World's Top 10 Football Players Of All Time: Football is believed to be the most popular sport and is played widely all over the world. It continues to fascinate people with its high intensity throughout the match duration and some remarkable names who have been part of the incredible journey of this sport.

Football is one of the few sports that comes into major consideration when we talk about the greatest players of all time. There will always remain a debate regarding the best in every sport and the same is the case when it comes to football with people continuing to compare players, and generations on a regular basis as per the human tendency.

While it will always remain difficult to make comparisons between players playing the same sport but in different parts of the country and players playing in different generations, we will try to make a fair list of the ten greatest footballers of all time.


List Of Top 10 Football Players Of All Time  


Lionel Messi | Argentina

Lionel Messi arguably completed football in 2022 when he led Argentina to their third World Cup title, the first of his career. Messi has not only been the best player in the world for the last decade and a half but is also one of the greatest footballers of all time.

He had already won everything that was available at the club level during his long and loyal stint at Barcelona.

Having first burst onto the scene as a fresh-faced teenager in Frank Rijkaard’s Barcelona, Messi was well equipped for the success he achieved in his career which saw him winning numerous amount of team and individual accolades.

He was a complete package, full of goals, dribbling, key passes, assists, and everything an ideal footballer could dream of.

Messi has won a record eight Ballon d'Or awards, a record six European Golden Shoes, and was named the world's best player for a record eight times by FIFA.

Having won 44 trophies in his stellar career, Messi remains the most decorated player in history. 35 of his 44 trophies came with Barcelona during his career which saw him scoring 672 goals throughout 17 seasons he played at Camp Nou.

Apart from the club success, the Argentinian scored two goals 2022 World Cup final, plus his penalty in the shootout, as his national side overcame France in Qatar.

 

Cristiano Ronaldo | Portugal

When we talk about going to the absolute beast level for something, one of the prominent footballing names that comes to mind is Cristiano Ronaldo for his record-breaking and making ability.

Ronaldo is known to be one of the greatest goalscorers of all time and gave rise to a historic footballing rivalry alongside Lionel Messi.

The duo ruled the world of football for almost 13-15 years at a crazy level while playing for their respective teams and clubs, winning trophies and scoring goals for a fun day in and day out.

Having defined his brilliance pretty early during his stints at Sporting Lisbon and Manchester United, Ronaldo went on to achieve immense success by adding more to his decorated career in Spain.

It was his spell with Real Madrid where Cristiano would go on to become a beast and he won four UEFA Champions League titles with the club, including winning three in succession! Ronaldo also led Portugal to the UEFA Euro title in 2016, the first in the country’s history.

After achieving everything at the club level and breaking almost every goalscoring record, Ronaldo moved to Juventus in 2018 where he dominated domestically once again.

He then returned to where it all began at Manchester United in 2021 but the move didn't work out and forced him to move to Saudi Arabia to join Al Nassr.

While Ronaldo is the all-time top goal scorer at the international level with his 205 goals for Portugal, he also has close to 700 club goals while playing in the leagues of Portugal, England, Spain, Italy, and Saudi Arabia.

 

Pele | Brazil

Popularly known as the 'Black Pearl', Pele will always remain a flagbearer for the greatness in football as he is regarded as one of the greatest to have taken the field of this beautiful game.

He will always be regarded as the greatest footballer, especially for the ones from the older generation. Pele has won the most World Cups for a player in history, having lifted the trophy thrice.

It was his World Cup performances and achievements that will always be put high in the discussion of the greatness in the coming generations as well.

Pele holds the record for being the youngest player to score in a World Cup and he even scored two goals in the final of the 1958 World Cup held in Sweden.

Having contributed with just one appearance in the 1962 World Cup triumph, Pele hit the true peak in 1970.

He was the central figure of the extremely skillful and wonderful Brazilian team that proved their greatness again and again in the marquee tournaments.

With extremely successful careers at both New York Cosmos and Santos at club level, Pele will always remain the gold standard in the history of the game.

 

Diego Maradona | Argentina

Diego Maradona has everything unique in terms of comparisons with others as he was the massively gifted footballer of all time.

He could do unbelievable things with the ball sticking to his foot on the pitch and had skills one could only dream of. Maradona attracted plenty of attention in Argentina as a prodigious talent and created a legacy for himself at both club and national levels.

He became the then most expensive player in the world when he moved to Barcelona in 1982 and then again to Napoli in 1984.

It was while playing for Napoli that Maradona achieved great success at the club level as he led the then-struggling Italian outfit to a Scudetto title.

However, his career-defining moment came with Argentina's national team as he left an incredible impact with his outstanding campaign at the 1986 FIFA World Cup in Mexico.

What he did in that tournament to lead Argentina to the title success was enough to keep him in the discussion of greatness for eternity

Despite scoring more than 250 goals at the club level while paying for big teams like Barcelona, Napoli, and Sevilla, it was his 34 international goals for Argentina that would never let his impact die in this great game of football.

 

Andres Iniesta | Spain

Andres Iniesta, the former Spanish player, is known to be one of the best midfielders of his generation and is one of the greatest in his position to have played the game.

The legendary figure of Initesa was one of the key players of FC Barcelona during their golden period and was a crucial midfielder alongside fellow Spaniards Xavi Hernandez and Sergio Busquets.

He first bumped into the scene through Barcelona's youth academy before making it to the first team under Radomir Antic in 2002.

The prodigy midfielder went on to achieve massive success while spending his whole footballing career at Barcelona, helping the Spanish giants clinch major titles.

Iniesta emerged as a player majorly known for his ability to control the midfield and take out incredible passes to change the course of the game completely.

Apart from winning a massive number of trophies with Barcelona at the club level, Iniesta was part of the Spanish national team that won the FIFA World Cup in 2010 and the European Championship in 2008 and 2012.

Iniesta was a crucial part of both the Spanish and Barcelona teams which were regarded at once as the best national team on the planet and the best club in the world respectively during their respective golden years.

In fact, it was Iniesta who scored the only goal in the FIFA WC 2010 final against the Netherlands to help Spain lift their maiden WC trophy.

 

Zinedine Zidane | France

Zinedine Zidane is considered one of the best midfielders to have played the game and is one of the few players who is seen as a respected figure in the new generation as well for his contributions to the game.

Zidane had a remarkable club career with Juventus in Italy before he achieved immense success during the 1998 World Cup which was held in France.

The attacking midfielder was instrumental in helping France win their maiden World Cup title through his two foals in the final against Brazil.

Zidane followed that success with victory in the 2000 European Championship, winning the Player of the Tournament award as well.

Talking about his club career, Zidane later moved to Real Madrid which only added to his already successful career.

It was there with Real Madrid where Zidane scored that famous volley from outside the box against Bayer Leverkusen, helping the Los Blancos to clinch the UEFA Champions League title in 2002.

After retiring from the game in 2006, Zidane returned to Madrid as a coach and guided them to three successive Champions League titles between 2016 and 2018.

 

Ronaldo Nazario | Brazil

Ronaldo Nazario was known to be one of the most lethal strikers of his time and is one of the most prolific goalscorers of all time.

During his stellar career, Ronaldo played for major clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, Inter Milan, and AC Milan and represented the Brazilian national team from 1994 to 2011.

He had a successful stint at PSV Eindhoven as well but it was with the Spanish giants Barcelona where he had a record-breaking season.

After moving to Inter Milan in 1997, Ronaldo's career witnessed a massive high as he had incredible outings in 1998 as well as the 2002 FIFA World Cup, winning the latter with Brazil as the best player of the tournament.

He went on to win the Ballon d’Or award in 1997 and 2002, making him stand out as the best striker during that period.

Ronaldo had held a legendary record of 15 World Cup goals in 19 matches for a long period of time before Germany's Miroslav Klose surpassed it in the 2014 edition.

 

Franz Beckenbauer | Germany

Germany's Franz Beckenbauer is regarded as one of the greatest defenders of all time as he revolutionised the game with his ability to contribute to attacks as well while being responsible at the back.

The German is also one of only nine players to have won the FIFA World Cup, the UEFA Champions League as well as the Ballon d’Or.

Beckenbauer won three consecutive European Championships with Bayern Munich between 1974 and 1976 and he also lifted the 1974 FIFA World Cup with Germany.

He went on to lift the World Cup once again but this time as a head coach of Germany in 1990 as he remains one of the only three with such unique achievement to have won the World Cup both as a player and as a coach.

 

Alfredo Di Stefano | Argentina/Spain

Alfredo Di Stefano was a legendary figure who dominated the footballing world in the era before the great Brazilian Pele.

It was Stefano who showed the way of brilliance and royalty to Real Madrid when it comes to winning trophies as he dominated the scene during the 1950s and had a 20-year-long career where he was on top of the game.

He is majorly known for his achievements with Real Madrid, having won five straight European Championships with the club before clinching 15 other honors.

Stefano's partnership with other legendary players like Paco Gento and Ferenc Puskas was a treat to watch and will be remembered for his performances in big games.

Having started playing with River Plate in Argentina, Stefano went on to achieve massive success at the club level as he remains the only player to hold the record for scoring in five European Cup finals.

Apart from Lionel Messi and Diego Maradona, Di Stefano is the other legendary footballing name from Argentina but despite his brilliance, he never got to play in the World Cup.

 

Johan Cruyff | Netherlands

When we discuss the greatness of the players, we look at goals, trophies, and other achievements but there was something more that Johan Cruyff brought to the footballing world.

Cruyff is known to be one of the most inspiring footballers and impactful figures to have played the game.

He was a football genius and had a great mind when it came to operating with unique tactics and sticking to them despite failures.

It was Cruyff who introduced the philosophy of 'Total Football' to Ajax, Barcelona, and his Dutch national team.

He was the first footballer to win the Ballon d’Or thrice and, having convinced European football with Ajax with three European Champions before he dominated Spain with Barcelona.

He guided the Catalan giants to their first league title in 14 years and played a major role in helping them become a powerhouse again.

Despite leading one of the successful Dutch sides in 1974, Cruyff didn't win the World Cup but went on to etch his name in the history of Barcelona as a father figure.

In his later years, Cruyff laid the foundation stone of modern Barcelona with his tiki-taka philosophy, setting up La Masia, the introduction of rondos, and other tactical masterclasses through which the football world witnessed the greatness of players and coaches like Pep Guardiola, Frank Rijkaar, Ronald Koeman, Louis Van Gaal, Xavi, Luis Enrique, Mikel Arteta, Ernesto Valverde, Marco Van Basten and Roberto Martinez among others.