Making a list of your own best players can be an easy job on paper, until one creates a poll upon which people can cast their votes that is when one will fully realise how opinions vary concerning the best of the best this beautiful game of football, and the most popular sport on earth, can offer.
Even though this is highly debatable and also a subjective topic, football has its true talents the cream of the crop certain players with abnormal quality, be it their goal-scoring instincts, dribbling and ball control ability, leadership, longevity, or individual records. Certain players had it all, and they are going to be in any discussion and any list of the best players.
Such kinds of players are talismanic to their respective teams; they are revered by their teammates because they know without such players, not everything is going to be the same. As such, these kinds of players will make this list and whether a player tops the list or not, or a certain player appears lower than a reader thinks or vice versa, just remember this type of list and ranking goes with many perspectives of the writer.
- Lionel Messi
I am sure any list of the best players to ever grace a football pitch will have Messi atop that list. Messi’s triumph at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar sealed his place and status as the greatest ever footballer on the planet, past and present. The little magician was first introduced to the Barcelona first team set-up under coach Pep Guardiola in 2005. Messi’s pure dribbling skills, unbelievable maturity, and an eye for goal are undeniable, but early career injuries hindered his full potential at first. It wasn’t until around 2006 that Messi started hitting top gear. He is known for his consistent performances, ridiculous dribbling, and speed. His solo goal against Getafe in a Copa Del Rey (King’s Cup) match, where he ran from the halfway line, beating nine defenders before squaring up the goalkeeper, is a carbon copy of Diego Maradona’s goal against England. Messi scored that legendary goal while he was just a teenager and still new to first-team football. His 91 goals in a calendar year will surely stand the test of time after making its way into the Guinness World Records.
Messi’s individual accolades include an unprecedented eight Ballon d’Ors, the most for any player, past or present. Alongside Xavi Hernandez and Andres Iniesta, Messi was at the driving seat of the greatest team ever witnessed by football spectators. Barcelona under Pep Guardiola and Lionel Messi went on to dominate club football, winning everything on offer along the way.
- Edson Arantes do Nascimento (Pele)
Edson Arantes do Nascimento, better known as Pele, holds the record for the most World Cup wins. With three gold medals to his name, he is also the youngest player to ever grace a World Cup pitch and win at 17 years old, a feat and also a fact that sounds like a myth. Pele’s agility, scoring ability, feints, tricks, and dribbling were inventive and not something common in the eyes of spectators. Pele, a forward player, was an entertainer as well as a prolific goal scorer in his days, almost averaging a goal-per-game ratio in his glorious career. During his playing days, the Ballon d’Or a trophy awarded to the finest player in a season was only given out to players in Europe. Pele, who never played on European soil, never won the Ballon d’Or, although he was later awarded a special Ballon d’Or decades after his active years. Alongside Maradona, Pele is a joint winner of the Player of the Century award.
- Diego Maradona
Diego Armando Maradona almost single-handedly guided the Argentina team to World Cup glory in 1986. Maradona was an attacking midfielder who possessed extraordinary vision, speed, dribbling, and leadership. Maradona was widely regarded as one of the best ever dribblers the world has ever seen. He was the first player to set a world transfer fee. His goal against England in the 1986 World Cup was voted as the Goal of the Century. His transfer to Barcelona for a fee in the region of five million euros, and secondly when he switched to Napoli from Barcelona, a transfer reported to be around 6.9 million euros, both made him the most expensive player at the time.
After he retired from football, Maradona took a managerial role and coached the Argentine national team at the 2010 World Cup before managing several Middle Eastern clubs.
- Cristiano Ronaldo
Cristiano Ronaldo dos Santos Aveiro holds the record for most professional appearances by an outfield player, with 1,200 official match appearances that is quite some feat. He is also the player with the highest number of international appearances, with 220 caps for the Portuguese national team. With over 900 official goals in his illustrious career, he is also the top goal scorer of all time. His penchant for goal-scoring and relentless training during and after training hours was widely reported by many of his club career teammates.
Arguably the most influential footballer of all time, Ronaldo is the most followed individual on both Facebook and Instagram, showing how popular the man is even beyond the walls of football. He is the recipient of five Ballon d’Or awards, toppled only by Lionel Messi.
Also, Ronaldo is the all-time highest goal scorer in Champions League history, as well as the player with the most assists in the prestigious competition. The only trophy Ronaldo never won is the World Cup, and perhaps, why he is only fourth in our list of the greatest players of all time. At 40 years old, Ronaldo is still playing for the national team of Portugal.
- Johan Cruyff
Johan Cruyff is the driving force behind the Total Football philosophy, first with Ajax Amsterdam and then with Barcelona in Spain. Cruyff’s career was prolific both as a player and also as a coach. He won the Ballon d’Or three times during his playing days, that is, in 1971, 1973, and 1974, before retiring and making the transition into a managerial role.
Cruyff was widely regarded as one of the greatest football managers of all time.
- Zinedine Zidane
Zinedine Zidane, better known as Zizou, is the most elegant football player the world had ever seen. Zidane played effortlessly, with ease — toying with opponents using his ridiculous and out-of-this-world ball control and dribbling abilities. Zidane took centre stage and also took matters into his own hands in France’s bid for the World Cup in 1998. He was everywhere, from left to right, front and back, when they successfully won the World Cup against a legendary Brazilian side.
He was named FIFA Best Player three times, in 1998, 2000, and 2003, and also won the Ballon d’Or in 1998. Zidane’s managerial career was as prolific as his playing one. He successfully defended the Champions League trophy he won with Real Madrid in 2017 against his former club Juventus, then went ahead and won it for three successive seasons, thus becoming the first coach to do so, and Real Madrid became the first club to achieve the feat.
- Alfredo Di Stefano
Alfredo Di Stefano, also dubbed ‘The Blonde Arrow’ during his playing days, is a legendary forward who was part of the Real Madrid team that won five European Cups in a row from 1956–60. Di Stefano scored in each of the five final games in which he appeared. To date, he is the only player to have scored in five finals of the European Cup/Champions League competition. Di Stefano won the Ballon d’Or twice — in 1957 and 1959.
- Marco van Basten
Marco van Basten, alongside Johan Cruyff, remains one of the two greatest Dutch players of all time. A legendary forward player with his eyes always set on the opposition goal, Van Basten scored over 300 career goals. He was equally good with his head as he was with his two feet. In the year 1992, Van Basten was named FIFA Player of the Year. He won the Ballon d’Or three times, in 1988, 1989, and 1992.
- Franz Beckenbauer
Franz Beckenbauer was one of only two players to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach, the other being Didier Deschamps. Beckenbauer’s original position was centre-back, from where he commanded his team with exemplary leadership skills. His innovative style forced coaches to play him in advanced roles both as a sweeper and a deep-lying playmaker. Beckenbauer had a knack for scoring clutch goals for both the German national team and Bayern Munich.
- Gerd Müller
Gerd Müller is a German forward player who terrorised opposition defenders during his playing days. He is a multiple Golden Boot winner for his efforts in the attacking third. Müller’s 74 goals in a calendar year stood for many years until Messi’s 2012 onslaught of 91 goals leapfrogged him.
