksson was surprised by who Queen Elizabeth named during a special lunch. "I was invited to lunch with The Queen with about another 10 people," Eriksson told the "Sacked in the Morning" podcast. "At a certain point, I asked her if she liked football. She said not really.

"I asked her for her favourite player or team. I thought she would've said Beckham. 'Michael Owen is my favourite player,' she said. "I asked why and she said 'He looks so clean'. That was the answer I got and we didn't go on with that discussion."

Owen was the Queen's guest at Royal Ascot in 2009 along with his wife, Louise Bonsall. Among Owen's historical strikes was the solo goal against Argentina in 1998. His final strike came against Russia in a Euro 2008 qualifier at Wembley in 2007. Owen previously opened up about the awkward meeting he had with the Queen. He talked about the surreal moment in his new autobiography, "Reboot - My Life, My Time" he said, "When she [the Queen] walked into the royal lift there were perhaps 15 of us outside. 'Come on', she said, 'We can all squeeze in'."

"I obeyed, taking my hat off as I thought that correct etiquette. 'If you'd put your hat back on', she said, voice raised, 'we might all fit in!'" Owen confessed that up to this day he has no idea whether the Queen was joking or not.

Meanwhile, according to former Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn and former Arsenal midfielder Cesc Fabregas, the Queen is a fan of the Gunners.