Football is the most loved sport in the whole wide world, has produced some great legends who have surpassed the field and will live on in the hearts and thoughts of football supporters eternally. Each player plays both as part of a team and individually. Every sport has a strong competitive element to it. Competition is vital because it motivates athletes to accomplish great things in their careers and encourages them to do so.
Football has produced some amazing players who have set numerous records on the field. These records aid in recognising a player’s potential and determining his or her level of ability. Football has become lot more interesting and good to watch for fans all across the world thanks to the players.
1.Lionel Messi
Lionel Messi is widely regarded as the greatest footballer of all time and the best player of the present age. Messi has spent his entire successful football career with Barcelona, in which he has amassed a club-record 33 championships.
Messi wins the award for the most straight Ballons d’Or wins, which he has yet to break. He was named Barcelona captain in 2018, and he received the Ballon d’Or in 2019 for his excellent achievement all across the season.
Messi has earned four Golden Boots. Among the most endearing truths about Lionel Messi that Barcelona supporters adore.
Messi holds the record for scoring 100 goals in the UEFA Champions League in the quickest time. That’s why he is the best player of football.
Argentina qualified for the World Cup after Messi scored a hat-trick vs Ecuador in Quito’s hard situations.
2. Pele
Pele is a former Brazilian football player who was a first for his country’s national side. Black Pearl is what his fans call him. He was perhaps the most powerful, famous, and influential athlete of the twentieth century. Throughout his playing career, Pelé was the most-paid athlete in the globe.
Pelé is the most prolific top-flight goalscorer, as per data from the IFFHS, with 541 goals in 560 games. Pele has the Guinness World Record for scoring 1279 goals in 1363 games, including guest appearances.
3. Diego Maradona
Diego Maradona is a renowned footballer who represented Argentina. He has been one of two joint recipients of the FIFA Player of the Century award in the twentieth century. Maradona possesses exceptional passing, ball control, and dribbling abilities. He is the greatest dribbler in history.
With his amazing agility and ball control, Maradona is the sort of athlete who can dribble past many players.
He’s also a superb leader who constantly takes the initiative. His presence on the pitch has a significant impact on the team’s overall success.
4. Cristiano Ronaldo.
Cristiano Ronaldo is the greatest footballer of our time. Ronaldo is a forward who is largely considered to be one of the best players of all time.
Ronaldo began his professional career with Sporting CP. After viewing his play, Manchester United recruited him in 2003. Ronaldo was among United’s top players. He was instrumental in United’s most Premier League titles.
Ronaldo moved from United to Real Madrid for a world record sum. With Real Madrid, he racked up 2 trophies, comprising two La Liga titles, two Copa del Rey titles, and 4 Champions League titles. Ronaldo has become the club’s all-time leading goalscorer.
Ronaldo is among the most commercially successful athletes in history. In 2016 and 2017, Forbes named him the most-paid athlete.
5. Alfredo Di Stefano
Alfredo De Stefano was a trainer and a footballer. Stefano is widely considered to be among the greatest footballers of all time. Stefano was given the nickname “Saeta Rubia”. He was a strong attacker with fast feet and became one of the most frequent goal scorers in the league. Stefano’s pitch originality and vision are just exceptional.
Stefano is considered as a Real Madrid great thanks to his accomplishments with the club. In the 1950s, Stefano was a key figure in Real Madrid’s dominance in the European Cup and La Liga. From 1950 and 1960, Di Stéfano was a member of the team which won the Champions League five times in a row. For Real Madrid, he triumphed in five straight European Cup finals.
6. Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff was a brilliant footballer and trainer from the Netherlands. Cruyff was the most outstanding player in the 1974 FIFA World Cup. Cruyff headed Netherland to the final and was named the tournament’s top scorer with the golden ball.
Cruyff turns out that a feint he used in his playing career was called after him. In current football, his manoeuvre is still employed. Cruyff is noted for his excellent technique, quickness, dribbling abilities, and awareness.
7. Ferenc Puskas
Ferenc Puskas is largely regarded one of the all best players. He is the world’s first international football icon. Puskas was unstoppable for Hungary, scoring 84 goals in 85 appearances for the country. He represented Spain in four international matches. In 529 appearances, Puskas nearly ruled the Spanish and Hungarian leagues, scoring 514 goals.
Puskas guided his country to victory in the 1954 World Cup final. For his outstanding performance, he was crowned the match’s top player. He received 4 pichichis with Real Madrid and made seven goals in two European champions cup finals.
8. Ronaldo Nazario
Ronaldo is a veteran Brazilian striker who played for the national team. He is widely regarded as the greatest striker in history. Many players of this age still emulate his moves and talents.
Ronaldo started his professional career at Cruzeiro before joining PSV in 1994. In 1996, Barcelona paid a world record buyout clause for Ronaldo. At the age of 20, he becomes the youngest player to win Fifa World Player of the Year, and he still holds the world record.
All through his playing career, he was among the most promotional athletes in the world.
9. Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane is a retired professional footballer who represented France at the international level. The majority of Zidane’s tenure was spent as a midfield player. He is currently one of the most accomplished managers in the world. He is widely regarded as one of the finest midfielders and all-time players.
Zidane’s vision and ball control abilities are unrivalled. Zidane is known for his deft play, passing abilities, and ball control. As a footballer, he set numerous personal records. Zidane’s left-foot volley is regarded as one of the most famous goals in competitive history.
10. Ronaldinho
Ronaldinho is a veteran footballer who represented Brazil at the international level and was a key member of Barcelona’s first team. He was most effective as an offensive midfielder, but he could also play as a forward or a winger. Ronaldinho is widely regarded as one of his decade’s most talented players.
On the field, he is noted for his abilities and ingenuity. He was also skilled with dribbling and speed. His aerial kicks, no-look flicks, and free-kick precision are just incredible.
11. Franz Beckenbauer
Beckenbauer is a retired German footballer who also served as a manager. Through his playing career, he was known as Der Kaiser.
He have won the World Cup both as a footballer and as a manager. Beckenbauer was the very first captain to win the World Cup and European Championship with Germany’s national team, as well as the European Cup with his club, Leverkusen.
12. Roberto Baggio
Baggio is a retired pro footballer from Italy who played primarily as a second striker or offensive midfielder. Baggio was the most technically gifted player on the team, with exceptional playmaking abilities. He is known for his curling free kicks, incredible dribbling skills, and goal-scoring talent.
Baggio was a member of the Italian national team for 56 games, scoring 27 goals. Baggio seems to be the only Italian footballer to score in three World Cups, and then he and Christian Vieri share the scoring record of goals in a World Cup competition for Italy.
13. Michael Platini
Platini has been dubbed the greatest midfielder of all time. His scoring ability and game reading abilities are unrivalled. He was a key member of France’s European Championship-winning team in 1984. Until 2007, Platini held the record for most goals scored for France. Despite only appearing in the successful 1984 season, Platini holds the scoring record of highest goals (9) scored in the European Championship.
14. Marco Van Basten
Marco Van Basten was a great footballer who spent the majority of his career at Ajax and AC Milan. In his entire career, he netted 300 goals. In 1993, he performed his final match as a football player. He has to retire at the age of 30 due to his health difficulties. He was then named Ajax’s and the Netherlands’ national team’s trainer.
15. George Best
George Best was a winger for a pro football team. He has spent the most of his professional career with Manchester United. George Best is the greatest player in Manchester United’s existence, as well as one of the greatest football players in history.
He is among the few outstanding players who has never been in a World Cup match.
16. Zico.
Zico is a retired Brazilian footballer who spent the majority of his career in the attacking midfield position. Because of his comparable style of play, he is known as the white Pele. Zico is well-known for his inventive play on the field, as well as his technical prowess. Zico is regarded as one of the top finishers and passers of his generation. He is regarded as one of the best players in the game.
17. Mane Garrincha
Mane Garrincha was indeed a star in Brazil. Over his career, he was noted for his dribbling abilities and was regarded as one of the best dribblers of all times. Garrincha’s fame in Brazil is wild, and some former football fans consider him to be a better player than Pele.
18. Andres Iniesta
Andres Iniesta is a Spanish player who is often regarded as the best midfielder of his generation. He is a La Masia alumnus who spent the majority of his working life in Barcelona. He also spent 3 years as the captain of Barcelona.
In 2002, he made his Barcelona start at the age of eighteen. Iniesta was a key member of Barcelona’s historic treble-winning teams in 2009 and 2015. Iniesta was instrumental in Spain’s victory at the 2008 UEFA Euro. In 2010, he helped Spain win the World Cup by scoring the game-winning goal in the final against the Netherlands.
19. David Beckham.
David Beckham is a legendary footballer and also one of the greatest midfielders of all times. He has played for Manchester United, Real Madrid, Milan, La Galaxy, and Paris Saint-Germain, among others. Beckham is the very first British player to win champions leagues in Spain, England, France, and the United States.
20. Paolo Maldini.
Paolo Maldini is an AC Milan icon and is regarded as the defender’s goat.
On the field, his defence abilities were unrivalled. Maldini was renowned for his ability to read and analyse games. He was the most graceful and astute player on the field. His strength and aggressiveness as a defender allowed him to win a number of games.
So, these were the Top 20 best footballers of all times in the history of most loved game in the world.
